Randy Niles at Rockwood Music Hall. (PHOTO: Patrick J. Eves)
Just a few hours earlier, Randy Niles' car wouldn’t start. He had some near break downs in the days prior, but today, of all days, would be the worse for his car to die. An amp, one guitar and two pedals in tow, Niles was on his way to an early evening gig at Rockwood Music Hall Saturday night. A slight fever pulsing, the odds were already stacked against him, but he was determined to make the show and hopped the 1, D and F train—gear on his back—and headed to the venue. Arriving early, Niles soundchecked and took the stage at his scheduled slot. “I’m Randy Niles and that’s all. That’s my name,” said the Manhattan-born, Bronx-raised singer, songwriter.
Niles is used to mishaps before, during and after shows. When driving home from a Pennsylvania gig two years ago, he found himself stuck in a torrential downpour while on the highway. For two hours, he maneuvered through patches of fog with zero visibility. “Ever see the movie The Mist?" he said. "Well, it was worse than that! I was in the left shoulder, elevated thousands of feet and alongside me was a tanker truck. I hit a patch of black ice, and my car skidded to the far left edge of the mountain. There were no guard rails, so I thought I was going over.”
He almost slammed into the tanker, which skidded out of control, but amazingly his car stopped before it reached the edge; the truck found traction just a few feet ahead, and the driver assisted Niles. “He guided me to the nearest exit where I slept in my car until daylight,” said Niles, who later heard on the news that several people died or were seriously injured in a car pileup on the same road just a few miles behind him. Luck was on his side.
Near-death experiences, bad venues, broken or lost equipment, no-shows—he’s seen and experienced it all in his14-plus years of performing, and despite these struggles he always makes a gig.
When Niles was 5-years-old, he picked up his first guitar then seriously started playing by the time he was 13. “I grew up hearing music all around me but was too shy and embarrassed to admit to people that I liked music,” he said.
A hybrid between Bret Dennen and John Mayer, Niles reveals undulating levels of emotion via lyrics like “hard to stay strong when you dig for so long,” in "Favorite Color," or love-—and love lost—in “Satellite” or a backstabbing friend in "Birds of a Feather."
Schooled on classic R & B that his mom played during her Sunday house cleanings, as a kid he'd dance and lip-sync away in his room to the music. “It was hilarious,” he said. “I started getting into Hip-Hop and began dancing at friends’ houses for parties—then rock sort of fell in my lap. Once I discovered it, I began putting those two worlds together. I found a true love for real melody and rhythm in music, which kept me digging even deeper, exploring jazz, blues and even country music.”
Various genres crossed his path, but rock stuck for awhile. He joined his first band when he was 15 and started writing music soon after. “I used to spend all my days and nights daydreaming up ideas for songs,” said Niles, who remembers being blown away when he heard Metallica’s “One” for the first time. “When I heard the melodies, the arrangement and overall message in that song, I knew this was it. This was what I was going to do for the rest of my life.”
Guitarist Kirk Hammett and Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell were huge influences on Niles as musicians. “These guys knew how to bring melody and simplicity into music that otherwise would be described as just pure heavy and loud,” said Niles. Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Wes Montgomery, Miles Davis and Stevie Wonder are some of his other influences starting out. Today, those remain tinged in Niles'’ music, which he describes as a “complementing blend of guitar melodies layered with poetically soothing vocals.”
For Niles, writing songs isn't part of a process, but everything usually starts with a some subject matter, then a melody forms. “From that point I can almost always hear the music in my head and take it from there,” said Niles. “It used to be that I needed the music to really get into the core of what I wanted to say, but as I've developed and grown more, the writing process has really changed. Now it’s more about whether I have something to say or not, but there are still times that music just pops up, and I just go with it.”
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Randy is still just going on with the night at Rockwood. He effortlessly glides through his nine-song set joined by Seeking Homer’s James Dunlop on bass for the venue’s weekly artist showcase. He added in “Satellite” from his first EP and five tracks off of his current EP Perfect.
Mid-way through the set, “I love you Randy” pierces through the boxed venue. It’s New York City comedian Sean Paul who admitted his love (or “Bromance”) for the singer. “Bromance is a scary term,” said Niles before breaking into soulful “Let Go.” Halfway through the song, Niles was lost in the words, the moment taking a passionate pause, a breath before continuing, and it’s clear Niles doesn’t just run on luck alone.
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