Femmebots! I had the pleasure of interviewing Nikki Whitehead and her babelicious wives Dylan Lauzon and Nate Baylor, of Nikki’s Wives.
Starting her career as a solo artist, Nikki has been in and out of studios since she was 12 years old. After struggling for years to find collaborators who shared her aesthetic vision, Nikki found a creative home with Dylan and Nate. The trio instantly fed off each other’s creative energies and decided to redefine the project to reflect this radiant spirit, marrying three talents to create Nikki’s Wives. Their name comes from an inside joke: Nikki, Dylan and Nate all say that being in this band is the closest they will ever get to being married.
Today, the band has been featured on Fox News, NBC, Victoria’s Secret parties, Ones To Watch, Idobi Radio and so many more. To top it all off, Nikki’s Wives recently hit the road with the one and only CeeLo Green. This group is destined for big things.
Nikki exudes effortless cool with sleek style and smoky vocals. Get to know this babe a little better via the interview questions below, and enjoy a special acoustic performance of “Another Lie” made exclusively for Raw Femme.
What initially inspired you to become an artist? And, more importantly, a group?
I come from a pretty musical family, so I sorta just grew up being a singer and songwriter. I was performing as a solo artist with Dylan backing me up on guitar, and we needed a drummer for this one-off gig, so we called Nate. The show ended up going super well – each of our on-stage energies really worked together. After we got off stage, we all decided that moment that we were gonna be a band, and that’s how Nikki’s Wives started.
What are you most excited about when you visit new cities on tour?
The first priority when we get to a new city is always finding coffee – and that adventure usually gives us a pretty good tour of downtown. The best is when we have local friends who can give us an inside view of the city
Given the ups and downs of the industry, what inspired you to keep pushing to get to this point in your musical careers?
Its really just what we all love to do, and even at the worst times we’re always pushing each other. In a selfish kinda way we make music for the three of us first. We’re just fortunate that there are people like us who wanna hear it.
I absolutely love your latest EP “For E-V-E-R”. Tell us a little about your inspiration behind the writing process. And also, the significance of the name.
The writing of For E-V-E-R was a really crazy experience. We booked the studio time before we had songs written, and we had ten days to come up with something. It was also in the mid-February in Toronto, and the heat in Dylan’s apartment broke, so basically we were huddled under blankets, stoking a wood fire, and trying to write just to stay warm. We have a little secret acronym in the “E-V-E-R” bit, but the title basically just summed up the vibe of the EP for us.
Your music is easily relatable. Do your lyrics stem from personal experiences?
Yeah, everything we write has some sort of biographical significance to at least one of us. I cant really connect with the vocal if I haven’t felt the feeling first. We just change the names and places to protect the innocent.
Your sound is so eclectic. It’s apparent that you’re inspired by a plethora of artists. With that said, name one artist dead or alive who you’d love to cut a record with and why?
I’d love to do a duet with Amy Winehouse, her voice was just so iconic and she’s a total badass.
Try to define your sound using only three words.
After, party, vibe.
What do you hope your audience takes away from your live show?
We really try to play up the emotion of the songs – having people come up to us and say that they cried when we played Ghost is always really rewarding. That, and we want people to take away tons of merch so they look hot.
What are Nikki’s Wives’ future plans?
Our immediate plans are to head out to Texas for the Showdown Festival. Hopefully we get to chill with Snoop Dogg, cause we play two spots in front of him. Apart from that, more touring and writing!
Nikki, do you have any advance for aspiring female musicians?
Just to know that you’re joining a lineage of artists who have viewed femininity in their own unique way. So really my advice is to find what being female means to you and be that person, regardless of other people’s definitions.
What’s your interpretation of a Raw Femme?
A girl who can buy her own drugs.