Mike Nicolai
Austin, Texas, United States
Music
Press
... has both the rogue charm of Another Side of Bob Dylan and the hoarse irreverence of The Replacements' Tim...
- NO DEPRESSION
... a transcendental blend of word and image, laid painfully bare... rock music stripped to its essence, free of frills and bullshit... - AUSTIN CHRONICLE
... Nicolai's bizarre lyrical tableau veer from hilarious to angering to chillingly cold and real, sometimes within a single verse... it can feel somethig like getting a ride home from a sensationally drunk savant who's talking so fast and furious he's barely watching the road... - AUDIOGALAXY
"Mike Nicolai was born to be a songwriter." - MINNEAPOLIS STAR-TRIBUNE
"Mike Nicolai is one of the best unknown American songwriters working today. Self-deprecatingly clever and honestly poignant, the dude abides. Admittedly, his voice is reedy and takes some getting used to, but when it does, you are hooked. Resistance is futile."
- THE ADIOS LOUNGE
... has a sharp wit to it, as he tweaks the hypocrisy of religion and other institutions of power. He holds nothing back... Nicolai has a way of voicing people's fears (real people's, little people's) in raw but also often surprising song-tales. - ERASING CLOUDS
It's clear Nicolai is unafraid to confront the psychosis of these times head on. Nicolai, who's traversed the Minneapolis and Austin scenes (writing for alt-country stalwarts the Gourds and the Damnations) may run under the radar, but if "Lifesucker Waltz," a wickedly rendered indictment of organized religion, got a fair airing in these fundamentalist times, the song might do for him what "We Can't Make It Here" has done for James McMurtry, that is: Tell the truth. - POP CULTURE PRESS
Mike Nicolai is one of those artists who is impossible to hate. He's just too damn good. His stripped-down arrangements suit his superior lyrical wordplay, and yet somehow commercial success has eluded him (for now). God Fatigue just might change all that. Opening with "Tarot's Road", you're drawn into the idea of a singer-songwriter record... only to have the rock stomp of "Post Atom Age" blow your hair to the back of the auditorium. - POP MATTERS
The most attentive may have recognized The voice of Mike Nicolai in the DVD section of the beautiful collection "A Lifetime of Temporary Relief" by Low, where his voice narrates the short film "Looking out For Hope". This is just one of the contributions scattered through his career - chips that have led to the creation of the 11 songs on "God Fatigue in the Post Atom Age", recorded in Minneapolis in 2005.
The album is a harsh indictment against the Catholic Church and the conduct of all religious institutions, delivered with the weapons of genuine roots-folk. - INDIE MUSIC WEBZINE (Italy)
Discography
full-length releases:
Mike Nicolai (1997)
Woody Allen Stunt Footage (2000)
Rooster Nudes (2003)
God Fatigue In The Post Atom Age (2006)
guest performances:
The Damnations "Half Mad Moon" (1998) Sire
The Gourds "Blood of The Ram" (2004) Eleven-Thirty
Low "A Lifetime of Temporary Relief" (2004) Chairkickers
Photos
Bio
Members of such great American bands as Son Volt, The Replacements and The Gourds have contributed to Mike Nicolai's recordings. He has released four full-length d.i.y. records and performs solo with guitar and occasional backing tracks, or with the collaboration of members of the Austin rock band Grand Champeen. He has toured in the US and Europe.
In 2005 he performed on the "Christmas Train to New Orleans" Hurricane Katrina relief tour alongside legends Arlo Guthrie, Willie Nelson and Ramblin' Jack Elliot. The hundreds of shows he has played across the US have included sets opening for Neko Case, Spoon, Richard Buckner, Vic Chesnutt and others.
His voice-over performance in the short film "Looking Out For Hope" was featured in the DVD section of the boxed-set retrospective "A Lifetime of Temporary Relief" by Low, who composed music for the film. His song "Catch You Alive" was covered by Austin group The Damnations on their 1998 debut album for Sire Records. He contributed backing vocals to The Gourds' "Blood Of The Ram", released on Eleven-Thirty Records in 2004.
He is currently writing material for a project to be recorded in early 2009, and performing as vocalist/bassist in The Spoolies, a group led by cult songwriter Ramsay Midwood featuring a revolving cast of musicians and songwriters including Tony Gilkyson (X, Eleni Mandell), Don Heffington (The Jayhawks, Bob Dylan), Max Johnston (Wilco, The Gourds, Freakwater), Danny McGough (Tom Waits, Social Distortion), Randy Weeks (writer, "Can't Let Go" from Lucinda Williams' Grammy-winning "Car Wheels On A Gravel Road") and others.
He will return to Europe for a solo tour in May.
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