Nick J.D. Hodgson: "I suddenly thought, fuck this, I'm going solo!"

Hey Nick, congrats on the new album - how're you doing at the moment? Is life good? Life's great thanks. I did my first solo gig last night, it was sold out (55 people), and they clapped loudly, so I'm happy. Tell us about how you came to make the record. Was there a specific moment that made you think, 'Right, I'm doing this'? Well, I've been producing and writing songs for lots of different artists over the last five years, and that's fun, but it comes with its fair share of frustration and torment. I was sitting on the floor one night in March this year with a cold feeling sorry for myself, waiting for an email that never came about a song I'd written and I started fiddling around on the guitar and singing. It really was a eureka moment. I just suddenly thought, fuck this I'm going solo! Have you ever toyed with being a solo musician before now? When I was about 18, I thought I'd make solo records after being in a band. I had album titles. One was 'When Doves Literally Cry' the other was too rude to print. But since that age I never really thought I would do it, at least that's what I would say to people, maybe I protested too much. I find that often when people object to the idea of making a solo record, a solo record usually shows up.

Has going solo and launching your own imprint presented any unexpected challenges? You have to be super organised and reply to emails immediately, or else they get lost in the rubble. I have to deal with things like ISRC codes and manufacturing dates when I should be throwing TVs out of windows.