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10 Questions with ... Niko Moon
March 15, 2021
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
Niko Moon has seen great success as a songwriter, producer and musician, and is most recently making his mark on the world of Country music as an artist. The Texas native and Georgia transplant has penned hits for an array of artists, including five #1s for Zac Brown Band, and Dierks Bentley’s Top 20 and rising current single, “Gone.” In 2019, Moon signed with Sony Music/RCA Nashville, and in 2020, he released his debut single, “Good Time,” to Country radio. The song reached #1 on multiple charts earlier this month, and also recently was certified Platinum by the RIAA. More recently, the song has been remixed as a Reggae track with artist Shaggy, currently on Hot AC radio, and as a dance track by Swedish DJ and producer Andrelli.
In January, Moon released his “Good Time Campfire Sessions” EP, a re-recorded version of his March 2020 EP, “Good Time,” this one captured live during an outdoor performance around a campfire. Moon also recently made his Grand Ole Opry debut, performing “Good Time” as well as “Homegrown,” which he wrote for Zac Brown Band. (Moon was a member of the Electronic Dance music band Sir Rosevelt with Brown.)
During the COVID-19 lockdown, Moon turned to social media as a way to connect with his fans, and began a cooking segment, “Stir Crazy,” with his wife and fellow artist Anna Moon on his YouTube channel. As a follow up to “Good Time,” new single “No Sad Songs” impacts Country radio on Monday, April 19th.
1. Congratulations on your debut single, “Good Time,” going #1! How does that feel?
It’s unbelievable. I feel like I’m still living in a dream. I’ve always loved music since I was just a little kid. I was born into a musical family, and it’s just always been the thing that fascinates me, and I’ve always wanted to be a part of it in any way that I can. For me, the songwriting door opened up first. So I ran through that door about as fast as I could. It’s been an amazing road of being a songwriter, but I’ve always felt like I’m an artist. It was just a matter of the right time to show the world my thing and what I do. And right now’s that time.
I really wanted [“Good Time”] to be my first song because it really kind of sums up my heart, in the sense of I’m a simple dude, and I just want to make people happy. With “Good Time,” people have taken that and ... this has kind of been a stressful year, and being able to give people some music that, in a way, has been like a little minute-and-30-second vacation that you can go on, it just makes me so happy that I can be that kind of artist for people to bring happiness to them. It’s a dream come true for me. I just feel so blessed and fortunate that the world and Country music fans everywhere are embracing what I do. It just makes you feel really validated and appreciated, and it’s a great feeling.
2. What has it been like working a debut single up the charts when you couldn’t be on the road supporting it, and how did you stay in touch with radio during that time?
The entirety of the song being out has been during this [pandemic] … It went to radio March 16th [2020], the week everything happened. So literally, the entire life of “Good Time,” as far as being on the radio, has been during COVID.
I just feel so thankful for Zoom. I don’t know who invented it, but I’ll just shake their hand, because it’s given me the opportunity to reach out and be able to meet all these awesome radio stations all across the country and get to know and thank them for taking a chance on me and taking a chance on playing it. And me as an artist to all the Country music fans, I don’t know what I would’ve done without Zoom, honestly, because, without that, I couldn’t have met everybody.
3. You’ve now done a collaboration with Shaggy for “Good Time.” How did that come about, and what was that working experience like?
He reached out and said that he had heard “Good Time,” my version of it, and really dug it and wanted to do a Reggae remix of it. I just thought that was awesome, ’cause I’ve always thought of Reggae music as just being all about good vibes, having fun, and that’s really what “Good Time” is all about too.
I wanted someone who was going to remix it to be someone that no one saw coming. I didn’t want to do anyone obvious. I wanted to really surprise people with whoever it was going to be. And I thought Shaggy was perfect for that because everyone knows Shaggy. Everybody knows that voice, and he’s so cool and so synonymous with good times, so I just thought it was perfect.
4. You have said before that you only want to put out music that is positive and uplifting, and “Good Time” is certainly a great example of that, and is your next single, “No Sad Songs.” Why did you decide to go in that direction, and what happens down the line if you write an emotional power ballad about a sad topic that you want to share with the world? Is there still wiggle room for that?
I’ve written a lot of sad songs, a bunch of them, and I love a good sad song. I think “Whiskey Lullaby” is one of the best songs ever written in Country music. For myself though, as an artist, I feel like it’s just my purpose, my place and kind of my calling to make fun, Country music. As a writer, though, I love writing all kinds of songs.
I’ve actually got a song that I’ve written recently that I’m in the process of finding a home for. I’m just trying to find the right artist that I think would be right for it, and it’s, like, the saddest song you’ve ever heard! It’s so sad, but in a great way. We need sad songs, too. There’s songs for all those moments in life, and sometimes you need a sad song because that’s the moment in life that you’re at and that’s what you want to listen to.
