PDBY caught up with Pretoria-based musician, Nicola McLeod. McLeod describes herself as a quirky go-getter who is passionate about what she believes in. She also says that sometimes she can be blindly optimistic and that this optimism has often pointed her in the right direction. McLeod is a full-time musician who also offers singing, ukulele and guitar lessons.
On top of this, she also acts and runs a pet sitting business. While McLeod has her hands full, she could not imagine it any other way. She states that she is “scared of conforming to an office job” and that if she had to “do the same thing at the same desk just, [she] thinks [she] would go crazy”.
How did you get into music?
As a kid, I was inspired by what I heard on the radio and what I saw on television. I started teaching myself to play guitar and it went super well and I absolutely fell in love with it – that is how I really started. I think I was four or five and I heard Britney Spears on the radio. I am completely obsessed with Britney Spears. For literally every Christmas all I wanted was a Britney Spears album. I would just listen to her music all day. I started dancing competitively when I was five and I just wanted to be one of Britney‘s dancers or one of her backup singers. And then I wanted more. I wanted to become Britney Spears. I have always known that this is what I wanted to do. When I had almost finished primary school, I was obsessed with Hannah Montana – okay well, Miley Cyrus. I still am and I still strive for that authenticity and artistry that she always portrays. I feel like that is the one true way of showing your artistry, being unapologetically authentic.
What is your creative process like?
If you can first play a melody from some kind of instrument and then put that melody into words – that is where the magic is. It does not matter exactly which way you go about it but for me, that is where it starts. Just having the freedom to say what is on your mind and making a melody out of it. […] I have a digital notebook on my phone and every time I have an idea, I just type it out on there. I also have a physical notebook at home where I physically write down all of my ideas from the digital notebook. If what I have written sticks to a certain theme that I already have in the notebook, I will add it to those lyrics. When I eventually go back to the lyrics and I add in the melody, the song kind of speaks for itself and it just becomes what it was supposed to be, I guess. I also like to make up stories and scenarios and then write about those […].
How would you describe the South African music scene and your experiences with it?
I would say that there is still a lot for me to learn about it because there are so many cultures in this country and so many different genres of music that there is absolutely no way that I could know everything about it or every musician. That’s one of the reasons I love to do collaborations because they always teach me a lot about music and culture. I would describe the South African or African musicians as expressive. I definitely don’t feel like we are easily put in a box. We’re all free to express our cultures and music, which is beautiful. The Pretoria/Johannesburg music scene, where I’m at right now, is full of very supportive people – we are a community. I think we help each other a lot and help to get each other’s names out there. We support each other, especially online. I know it fills me with pride when I download my friends’ EPs and I know they support me as well.
What have some of your favourite live performances been?
I would say that the most nerve-racking one was in 2013 at the Pretoria State Theatre. I was in a competition where they picked 15 high schools and you had a competition in each high school and if you were in the top ten, you would go to the finals in your school. If you won the final, then you would go as the winner of the school and compete against the other 14 schools. So, I went through as a winner which was insane! It really built my character and that kind of helped me to break through that nervousness. It was such a big opportunity and from there I just really started enjoying performing instead of overthinking it. The most unexpected one that I really enjoyed was called Sunburn and Wonder, we opened for major artists like Jeremy Loops and Matthew Mole, to name a few. It was in 2019. It was truly the best performance because of all the experience I built up and all the musicians I met. They were all super, super nice and I made some good friends in the music industry like Johnny Apple – he is a super awesome guy, and he is so talented. Little Ringo was also there that day – they are amazing. Yeah, it is honestly just so amazing getting backstage seeing what it actually takes to pull off a festival like that. But I would say that some of my favourite performances ever have been at Fokof Bar’s Bar Acoustic. They are my favourite because my partner, Jeandré, and I actually run bar Acoustics.
Where would you love to perform someday?
Oh my word – The Grand Ole Opry! I would love to perform there. But more locally, I would say that my big dream is to perform my original music at Park Acoustics
What is it that makes performing live so special?
If people really respond as I said in [a] previous answer, to your music it is incredibly rewarding. As an artist you want people to respond to your art and to actually be interested in it and want to know more about it. So, it is extremely rewarding when you are performing live and people respond to that. I would also say that the endorphins are released as when you are actually standing up there singing your heart out, are unmatched. It is so different to when you are alone in your room playing. It releases so many happy hormones and I think that is why I love it so much. It is just this expression of pure love for music, singing and playing instruments. It is such a simple thing, but it is so amazing because I believe that people communicate through music.
Do you have any upcoming projects that we should look out for?
Yes! I am looking at working with a few people at the moment. I mean I am obviously also always quite busy with our Bar Acoustics project. That is sort of a weekly project, we have to book artists and make sure the posters are ready, sort out pictures, send out invoices, basically the whole shebang of running an event. But the big project that I am currently working on is an EP with Kyle Botha from Joy Club Cassidy Cassidy, they are a punk band. He actually just graduated in music last year and he is brilliant, absolutely brilliant. We have been working on my EP together where we authentically do everything ourselves. All the instruments, the vocals, the song writing, everything is done by Kyle and I. It is a singer/ songwriter/country style EP. It is very close to my heart and I am very excited about it. I feel that it is the most authentic I have been. I am also looking at working with some bigger pop artists out there. I don’t know if I should say anything yet because it’s kind of up in the air right now. But yeah, it is in the pipeline. So yes, there is a lot going on.
If you could work with any musician (dead or alive) who would it be and why?
Miley Cyrus. I think everything about her is brilliant! Her artistry, her authenticity, her voice, her song writing, and even the way she uses the instruments in her music – everything. She is truly remarkable! Locally, I’d like to think realistically in a sense of people I could actually make music with – people in my community. I love Bianca Blanc’s voice. I would love to sing with her, and I would love to write with Martin Gill, he is an amazing writer. I would love to do an original with Janie Bay because she’s really doing something in the pop industry and she’s really working hard at it which I really respect. She’s always pushing hard and hustling in the female Afrikaans pop industry which isn’t always easy. Then, just for fun, a late artist I would have loved to work with would have to be Elvis. That’s super far fetched but yeah. His music is just so much fun. I would’ve loved to just play music with Elvis
What life lessons have you learnt from being a musician?
I know there’s a saying [that goes] ‘fake it till you make it’, but I think that is actually about confidence. If you’re not feeling that confident, fake the confidence. But otherwise, I think that authenticity is the most important part of being an artist. Do it because you love it. I can’t imagine myself doing anything else. I work hard at this and I might as well enjoy the journey and not only focus on the endpoint. Another major lesson that I have learnt is to take rejection as constructive criticism. Sometimes it’s hard to pick yourself up from that and that’s okay but try see it as a learning curve.
You can catch Nicola McLeod at Bar Acoustics on Wednesday evenings. Be sure to check out the Bar Acoustics Instagram (@baracoustics) and Facebook (Bar Acoustics) pages for details. You can find Nicola on Instagram (@_nicolamcleod_), YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook.
