Walle On The Writing

Reach out and touch…

e’ve said it before and we’re about to say it again – Nicolaas Walle is a young man out of time…

Here’s a musician who, not unlike fellow Greystonian rocker Dylan Crampton, really wants to party like it’s 1973.

The man loves his prog rock, which is often the case when you’re dealing with a multi-instrumentalist who can create entire soundscapes in their bedroom.

Worked for Boston.

Having first popped up on our radar after winning the Guide’s gone-and-largely-forgotten Battle of The Bands in 2019, Walle has been keeping himself busy ever since, with a spate of releases – most of which you should be able to find on Bandcamp right about here.

The latest release is Tree Green EP, featuring local singer Sophia Malaika, and is the second of a trilogy of conceptually-linked singles.

Here’s the lowdown…

The concept, which started with the release of Rust Red on July 7th 2023, is to fuse elements of explorational and exciting progressive rock bands of the ’70s with contemporary stylistic elements and more modern commercial tendencies in order to make a sound which sits comfortably in the modern music context of 2023 whilst still preserving some of the creative ethos of bands such as YES, Camel, Rush and other prog rock bands who have influenced Nicolaas.

In the example of Tree Green, this process was aided by collaboration with singer and songwriter Sophia Malaika, whose own influences help to vary the sound and add balance and range to the style.

The two songs include Sun Coming Up On My Life and Silent Conversations.

“The former is about the feeling of having a trajectory of positive change in one’s life and being grateful for it,” explains Walle. “On the flip side, Silent Conversations is about the sometimes-overlooked significance of love, how it is not always expected, and how it is treated differently by different people – and not always always as carefully as it could be.”

Sounds like a certain someone might have gotten his heart broken.

You can check out Nicolaas Walle’s website right about here, and jump back to that 2019 interview here and explore his influences here.