Nicole Atkins and the Black Sea Interview: SXSW 2010

In the last year, Nicole Atkins has gone through a few changes. She's no longer with her band the Sea, and left her record label to go "indie." But now with a slight new band name, splitting her time between her New Jersey hometown and Brooklyn, and experimenting with an edgier sound, Nicole Atkins and her new band, the Black Sea, are ready to bring new music with the same spirit to the masses. Atkins recently spoke with Spinner as she's gearing up for a couple of New York gigs, SXSW and spending time in the studio to record her follow-up to 2007's 'Neptune City.'

Describe your sound in your own words.

Gritty and grand.

How did you get into music, and how did the whole band form?

I've been playing music since I was in seventh grade -- I've always been in bands. And I started doing my solo thing six years ago, put out the last record, 'Neptune City,' and then I'm making the new one now in Brooklyn. The sound is shifting now into a heavier, more dangerous rock-type sounding thing.

What are your musical influences?

They're all over. I guess Traffic, the Mamas and the Papas, Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, Nina Simone and Bill Withers.

Nicole Atkins and the Black Sea -- what's the significance of "the Black Sea?"

Well, my old band was called the Sea. Out of respect for the old band and as a way to keep the name, too, I slightly changed the name. The sound now is a little bit more dramatic. The Sea was a band of people, and the Black Sea is more a rotating cast of friends and musicians that come to play with me. And it's a way to let people know that I'm not going to be playing solo.

What's your biggest vice?

My biggest vice -- how much time do you have? Worrying, caffeine, alcohol, smoking, not sleeping, eating too much meat.

Who was your first celebrity crush?

It was J. Geils, the guy who sang 'Angel in the Centerfold.' I was like three, and I thought he was singing about me. I didn't know it was about a girl in a porn magazine, and my parents didn't really tell me anything different. They were just like, "Angel in the centerfold." And I'm like, "That's me. I'm an angel, and I'm in a magazine."

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

Alan Parsons Project. Lady Gaga, but not for her music. I just find her interviews fascinating. But then again, I don't really think my guilty pleasures are guilty. But definitely a lot of '70s soft rock.

The Beatles or the Stones?

I love both equally. But I think the Beatles do the Stones, but the Stones really can't do the Beatles.

What's in your festival survival kit?

These throat drops that my voice doctor gave me. You put them in steam, and they have eucalyptus in them. They're really good because at festivals, you're talking so much and singing several sets during the day so it's like steam takes the swelling out of your vocal chords. [Also] those wet wipes, Wet Ones -- the ones with the antibacterial stuff on them.

What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced while on tour?

We were getting in the van in Florida, and this guy walks into our van. And he's like, "Y'all ball team?" And we're like, "What?" He's like, "Y'all know Dan Crane." And we're like, "Who?" And then he's like, "Are y'all a ball team?" I mean, do we look like a ball team? Yeah, that was pretty weird. And at a show in New York, I got the whole Bowery Ballroom to sit down for 'Neptune City,' which was pretty cool. Like everybody could just sit down with a bunch of beer on, you know, a gross floor. 600 people sat down while I sang 'Neptune City.'