In bed with Chicane (well, almost)

I have never felt more spent my whole life. It was an odd feeling that I had at two o’ clock in the afternoon, a day after Manila dropped down to its knees in joy: I had in me a mix of exhilaration from a night that I surmise will make it to my top five nights ever (and I suppose to a lot of other people’s top fives as well) and a deep and almost rabid yearning to crawl back to bed. After downing a couple of iced coffees in an effort to make me decent , I was told by the band’s cute assistant with dark eyebags, that Nick Bracegirdle a.k.a. Chicane would be ready in five. Suddenly all thoughts of snuggling back to bed with the comforting coolness of airconditioned air flew out of the window. What was I thinking? I was gonna meet CHICANE! I was breathless with anticipation.

We marched up to a hotel room and there he was. I looked at Tim Yap as he had on his sleek shades and wished I wore a glammer outfit for that afternoon. Why did I have to do the Seattle-early-Nineties look for this day anyway, I asked myself.We entered the room and there he was: Nick was seated on the chair between the entertainment system and a hotel room desk. He looked fresh like a Noxzema ad (only a tad older). Maybe Oil of Olay for Men or something. He was laughing, or as the Brits do it, chuckling. He was cute in a Gary Busey sort of way. For those who don’t know who Gary Busey is, he’s the bad guy in Joel Schumacher movies.

Anyway, of course it was time to critique his morning outfit. He had on a royal-blue tee and sand-colored track pants which I immediately thought would look good on my boyfriend. He sat casually with his feet up on a chair, alternately playing with the pad of paper in front of him and pulling different areas of his shirt randomly. He beamed a sincere smile across our way. As ecstatic as we were to be in his room, Tim and I could only return a half-watt smile. We needed more coffee. I immediately panicked, this is not the time to be un-charming. So I stood there like a little schoolgirl waiting for her next set of instructions. "Go sit by the bed, it’s all easy," Nick said casually. I immediately felt like he asked me out on a date. I sat on the edge of the bed and as the introductions were made by PR hot stuff Tina Tinio, the only thing running across my mind was, "I’m sitting on Chicane’s bed, I’m sitting on Chicane’s bed!" In another effort to seem nonchalant and cool and to radiate an "I-meet -famous-musicians-and-hangout-in-their-hotel-rooms-all-the-time-in-a non-groupie-sort-of-way" vibe, I asked why he hasn’t trashed his room yet like all musical brats do. "Oh mine is under repair, I threw everything out of the window. This is Steven’s room," Nick said good-naturedly, as he pointed to his semi-cute assistant with eyebags. Oh. This wasn’t his room. This wasn’t his bed. How very anti-climactic.

"The gig last night was really great. The crowd was teriffic and receptive. I am very pleased!" Nick beamed as he recalled the night that was. Chicane Live was probably the biggest night in Manila in a long, long time. Six thousand people packed the Casino Filipino Amphitheater. A group of friends and I decided to have dinner in Malate that night, so that we would be close to the venue. It did not matter where we came from. Traffic was so bad it took us two hours to get from Malate to Casino Filipino, which on a normal day would have taken us a breezy 15 minutes. However, this was not a normal day, Chicane was finally going to play in Manila, after years and years of teasing whispers that the group was coming but never did.

For those still in the dark about Chicane, it’s fruitless to read this, we will not understand each other. You must buy their CD first, or else I will only sound like a drooling moron. Chicane is almost an addiction for me. My audio Prozac as I call it. With a six-piece band featuring a sax, bass player, keyboard artist, drum player and vocalist, Chicane performed an hour and half set that will never be forgotten by those who were there. Singapore sensation TC opened for the night and my newest crush Rowan Blades a.k.a. Breeder closed for the night. The Big Fish crew was all over the place ensuring everyone’s enjoyment and safety as well.