I’m that artist for those moments where you’re just feeling great, and that’s the kind of music you wanna listen to. Country music needs all of it. My kind of music would just be one sided. I’m so glad that there’s other artists out there that are making all kinds of music, other artists that focus a little bit more on that [sadder] side of things, too. We need those artists. I’m just doing what I feel is what I’m supposed to be doing. But yeah, I do write some sad songs. I probably won’t be releasing them [myself,] but I’ll write them for others.
5. Can you elaborate a little more on what the transition been like for you going from songwriter to Country artist?
It’s been amazing. I’ve always felt like an artist … because I love people. I love connecting with people, and when you’re a songwriter sometimes it can be a little lonely just because you’re usually cooped up in a studio every day. Being able to get out there and connect with thousands of people face-to-face has just been something I’ve always longed for and wanted to do. It’s been amazing.
For me, the most fun part of the live show is, after the show, when I get to go out and I tell everybody, “Hey, meet me at the merchandise before you leave and just say ‘Hey.’ I want to thank you for coming.” That’s my favorite part. I love meeting everybody, meeting the people that dig what I’m doing and support me and give me this life. Because without them there, I’m just some dude in my house playing for myself.
6. Speaking of songwriting, how did you start working with Zac Brown Band?
I actually played at this little bar in Carrollton, GA -- which is where the University of West Georgia is -- a long time ago. I opened up for the Zac Brown Band there. The place is called The Mansion, but it wasn’t a mansion, so it was a pretty ironic name. It was actually just Zac playing solo, acoustic. This is before “Chicken Fried” came out. He was just a really popular local guy who was on the cusp of blowing up.
I opened up for him and he stood at the back of the bar and watched me. And then, after the show was over and the place emptied out and it was pretty much us and the bartenders, we were just kind of sitting at the bar and talking and getting to know each other. He was like, “Man, would you ever want to write sometime?” So the next week I went over to his house and we wrote a song, and it turned out great. That was pretty much the start of a really cool collaborative friendship that we’ve had. We’ve written a lot of songs together and we’ve had five #1s and probably 40 something released songs together. It’s been cool.
7. What was the inspiration behind the “Good Time Campfire Sessions” EP, and what was it like recording that?
I wanted to redo the [“Good Time”] EP, but do it in a way that felt like you were sitting around a campfire and hanging out, so it felt very raw and acoustically driven. I wanted you to be able to hear the crackle of the campfire in the recordings so that you felt like you were almost sitting there, because the songs on the EP, and just in general the songs I like to make, I think of them as being communal Country music in the sense of, they’re the kind of songs you want to listen to with other people. They’re cool to listen to by yourself, but you really want to share it with people and listen to it with people. I wanted to do “Campfire Sessions” so that you got that feeling that you were with people while you’re listening to it, you were sitting around a campfire, hanging out.
8. Congrats on your recent Grand Ole Opry debut. What was that like?
It was epic. That’s really the best word I could think of. I put it like this: Every Country artist that’s ever meant anything to me, that’s ever influenced me, stood on that stage and played. Literally every single one. There isn’t one that hasn’t, so that’s the power of the Opry. It’s the legacy of it. No other genre of music has an Opry, a place where every legendary artist who’s ever been in that genre has played. We’re so blessed and fortunate to have an Opry.
So as an artist, the weight of that is super heavy, and to get the opportunity to be able to stand on that circle of wood where every hero you’ve ever had in Country music has stood is the most special moment. It’s something that I wish other artists in other genres could experience what it would be like. Imagine a Rock artist standing somewhere that Hendrix and Clapton, and The Eagles, Led Zeppelin and every gigantic Rock band and Rock artist has ever been on. David Bowie and Prince, you know, it would just be overwhelming to get that opportunity. It was really special.
I wanted to do a solo acoustic because I just wanted it to be all about the songwriting and the song itself. I [just played there again on March 13th], and will again in April [24th]. I’m really excited that they’ve asked me back for a couple more shows, and it’s a place that I will play until they’re sick and tired of me.
9. You and your wife, Anna Moon, have spent a lot of the quarantine downtime cooking together on YouTube. How did your “Stir Crazy” cooking series come about, and what was the reaction from your fans?
It all started when I had to cancel my touring in the middle of March of last year. I felt so bad about that, that all these people who had just found out about me, because I had just come out [with “Good Time”] … I felt so bad about having to cancel those shows, but I had to do it. So I was like, “How can I still stay connected to everybody, even though I’m at the house?” So I started doing my shows every Monday where I was kinda just playing live music from my studio. And then I wanted to do “Stir Crazy,” which was more focused on, not the music, but just hanging out, spending time and really developing almost like a friendship with everybody. I wanted Anna to do it with me so that it really let everybody into my regular life outside of music.
And we love cooking. I’m not a good cook by any means, and to me, it’s not even really about the cooking. It’s more about the hang. Getting in the kitchen is an excuse, because the times I enjoyed the most of just having people over and hanging out were all in the kitchen, making food, getting up some grub to eat and just small talking. So that’s where I want it to be centered around. So much of a home is centered around the kitchen and breaking bread with everybody, and you really get to hang out and spend time with people [there]. So that’s how it all started, and it’s been awesome.
