Nikolai on national tour (From Western Telegraph)

Nikolai on national tour

The other evening I fulfilled the dream of many a local girl by having a quiet drink with Colin, vocalist and guitarist, of Nikolai. This excellent hard-working band, which rehearses at least three times a week, was in the middle of a seven night tour of Wales, supporting NME favourites My Red Cell, (nominees for best newcomer at this year's Welsh Music Awards). It is quite an achievement for one of our local bands to be chosen for such a prestigious support slot.

The tour started in snow-covered north Wales and headed south with the final night held in The Pop Factory, Porth, on St David's Day.

I caught up with the band halfway through the tour. During our intimate chat in a quiet Builth Wells pub, Colin told me that Nikolai has a single release on Complete Control this month, entitled 'Way Off The Mark', a song with big pop ambitions, which Colin described as "the catchy one that people like".

The band has been together since May 2002, and the name comes from a Japanese friend who was unable to pronounce Colin's name and so took to calling him Nikolai (yes, he has lived for a while in Japan - he's that cool).

So what's the game plan for Nikolai, I asked? "Adam Walton of Radio Wales wants us to do a session so that's coming up. Hopefully our profile will be raised with this tour, the single release and radio play. We'll keep trying to play live and spread the word. Adam Walton e-mailed us and said that our first six-track demo CD was one of the best demos he has ever received. We've sold 400 of that CD, they have sold well at gigs and in local shops". Although the band members are very much aware of their large following and of the interest they have generated, they are very grounded. As Colin explained "It's nice to walk around town and guys come up and go 'I really like your music'. The other day someone drove past playing it - times like that it kind of hits home. On stage I become the singer and I've got a job to do which I enjoy doing, but when I get off stage I'm happy to be me again".

Joined now by Jonathan (bass) and Gareth (drums) it was not long before they were revealing some of the secrets of tour life, most of which cannot be repeated, but I can reveal that Jonathan plays with his shoes off (a comfort thing) and Gareth admitted 'I'm going stir crazy in the back of the van", to which Jonathan added, "it's been the coldest experience of my life, but it's been worth every second". What came across, from chatting to all three band members, is that their musical influences show their love of timeless classics from James Brown and Abba through to the Foo Fighters and Nirvana.

And on to the gig - their set, with its trade mark cerebral lyrics and driven dirty guitar sound, was a superb blend of melody and explosion. Nikolai meshes pop/rock melodies cohesively with frenetic tangents of noise; the results - quality song writing, full of observational tension and a stunning live performance. There are few bands who play music with such absolute concentration, focus and attention to detail as Nikolai and they have in their frontman Colin, quite simply, one of the best guitarists around, ably abetted by the lyrical bass and dynamic drums of Jonathan and Gareth.

As if we were in any doubt, the rapturous response from the packed crowd showed us why Nikolai is the most exciting new west Wales band at the moment. And so I left them busy signing copies of their new single, in the capable hands of an army of new admirers.