HipHopDX: That helps it lot with your production then, right?
Nicolay: Yeah, tremendously. It helps in the sense that, I don’t have to depend on just samples. I can add keyboards, bass, guitars or live drums, if I want to. And I find myself doing that more and more to a point where I don’t so much use samples anymore, really. It depends per project, though; some projects are more sample heavy than others.

HipHopDX: Do you wish other artists would use live instrumentation more?
Nicolay: Not really, because everyone does what they’re good at. There's cats that suck at sampling, and there's cats that suck at playing instruments [laughs]. I think everyone should decide for themselves. But for me personally, I know it makes my music much more interesting, with a lot more depth and variation than a lot of other stuff you hear nowadays.

HipHopDX: So how often do you play live now?
Nicolay: Not a whole lot…the last time in public was the release party of Here, in September of last year. We had a band for that one. But [I don’t play live] as much as I'd want to.

HipHopDX: Do you plan on getting in more live performances, or is it just not feasible with all you've got going on?
Nicolay: I'd love to. It’s harder budget-wise to have 5 people involved instead of 1 or 2. But I think especially in this day and age the future of music has a lot to do with live music. Recorded music really gets more and more depreciated to a point where I think hardly anyone will want to pay for it. But people will probably always go and see live music.

HipHopDX: What kind of rushes do you get out of playing live and producing? Is there one you have more fun doing than the other?
Nicolay: It’s really different for me. I think ultimately the better situation for me is the studio, because in the studio you can work on something that you can go back to and have full control over. In a live situation, you are depending on all these outside elements that will sometimes make it fantastic and sometimes make it suck. I think in the studio is where my talents ultimately come out most.

HipHopDX: Now you're stateside at the moment, right?
Nicolay: Yes sir. Wilmington, North Carolina.

HipHopDX: How often are you here, and how often are you in the Netherlands?
Nicolay: I pretty much live in the states presently, but I’m in the Netherlands visiting, probably like 3 to 4 times a year.

HipHopDX: When did you make that move?
Nicolay: May of last year.

HipHopDX: How much work had you done with US artists aside from Phonte before the move, and how much have you done since the move?
Nicolay: Pretty much only American artists both before and after, outside of the lucky few Dutchies [laughs]. Continued on page 3 »