An Insight on Indie: A Conversation with Nick Wagen

Graphic by Monika Krueger

By Isabella Kooch

While browsing Spotify for some new music, specifically Indie pop, I came across Nick Wagen’s (He/Him) 2020 song, “Head High.” His tune is relatable, and his lyricism captures the exact situations that late teens and early twenty-year-olds face: Love, heartbreak, and friendship. Its lovely guitar melody and sappy lyrics were exactly what I wanted to add to my new discoveries playlist, the epitome of Indie Pop. But what is Indie Pop? And where does it begin? Although the origin of this genre was heavily lo-fi based, it has evolved to have other elements of sound. British post-punk, for instance, is influential to the sound created for rock and pop music.

After taking in more of Wagen’s music, I quickly reached out to learn more about his experience as an up-and-coming artist on the Indie scene. With a small discography of 7 singles and 1 EP, which just recently celebrated its first anniversary on September 17th, the 22-year-old from Chicago is making a name for himself. Initially producing music under a band created by Wagen and a friend, the duo teamed up and made their hit single “Confusion” in 2018, which was one of the most prominent years for Indie-pop releases. The single currently boasts roughly 3 Million streams, but “Mine,” Wagen’s recent single, has been his favorite project thus far.

In April, Wagen released his single, “Someone, Someone Real,” with Eliza, musically known as Crêpe Girl, creating one of Wagen’s most streamed songs yet and one of his first collaboration projects. Wagen has been able to begin his adventure of playing live shows, releasing new singles consistently, and is now working with Audiotree to create live sessions on different music platforms. 

Q: What made you want to start making music?

A: “In my high school, a lot of kids were into hip-hop and making beats. SoundCloud rap was huge then, so I was intrigued by it… I did some SoundCloud rap back in my day too, which was terrible! I have this theory that a lot of Indie pop artists start out in the SoundCloud rap beat-making era. It’s crazy how there’s a correlation there.”

Q: What kind of music do you feel like you make? Do you think it fits under a specific genre?

A: “I get this question a lot from family members, and my general answer is usually just Indie Pop. You could say Alternative or Bedroom Pop. Still, it’s an all-encompassing term, which I like because it gives me the freedom to explore different genres.
Q: That’s something I’ve been thinking about; when did this Bedroom and Indie pop genre establish? Because if you really think about it, it can’t be more than 7 years old.

A: “No, definitely not. I think it started out when there was that whole Mac DeMarco uprising and then Clairo. All those artists that were popular from 2016 to 2019.”

Q: When did you start producing music?

A: “I started out producing music in High School, but I transitioned into indie-pop around ‘18 or ‘19. I released my first song under Nick Wagen in 2019. I had no clue what I was doing. I was just throwing shit out, which was more fun at the time! The first song is my most popular now, which is ironic, because I never thought it would get anywhere near the number of streams that it has now.”

Q: So you didn’t have confidence in that song?

A: “I guess I did at the time. I made it with my friend, and it was originally under a band called SuperLike. It got a somewhat good reaction at first because we had been promoting it on Instagram Ads. But my mentality was like, “Oh, it’s not going to, like, ‘blow up,’” so I never thought it would get millions of streams. So I guess I just didn’t expect it.”

Q: When you were in the band SuperLike, did you guys find your Indie-esque sound collectively?

A: “It was my friend Joe and I... We started hanging out this one summer and decided to just start making music to be put out. After that, our schedules didn’t align well enough to continue making music together... I started doing stuff on my own, and this is when “Confusion” started to get a little more popular... So I asked Joe if I could transition it (Confusion) to my own artist project because it still fits in the sound I’m making.” 

Q: For your single “Mine,” is there a specific experience that led to your wanting to write this song? 

A: “All my songs are kind of all about relationships. I was promoting “Mine” on Tik Tok saying that this is a very ‘simpy’ song about my current girlfriend, who I’ve been dating for a while now… she had broken up with me for a period of time, and I had written this song, which I sent to her. And then we ended up getting back together. So “Mine” kind of emphasizes the fact that I’m a simp... I didn’t think it was going to work, but I guess it worked for her!”

Q: Was your song “Someone, Someone Real” with Crêpe Girl your first collaboration song?

A: “Yeah! I’ve collaborated with friends in the past, like with my first bandmate, but this was my first collaboration to put out. I wanted the song to really make sense. I didn’t want to just collab with someone for clout; it needed to be something I really wanted to put out. And so I had met Eliza (Crêpe Girl) through mutual friends who mixed our stuff in Tennessee… and it just kinda came about!”

Q: And for performances, how has that gone? 

A: “I had the opportunity to open for Inner Wave! It was cool; I was supposed to do three shows with them, but my bassist got COVID, so we couldn’t perform the other two. I also got to open up for Mikey Darling. They are the two sweetest dudes ever, and after that show, I realized that I want to be doing this all the time.” 

Q: How would you describe your live sound?

A: My live sound is a lot different than the studio recordings. We do everything live with no backing tracks… it really just gives it a different feeling which is fun for people who know the studio versions. We tend to amp up the energy of my songs live to make the shows more upbeat, which is something I love so much. I love performing and having the crowd match your energy and really be into it. I like to keep the tone light-hearted for the live show and really have it feel like we’re just four guys who love playing music and are sharing that with the crowd, and I just hope everyone is having a decent time.

Q: So what’s next up for Nick Wagen? Can you tell me a bit about your Audiotree live session that’s in the works? 

A: Audiotree live is something me and my guitarist and lifelong best friend Bailey Barton have always wanted to do… we’re big fans of some of their previous sessions with bands like Peach Pit, Foxing, Japanese Breakfast… So when we started playing shows in the Chicago area we decided to reach out to Audiotree and see if we could set up a session. My band consists of me on vocals and guitar, Bailey on guitar, Alex Cook on bass, and Tim Bell on drums. We've been playing together for a little over a year now and it has been such a fun experience. 

Nick Wagen on Spotify | Instagram | Tik Tok