TORIN NICKERSON released his debut album “Seven O’clock Sessions” September 13. (Courtesy Photo)

 

 


By EVA HANEGRAAFF

NORTH READING — North Reading’s very own solo musician wrote and produced an entire album, and he is just 17-years-old. Just last Friday, the 13th, Torin Nickerson released his debut album, “Seven O’clock Sessions.” It features six original songs, including “Nowhere Else to Go,” a song originally released as a single July 28, 2023.

Torin is a senior at NRHS this year.  He has been playing the guitar for four years and has written and played original music for three. Some of his inspiration for the album include bands such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, Cage the Elephant, MF Doom, and Tyler the Creator. “I didn’t start off with the intention of recording an album,” Nickerson explains, “I was writing just to write.”

Eventually, however, he produced songs that he was proud enough of to produce. “I wanted to have some sort of range on it,” Nickerson explains. He describes how, when putting together his album, he took into consideration a balance of mellow and high-energy songs. He labels his music as alternative rock but “there are some elements from different genres from everything that I listen to and all the influences that I’ve channeled.”

In discussing his songwriting process, Nickerson states, “I’ll normally start off with a riff or some type of chord progression.”  He says the amount of time it takes him to write a song ranges based on a variety of factors including inspiration and free time to work on it. “I get writer’s block really easily with lyrics,” Nickerson says, adding, “sometimes you just have to take the time off and not rush it.” In regards to “Seven O’clock Sessions,” Nickerson said, “everything has intention.”

For Torin, his experience is in guitar, saying, “I’m not a very good writer.”  That being said, he does admit that his songs have come to hold weight as he has worked on them.  “A lot of times the meaning will reveal itself later on and I’ll realize the song makes sense now.” One such song is “Blood Moon.” Nickerson reveals the meaning behind this song in saying, “it’s the journey of discovering yourself.”

For this album, Nickerson notes that something that he values is being able to make his music close to independently. “I do everything except for the drums because I don’t know how to play the drums,” he explains, “the guitar, the bass, any kind of rhythm or extra sound effects, that’s on there is all me.”

He wasn’t completely on his own, however.  He describes how he received a lot of assistance from his guitar teacher, Doug Batchelder. “He helped me develop my songs a lot and come up with new ideas,” Nickerson recalled, adding, “he was also my producer.”

When asked about possible next steps for his music, Nickerson says, “I would definitely love to perform live.  The only thing is, I don’t have a band since I’m a solo artist and I would have to find a drummer, a bass player, another guitar player.”

For Torin, being in a band is not completely unfamiliar. He was a member of Vinyl Hum, a modern rock band alongside Mike Del Vecchio and Brian Conlon. They performed at the Apple Festival in 2022, but have not made an appearance since then. “We just didn’t have much of a direction. Especially not one we could all agree on,” Nickerson explains. He likes being the independent decision maker. “All of my ideas are the ones that I use. I don’t have to compromise on anything,” he said.

If you’re looking to stream his music, Torin’s new album is streamable on all platforms except Apple Music.

NRHS senior Eva Hanegraaff is a student intern at the Transcript for the 2024-25 school year. She wants to use her internship to learn about the field of journalism and bring in a high school voice to the Transcript. Contact her at evahanegraaff@gmail.com with any article ideas or tips.