Nick Heyward on His 40 Years in Music | From Haircut 100 to Solo Success
1:01:11•2,559 views
Nick Heyward, the voice and principal songwriter behind Haircut 100, looks back on the extraordinary journey from Pelican West and “Love Plus One” to the band’s first new album in more than four decades.
Nick discusses his childhood, the music that shaped him, Haircut 100’s rapid rise to fame and what happened when the original dream fell apart. He also reflects candidly on depression, personal growth, his solo career and the creative struggles that helped shape the artist he became.
Now Nick Heyward, Les Nemes and Graham Jones have rediscovered the friendship and musical chemistry that originally brought them together. Nick explains why that bond survived the disagreements and years apart—and how it led to Haircut 100’s long-awaited new album, Boxing the Compass.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
01:07 The jazz and music of Nick’s childhood
02:04 Seeing Oscar Peterson and Count Basie
05:45 Growing up during the cultural explosion of the 1960s
09:07 David Bowie, identity and inspiration
13:23 Perfectionism, fear and Nick’s father
15:31 Depression, suffering and personal growth
17:01 Creativity, struggle and finding a flow state
20:42 Meeting Les Nemes at school
24:14 Learning guitar and starting a band
28:11 Haircut 100’s clothes, image and influences
32:58 Haircut 100’s sudden success
35:23 Coping with fame and the machinery of pop
38:14 Touring, exhaustion and the image of success
42:11 The solo career and Nick’s personal evolution
43:14 Would success have changed the person he became?
45:09 The second Haircut 100 album that never happened
45:51 Losing control of the band
47:15 Returning to Haircut 100 after more than four decades
47:39 How the friendship was rekindled
50:56 The new Haircut 100 music
53:15 Rediscovering the band’s unique chemistry
59:44 Nick’s final reflections
60:51 End screen
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