Nicole & Scotty Sweet N' Sour Interview

Sibling Pop Duo Nicole & Scotty Release "Sweet N' Sour"

Nicole & Scotty are a two piece act from California. Nicole provides her beautiful and versatile vocals while Scotty is the production prodigy and mix and mastering engineer. Sweet N' Sour is their third official release "Queen" & "Can Be Beautiful" have a collective of 94,000 streams on Spotify. Nicole & Scotty also have a whopping 65,000 followers on Instagram and play regular shows on The Sunset Strip. They are currently in communication with a major booking agency in LA to take things to the next level and working aside Renegade Records to promote their releases.

Interview with Nicole & Scotty

Question: How would you describe your music?

Nicole & Scotty: Probably as story songs told in an eclectic mix of genres. Raw and personal lyrics combined with music that speaks from the heart as well. We're inspired by so many incredible artists in so many genres, ranging from Trip Hop, to Acoustic, to EDM, and we feel like we best embolden our writing when we avoid genre boundaries or restrictions.


Question: Can you tell us about Sweet N' Sour?

Nicole & Scotty: We were asked in January to write a song for a commercial. The prompt we received was something along the lines of "make it sound sweet, but sassy". I wrote the hook first, took it to Scotty, and literally like ten minutes later, Sweet N' Sour was fully written. We loved it so much we decided to keep it for ourselves and write something else for the company we'd been talking with. Scotty's brilliant production reminds us of something Elle King would write, and we were even honored to have the song be compared to Amy Winehouse's Back to Black recently. I wrote the lyrics about a villainess from an indie horror game, oddly enough. We're nerds at heart (laughs).


Question: What motivates you most when writing music?

Nicole & Scotty: To have our messages be heard, and our stories told. Life is crazy, and writing music is the cathartic antidote for the two of us.


Question: Do you prefer performing live or recording?

Nicole & Scotty: Can we say both? Recording can be frustrating (take 107 anyone?) but also so rewarding. It's a discovery process. You're bringing something to life that wasn't there before, growing a concept into a full-fledged record with layers of harmonies and guitar riffs and drum fills. It's a beautiful thing. And then you have live shows, where you get to show your hard work and passion to an audience see how they interact and connect with what was yours, but now you're handing those songs and experiences off to them to interpret how they may. In another words, both are super dope, (laughs).

Question: Which is your favourite song to perform live and why?

Nicole & Scotty: Honestly we're going to have to go with Sweet N' Sour! Along with an unreleased track of ours called Board Games. Sweet N' Sour has this edgy, almost burlesque vibe to it, and getting to embody that on stage is super fun. We're usually both pretty shy people, but when we get to perform SNS, out inner divas come out.


Question: If you could have anyone, in the world, attend a show, who would it be?

Nicole & Scotty: Any of our friends who live out of state or out of country. Heck, any of our supporters from around the globe! It would be awesome to get to play for people who have been there for us for the past six years and haven't gotten to see us live yet.


Question: How did the band come together?

Nicole: Scotty picked up a guitar for the first time at age 10 and he just really soared. By the end of his first week in group lessons he'd learned all the songs in his beginner's Ernie Ball book. I've been writing poetry and short stories and singing for fun since I was like 5, so when Scotty started composing original instrumentals, we kind of just had a light bulb moment like "Oh! We should combine our love of music and writing to create our own songs!" So we wrote the first song we ever wrote together when we were 11 and 15.


Question: Which music/artists are you currently listening to?

Nicole & Scotty: SO many. Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas are amazing; we love finding other sis/bro bands out there. Broods, The Band Perry, Echosmith. We're both super into Melodic Dubstep and Future Bass. Illenium is Scotty's boy, then artists like Said The Sky, Dabin, Seven Lions, William Black, Alan Walker. Trip Hop is probably our biggest genre influence, so AlunaGeorge, Daya, Terror Jr., Marian Hill, Kiiara. Years & Years are our favorite Synth-Pop group, Nina Nesbitt is our favorite Indie Pop artist. We could go on and on…


Question: What or who was your inspiration to go into the music industry? A: When we were 12 and 16, we were discovered by Lisa Marie Presley, Americana artist and Elvis Presley's daughter. She found a cover we uploaded to YouTube of one of her songs, and she invited us to perform on her Storm & Grace tour for a few shows. What a surreal honor. After the tour she encouraged us to keep going and insisted that music was our path, and she was right. So we owe that to her for sure.

Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?

Nicole & Scotty: Taylor Swift has probably been our biggest role model throughout our years working in the music industry. We adore her. Her fearless-ness to speak her mind, both in her music and otherwise, is so admirable. How she uses her platform to fight for equality and stand up for what is right is so vital right now. Her transition from chart-topping Country artist to Pop icon is awe-inspiring. If we could collaborate with any artist we wanted, she's the first on our list.


Question: What is the biggest challenge you have faced along the way to your musical success?

Nicole & Scotty: The biggest challenge has been having to try to shout loud enough for the right people to hear us, and then trying to prove that numbers don't matter when it comes to people loving your music, if it were given the chance and the right platform. We've had A&Rs tell us that we need to have over 20k followers on Instagram in order for an agency or label to take us seriously. We come into a meeting with 60k on Instagram and close to 100k streams on Spotify, and then they raise the bar to "well, why isn't it a million?" Yet we've seen talented artists with less than 10k on Instagram sign to major labels and do extremely well. It's just hard to find your people and be taken seriously when numbers are suddenly their main focus, and not the art or work ethic, honestly. But when you do find your team and people who believe in you and what you have to give to the industry, things are golden.


Question: What's a typical day like?

Nicole & Scotty: Depends on the plan for the day! We have show days, recording days, travel days when we're on tour, and family days where we hang with our Mom or our friends who are basically family.


Question: What has been your favourite part of becoming a music artist?

Nicole & Scotty: Getting to see our supporters (we call them our Fellow Travelers) connect with our songs. Our lyrics have even been tattoed before. Wild. And being a part of a greater community of musicians. Just this past year, we have been blessed enough to meet and befriend so many incredible artists on the same mission we're on. As our wise songwriter friend Dorothy would say, "I hope we all make it."


Question: Can you share your socials?
Nicole & Scotty: @nicoleandscotty/
https://www.facebook.com/nicoleandscotty/
@TheMusicinMe777
YouTube
https://www.nicoleandscotty.com/
Spotify


Interview by Brooke Hunter