“There was always music around the house,” she recalls of her upbringing. Her English father, whose own troubadour nature led to a university friendship with folk icon Nick Drake, would play his favourites – Randy Newman, Bob Dylan – while her Swiss-French mother appreciated the intricate compositions of John Lennon and Kate Bush. Wells first began writing her own songs aged six, then, when the family moved to the Cotswolds when she was 10, got into Singer-Songwriters. “I wanted to be a singer,” she admits with a laugh. Aged 16, she was offered a choice between the renowned Brit School or the prestigious McDonald College in Sydney. Choosing Australia, she flew to the other side of the world, staying with family friends, and immersed herself in the city’s rich local music scene.
"It was around this time that she stumbled upon the music of Nitin Sawhney.“His melding of East and West made complete sense to me,” Wells says. This artistic appreciation was returned around the time when she studied at the Academy of Contemporary Music, where she was introduced to Sawhney by award-winning producer Pete “Boxsta” Martin. “Nitin came into the studio and I sang an ancient Sanskrit hymn,” she recalls. “He asked me to do a gig with him that ended up being 10 years of touring and all kinds of work… that was basically my university.”
https://www.nickiwells.com/about
Nicki Wells - You're Alright Kid (Official Music Video)
The Italian Key - Sigh by Nicki Wells
Nicki Wells - Black is the Colour (cover)
Nicki Wells - Never will
Durgati Harini - Nicki Wells
Nicki Wells - La Neige