Nick is an artist in every sense of the word, especially when it comes to defining his brand of music. "It has been called cinematic and some things like that, but I don’t really want to be limit myself with labels. Because though it may apply to one song it may not necessarily apply to another, I do not want to limit myself," Nick states. His genesis as a musician follows the same pattern as the other big wigs, though not as tragic or heartbreaking in comparison. "Ever since I was 12 or 13 I started buying keyboards and drum machines and stuff. I went into art college and did a degree in graphic design and while all that was going on, I was in my studio and doing tracks and learning and all that. It’s very hard to break into the music business and setting up demos and nobody wants to know you. You don’t get anywhere. In the end I set up with a lot of DJs we pressed the perimeter chords, we mailed them and hipped them up. The record went top 40 back home and everything went nuts. We formed our own record company, that’s pretty much how it went back home, and its been really hard to keep up. We though all the time that its a race. That’s kinda how it happened. Its never easy to get into this business but once you’re in, you know, you’re rolling."

Nick also understands the synergy of music as he mixes them together, creating a whole different experience. "Dance music live a couple years ago was inherently very dull, you would have someone miming and a singer of something. It would look crap or just dull. It was really important to get strong visual looks and I’ve always been involved in my videos. I’ve always done the storyboards or the editing. It’s very important because you want it to represent you visually, you have got to get involved, you’ve got to get across what the music means visually. We’ve got a great team of people doing the visuals live and that’s really very important," Nick comments. True enough the ethereal and transcendental quality of Chicane’s music proved to be enhanced further with the lights and visual work of art produced by Nick himself.

It’s been a common misconception that Nick is a DJ, "I have never been a DJ. In fact, I’m pretty bad as one. I’ve always been a live musician. I always find myself listening to classical stuff but I still keep in touch with what’s modern," Nick muses.

Blame it on the Rolling Stones for painting that lewd portrait of sex, drugs and rock and roll bleeding on to artists who barely even drink coffee. Nick himself has his priorities set and barely has enough time to trash a hotel room. "It’s a job at the end of the day, I’m lucky to do what I want to do. It’s not all rock and roll and it’s an awful lot of hard work, most of the time I’m at the studio all the time. I start about 9 or 10 in the morning and finish about 10 at night, and work every day apart from Sunday. Lots and lots of hard work; it doesn’t bother me," Nick opines. "I’ve always been managed and supported by my mother. She’s my manager. I know that sounds crazy but that’s actually within the music business, you really need to have a really good team of people around you and I do. I try to have a whole life, I try to have work and Chicane studio, I have a home life with my girlfriend, and sometimes I just want to shut the door and do my own thing, you know? So it’s important to have all those things," he adds.

Don’t get him wrong though, there still are the wild moments, "I got drunk with those blue drinks before the show!" Nick says affecting a sour expression on his face. I thought to myself, "Aha, death by Agwa" —we finally had something in common. "We tried to go to this party thrown by Marcel (Crespo of Where Else?), but as we were cruising along, we kept telling the driver ‘take us to the party, where’s the party?’ and the driver had no clue, we ended up back in our hotel room. Half of the band made it though," Nick says. Marcel tells me the story of how he accosted the unfortunate half of Chicane. "They were a bit hesitant at first because they were very tired, but I just said how often are you here in Manila, anyway? That did the trick and I piled them up in someone’s car, I don’t even know who owns that car. Nevertheless we partied till nine in the morning, it was nuts!" Marcel beams. The party at Where Else? proved to be a riot as everyone partied like the Romans till ten a.m. or so. "It was crazy at the after party! Everyone was just dancing and partying like there was no tomorrow!" says one survivor from the weekend.

The interview, of course, could not end without a fashion input. " I don’t really have a fashion statement, perhaps fast cars and stupidity," he says with a laugh. Nick is an avid car lover and admits to blowing his first paycheck not on chicks or drugs, but on cars. "I’ve always had lots of Lotuses, a Lotus Esprit, a Lotus Elite. I just got a new Audi. Yeah, I’ve always blown the paycheck on cars; it’s terrible," he admits. I was disappointed, I did not want tambutso talk. I was tempted to ask him about his pants but restrained myself. I was disappointed when his manager entered and said we had to wrap it up because Nick had other people to charm.

As we said our goodbyes, I couldn’t help but notice what a cutie that Nick was. Tim told me it was just the fact that he’s Chicane. I can’t help it — I’ve always been a groupie-screw being nonchalant.

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The Chicane concert was sponsored by Big Fish, MTV and Smart in cooperation with Axe, Gravity, Close-up, Casino Filipino, and Joey 92.3.