I feel like I’ve gotten to have a deeper connection with everybody because of it. When you play a show, it's an amazing experience, but to a degree it’s kind of one-sided, because I’m onstage and performing and we’re connecting and having fun enjoying music together, but I’m the only one with the microphone. It’s not exactly like I could stop in between songs and have a conversation with people in the crowd beyond just a little bit of interaction … This a more intimate way of hanging out, and it’s more personal. My people can ask me questions and I can answer.
That is something I’m going to continue, even when live music gets back going. I’m going to keep doing it, even if it’s on the road, just like cooking up some food on the bus and stuff, because it’s just a different thing.
It’s all about the fans. It’s always going to be fans first, and that’s why when I do my lives, I play my unreleased songs a lot. That’s why “No Sad Songs'” has just been released, because I play my own songs and I ask [fans], “Which one do y’all like the most?” And then whichever one I get the most DMs on and the most comments on, that’s the one I’ll release next, because I want to put out the music that they like. And what better way to find that out than just to ask them?
I’m so invested in the songs. They’re all my babies and I love them all the same. It’s hard when you’re inside the bubble because, when a song gets done, I’ve probably spent at least a hundred hours working on it. Between writing it, engineering, it, producing it, mixing it, mastering it, I’ve heard it so many times that it’s hard to have perspective anymore on the song. I just know that I love it and I want to put it out, but everybody else is hearing it for the first or maybe second time, but it’s new to them. They’re able to really give me that feedback and let me know.
10. You were recently presented an RIAA Platinum plaque for “Good Time” by your label and management teams. Were you truly surprised when you got that, and how did it feel to go Platinum?
I was really, legitimately surprised. They [first] got me when I was talking to [CMT’s] Cody Alan on a live with him, and he was like, “Man, go to your front door. I sent you something.” I was like, “What? How does he know where I live?” I opened the door and there was the head of my record label with the Gold plaque. After that, I was like, “Man, I’m never going to ‘get got’ like this again. I’m going to see it coming the next time.” And [then] they got me again!
They got me by telling me that they wanted to shoot some video content for “Good Time.” So they had me drive out to my manager’s house, because he’s got this amazing property on the river. I just pulled up and walked around to his backyard, and there was, like, my entire record label, everybody, and my entire management team. It was just the whole squad. And then the head of my label walked up and showed me the [Platinum] plaque. And I was like, “I can’t believe y’all got me again,” but it was beautiful.
I can’t fathom a million people. I can’t wrap my head around a million. I’ve realized that my [mental] limit is 50,000, because growing up as a kid, I’m from Georgia, I always went to the Braves games, and the stadium held 50,000 people. So I know what that looks like. I can see 50,000 people and put my head around it, but I can’t see a million people in my mind. I try to imagine what that would look like if that was a stadium of a million people, and I can’t. It’s too big of a number for me. It’s really overwhelming, and I just feel blessed. I feel so fortunate that that many people listen to my music. I don’t even know how to process it. It’s something that I’ve dreamed about my whole life. Being able to make music that people resonated with and connected with, and the fact that it’s happening now, it’s such a beautiful thing. It’s something I’m never going to take for granted.
Bonus Questions
With your wife also being an artist and songwriter, what are the upsides and also some of the challenges of having two artists in the household?
We met each other because of music because we had this really deep respect for each other as songwriters and as artists on our own. It’s really been a part of our relationship from day one. I personally really enjoy being married to a musically creative person. She can really understand me on that level, that aspect of me, because she’s a musical creative as well. I think it’s great. We kind of don’t have an on/off switch for, like, “All right, we’re husband and wife now. Oh, now we’re writing a song or something.” We’re just kind of interwoven into the fabric of just our lives that we live. It’s unique, but it works for us.
As far as like the challenging part, it’s interesting because there’s never really been an issue or a challenge or anything like that. In fact, it’s really just been nothing but a benefit, really.
What was the inspiration when you were writing “Good Time?”
When I first sat down and started writing that, the guys that I was writing it with, we all started talking about how we all liked to fish. “Good Time” is more than just a song for me. It’s like all my music was really centered around that sort of motto of having fun and having a glass half full, positive, upbeat, fun Country music. I just had that idea of the last line of the chorus, “Like a bobber on a wet line, I’m just trying to catch a good time,” and that’s where it all started.
I was thinking about how sometimes you gotta kind of make your own good time. Sometimes you can’t wait for it to come to you, you gotta come to it, kind of like facilitating a good time. It was painting this picture of, to me, what a good time would be. It’s like, you kept the campfire going and you call up your friends and you sit down and hang out, get some drinks going, and you play some music. You do these things and make this moment that’s just really enjoyable and memorable where you can just hang out and have a good time with your friends.
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