S Y N C O P I A

Described as “Peter Gabriel meets Joseph Campbell”, Rick Nichols entwines his world-music-making with his energetic teaching, and forges a whole new approach to performance and education that is both inspiring and enlightening. His new project SYNCOPIA, is an innovative cutting-edge world-music program offered in a number of formats, and is designed to unleash people’s creative passion and open up interactive participation to artists and performers. Whether as a live interactive world-music performance, a master-class seminar, or extended residency, the SYNCOPIA experience is designed to unlock creative passion and amplify collaboration and self-expression. Perceived as a life-style choice for 21st century creative free-lancers, the project message and experience inspires participants to be unstoppable in speaking and living their truth.

With over 30 years experience in music production and education, building recording studios, forming bands, offering workshops, producing music CDs, multimedia projects and live events, Nichols’ work reflects a consistent commitment to inspiring and connecting people for increased levels of personal expression and creative impact. Rick has recorded and produced hundreds of musicians from around the world in all styles of music for demos, record releases, radio shows, and soundtracks, while developing inspirational programs that promote personal growth and creative collaboration.

An award winning musician, producer and teacher, Rick Nichols has built his life around uplifting people through music and sound. Originally from the sea-side village of Padanarum, Massachusetts, now based in New York City, Nichols has been a musician, producer and inspiration to many for over 30 years. After graduating from Harvard College in 1986, Rick pursued a short career in architecture before shifting his focus back to music. Writing and producing since 1977, Nichols performed in clubs and venues throughout the Northeast and abroad, and to date has released five albums of original self-produced material. Expanding the scope of his work, Nichols built several recording studios and began producing other musicians and artists in Boston, and later in New York City.  He created an artist networking group for adults, and a music recording workshop for children which enabled them to record and produce their own CDs. Nichols has taught sound and music production in Boston at Emerson College and Massachusetts Communication College, and in New York at The Institute of Audio Research, SAE School of Music Production, and New York University. In 2004 he founded LINKING-POINT, a project dedicated to connecting artists and musicians. Rick’s latest project, SYNCOPIA, is the culmination of a long-developed vision to ignite creative expression, by bringing together his many years of work both as a music creator and educator.

A 2008 Two-Disc Set Release: Synchrony-1
The product of a two year long voyage, Nichols’ recent two-disc album Synchrony-1 is the result of a creative journey that began in audio school classrooms in Greenwich Village in 2003 and traveled some 5,500 miles in a bus from Seatlle to Mount Shasta through Sedona and Hopi Land and back to Manhattan. Blending the sounds of more than 25 world musicians and over 20 field recordings, this innovative double-CD reflects a world harmony that crosses traditional musical boundaries. Disc-1 is a high-energy percussion-driven collection of world-rock songs, while Disc-2 is a meditative journey through real-world soundscapes and drone textures. For a unique listening experience, the two CD’s can be played together at the same time.

Photo by Jahmani Perry.

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