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Nico Stai - "Green Lines"

little-videos.com

July 27, 2009

We weren't sure where exactly we were going to shoot this, even the day of, as Nico was between places at the time (we even scouted an empty apartment in Silver Lake, however, lacking available light and power was sort of an issue). But by some stroke of tremendous fortune, a friend of his offered up her gallery space at the last minute - the newly relocated Ghettogloss on Melrose. Wow. Totally amazing. And somehow perfectly fitting that the space itself was in a bit of a transitional state (it didn't officially open until August 15). The artwork still stacked against the bare walls, the empty shelving and scattered artifacts.

By the time we got started it was dark. We set up a stool in the middle of the space, just Nico and his guitar. There is a genuine intimacy to his songs, even when he plays them with the full band, but at its heart, these songs are almost meant to be played acoustic. Not many musicians have this strong of a pop-sensibility, yet manage to stay rooted in introspective, purposeful, and pointed lyricism. He hadn't really planned out what songs he'd play or how many, he just sat down and started, and when we were out of tape, he stopped.

Out of his seemingly unending catalogue of masterfully crafted indie-pop gems, against the steady hum of cars outside on Melrose, he played six songs that day (and even took the risk of playing most of a seventh, unfinished song, which may or may not ever see the light of day on this site...).

Find out more about Nico Stai: http://www.myspace.com/nicostai

Camera: Elliot Glass
Sound: Elliot Glass
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