Artist Spotlight: Nicholas Hamilton

Born and raised in the legendary music town of Byron Bay, Australia Nicholas Hamilton is a rising Hollywood star and social media influencer.

Known for his roles in It (2017), It Chapter Two (2019), and Captain Fantastic (2016), Nic released his debut single “Different Year” on January 8th. After less than a week, the track already counts over 25k streams across various platforms and has seen a growing enthusiasm and engagement among fans and new listeners.

We sat down with Nic to hear more about his debut in the music industry, the role that social media play in his life, how the pandemic has affected his career and his future projects.

When and how did you get into music?

I’ve been an actor for almost 10 years now, so my life’s revolved around entertaining and performing for a long time. I love acting but I’ve always had a special affinity for music. It was only a matter of time until I started writing my own, which came at the end of 2018 when I wrote my first few tunes with my guitarist, Ben Kuhl. I moved out to LA from Australia pretty soon after that, and I’ve spent the majority of my time there ever since either auditioning, filming, or writing music. When COVID hit, those first two things went away for a little bit, and I was faced with purely writing songs, which eventually turned into recording and, now, releasing them.

How does it feel to have your debut single out in the world?

It's genuinely insane to me that I’ve actually got original music available for people to listen to. It’s been a dream for so long so it’s an incredible feeling. Even seeing reviews weird me out. Seeing reviews of movies I’m in doesn’t hit as hard as seeing them for something I crafted from the bottom up. It just feels so much more personal all-round.

How would you describe your style?

I think I lie in the chill, bedroom pop genre. I’ve always been a fan of writing, what I call, sad boy pop. A mix of innocence and despair, I guess. If you’re talking fashion style that’s where things get really crazy. Get this, black jeans… black shirt. I’m pretty wild.

What makes you unique?

I’m not sure that’s for me to decide, and even if it was, I don’t have nearly enough life experience to determine that. I guess it would be that I’m still very young but there are a ton of kids that are younger than me that are more successful. If you asked my friends, it would be that I’m an Australian in the states, but there’s millions of us, so. I genuinely don’t know if I am unique… and I think that’s okay? I fit in with the crowd but I try to look and sound damn good doing it. Not sure if it’s working, though.

What has been the greatest hardship in your career thus far and what helped you overcome it?

Again, somewhat un-unique, but Covid. I really struggled last year and I’m really struggling now to keep up appearances, career-wise. The most frustrating thing with it all is that the fact that I’m not filming anything isn’t my fault. Whenever I’ve had periods of time where I wasn’t so busy, it was because I wasn’t doing well enough, or trying hard enough. Now I feel like I’m working the hardest I’ve ever worked, and the world’s come to a halt. I have multiple film projects signed and waiting to start, that just can’t shoot because of Covid, which is why I started focusing so hard on my music. I needed something to channel my passion for entertainment into, and to vent all my frustrations at the same time. Writing songs and releasing them is my way of killing two birds with one stone.

When did you move to LA and how has it affected your life?

I moved out here at the beginning of 2019, when I was 18. It was always the plan to move to LA right as I graduated high school, and my little premature ass did that. I don’t regret it, though. If moving to LA at such a young age has done anything for me, it’s forced me to grow up faster. I’ve gone through multiple relationships and apartments and life events that have made me more mature, I’d like to think. But, at the same time, I thought I was mature then, so there’s almost no doubt that in 2 years I’ll think the same thing about my current self.

Tell us more about "Different Year”. What was the creative process behind it?

I wrote “Different Year“ with Britton Buchanan, another fish out of water in LA. He grew up in North Carolina then moved out here, and I started in Australia. So when we started writing a song about how we were feeling last year, we had a ton of similar thoughts about it all, experiences we’d had being, essentially, alone during a pandemic. It turned into what is, essentially, a diary of last year and how it affected both of us. I flew out to New York to record the song and some other tracks on the upcoming EP in November of last year. I linked up with Arthur Pingrey to do so, who’s a legendary producer who has taken me under his wing. Super super grateful for that man.

What role does social media play in your personal and professional life?

Oh, a huge part! It’s borderline impossible to get any success nowadays without utilizing social media to your advantage. Posting on Instagram and TikTok and Twitter aren’t just ways to engage with my audience, it’s also how I promote things, how I test certain things out, how I tease things. It’s a massive part of my life and career. I’m lucky I love my phone so much.

What are your projects for the future? Are you working on anything new at the moment?

More music! I’m releasing stuff all throughout the first quarter of this year and beyond. Hopefully, I can film some stuff soon too, I’m a big fan of doing that. I also love everything about creating music, so the more I can do that, the happier I’ll be.

Follow Nicholas on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | TikTok | Spotify