Hometown: Edinburgh
Listen to: ‘Sunshine,’ ‘Pure Frustration,’ ‘Shine’
NANI’s early forays into music foreshadow the eclectic, genre-blending style that she has become so known for in Edinburgh’s indie music scene. After being introduced to the piano at a young age while growing up in Austria, she picked up a guitar for the first time at 12 years old, and throughout high school was a member of a prog rock band. All the while, she kept experimenting with and writing her own material, beginning to take things more seriously when she turned 17. When she arrived at university, she began to produce and release her own music in earnest.
In 2019, NANI released her debut EP Roses, which has since been followed by Pure Frustration. The latter was released following a successful kickstarter campaign, and NANI lists the EP’s release as one of her biggest achievements of the last twelve months.
“Writing and working on songs is always fun and I love doing it but actually finishing something is an issue I struggle with,” says NANI. “The feedback has been great so I’m super happy. We’ve had a couple of plays on BBC Radio Scotland’s Introducing show. Also the founder of Pitchfork (Ryan Schreiber) had ‘Pure Frustration’ on one of his public playlists which is pretty crazy. I always wonder how people come across my music.”
The COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown originally meant that NANI was forced to spend more time in her makeshift bedroom studio, which she enjoyed. But lately it has started to get to her. “More recently I think it’s been quite draining and that’s definitely had an effect on my creativity,” she says. “But then I think my best songs are the ones I write when I’m feeling down. It’s just that now I’m missing the motivation to actually finish stuff. But I think summertime will help with that.”
The way that NANI’s music seamlessly blends a range of genres and instrumentation is, perhaps, one of the reasons why her music has reached people all over the world. Her tracks cater for a range of tastes, and her gigs attract crowds with widely differing musical tastes and experiences. Although you can classify her work broadly as alt-pop or indie, NANI is careful not to label her work or sound under a certain banner. “The definitions of genre that exist are pretty outdated I think,” as she puts it. While her primary instrument is the guitar—and anybody who knows her well will likely not see her without one—she also makes use of piano, bass, ukulele and occasionally drums to layer her tracks with a rich depth of sound.
Such blending has been part of her music since the beginning. Although ‘Shine’ makes for a gentle listen, the range of instruments and variety found just beneath the vocals is a welcome treat. It is a pattern continued in her more recent singles ‘Pure Frustration’ and ‘Sunshine’, and NANI is keen to continue experimenting in the future, not nailing herself down to a certain kind of sound.
“I think my dream would be to be established enough as a musician to take the time to create concept albums that explore a certain kind of sound,” she says. “After that I’d move on to the next one that could sound completely different again.”
That being said, there is a pleasing consistency across all of her singles, the tracks sharing echoey and evocative qualities in abundance.
More than anything, NANI is driven to express herself through her music. It is a determination that drives her to perform regardless of the circumstances—even powering through one gig early last year with a suspected broken wrist. She has previously talked about how her songs are often matters of the heart and that, while she believes everyone is entitled to their interpretations, those who know her best will know her even better after listening to her music. Moreover, when performing live, NANI possesses that incredible trait of being able to reach out to the shared, emotional experiences of her audience. After one performance of ‘Shine,’ which NANI describes as being “about crushing on a straight girl… and [how] that never works out”, she revealed that one member of the crowd came up to her afterwards and told her just how much she related to the lyrics.
While NANI’s songwriting is indeed deeply personal, it has an outreach and significance that goes beyond her own self, communicating with her audience on a meaningful level in a way few musicians can.
Words by James Hanton
This article was published as part of The Indiependent‘s May 2021 magazine edition.
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