Nick Atkinson helped craft the album that made Lewis Capaldi a star but it’s not the platinum plaques he speaks most highly of, it’s the bond that making this music brings.
Many would see working on a triple platinum album as a huge achievement, but songwriter Nick Atkinson, tries not to dwell on it. The album in question is Lewis Capaldi’s debut: Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent.
“If I put my validation on those sorts of things I’d be disappointed more often than not,” says Nick, who has a Brit Award from Lewis.
However, where Nick does feel that sense of pride, is hearing thousands of people singing his lyrics.
“I’ve just got back from the States and I went to see Lewis in Chicago at the United Centre and I still can’t get over 25,000 people singing Grace or Heavenly Kind of State of Mind and looking around seeing people fully singing at the top of their voices and it meaning something to them, that’s a beautiful thing.”
It gives Nick the same rush that he craved when he was an artist himself.
He decided he was going to be a rock star at the age of 10 after seeing the Rolling Stones at Wembley. “Jagger strutting about, all these people screaming. It blew me away. From there I wanted to be a front man in a band.”
This is not quite where he ended up, although he did get to live that dream for a short while, with his band signing to Sony in the early naughties.
“I always wanted to have the crowd in the palm of my hand and feel that connection. Writing songs was just a means to get there.
“Myself and the guitarist were the primary writers, so when we were dropped by the record company in 2008, I was kind of floating around not knowing what to do with myself.”
But this changed was when he was introduced to singer Gabrielle Aplin, who had posted a viral cover on YouTube. “At that point, my publishing was still with Sony and they were throwing me in rooms with horrible boy bands but with Gabby, it was very much like: ‘What kind of artist do you want to be?’ and long story short I ended up with seven songs on her album which went to number two.
“That was kind of my official birth as a songwriter.
“Gabby is still singing those songs, 16 years later, she’s touring that at the moment, and I’m going to see it. It’s my daughter’s favourite album.”
He may not be Jagger, but he has made it as a writer. While creating a comfortable environment and truly getting to know the artists may not sound so rock and roll, Nick believes it is necessary to write a good song.
“My studio used to be at my house, my children and the animals were running about, and it all breaks down the barriers to where people are comfortable enough to share with you.
“How does a 19 year old girl come in and sit with 30, 40 something year old men without there being a bit of time to put them at ease and be part of their life. It’s not just part of the writing process, it’s getting to know when they’re not okay and putting an arm round them, and also knowing when they’re having an amazing time and being part of that as well. It’s therapy. All the best songs are written about real things.”
It is a vulnerable process, where honesty is an extremely valuable currency.
“Some songs fall out of the sky and some take a year. I personally find it very hard to go back once a song’s been written, because part of me believes in the moment. That a song is born of a time and a space and an energy,” says Nick, joking that he sounds like a hippie.
“But that’s why you quite often end up going back to the demo vocal, because you’re feeling the emotion, and when you try and recreate that, you’ve kind of lost that moment.”
However, writing a good song is only half the job, in order to have a hit, the artist has to go and sell it. Nick also worked with Noah Kahan in the early days of his career. He credits Noah and Lewis as having a true determination to succeed.
“Both of those guys were full of ideas and pursuing their craft, they were going after it. Whether it be coming with ideas, being on the road, working on their socials, they had a drive.
“There’s nothing more frustrating than writing a brilliant song in the studio that doesn’t get the support it deserves, and Lewis honours that, he goes out and he works his ass off. He deserves to be where he is.”
Nick traded his dreams of being a frontman, for a life in the studio. While he is no longer commanding the audience from stage, the chart-topping music he works on, allows his artists to do just that. And he still manages to get that connection he always craved, only now it is born in the studio. SA
Featured image: Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent cover credit to Lewis Capaldi on Spotify/ headshot image courtesy of Nick Atkinson
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