Niq Reefman – ‘A Selection Of Musical Tales’

Niq Reefman, originally from Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia, is turning heads across the world with his self-released album, ‘A Selection Of Musical Tales’.

Niq’s fans describe him as “Tim Minchin flying a trumpet through a thunderstorm”, while they refer to his music as “One-man-musical”. His album contains elements of storytelling, jazz, folk, and electronic music, and is the culmination in a very successful 2016 for Niq, who makes his living playing festivals, vineyards, wine bars, restaurants and so on across New South Wales and Victoria. One highlight was playing the Granite Town Festival, in Moruya, on the far South Coast of New South Wales – where he was asked to join the closing band as a guest performer.

Growing up Niq was a curious child, and refused to be pigeonholed. He was blessed to have been homeschooled with his five siblings, and his piano-teacher mother fed them on a diet of classical music. Niq watched a trumpeter perform at church – and found his calling. Later he took his lyrical approach to trumpet playing and combined it with his rather jocular piano compositions.

Niq moved from Gosford to Sydney, where he studied in a castle – and found his musical influences expanded to include jazz-fusion, funk, and programmatic music – which aims to musically render an extra-musical narrative. Niq stopped composing, and instead sought to focus on a career in the orchestra, even travelling to Sweden to study with composer and lyricist, Bo Nilsson. Niq wasn’t happy however, and after two years, quit music entirely – becoming instead a wine salesman.

After a year in the world of fine food, Niq returned to composition and lyric writing, and joined the bands, ‘The Rhythm Hunters’, in Sydney, and ‘Opa Bato!’, in Melbourne. It was during this time he was given the loan of an accordion, and the thought occurred to him of playing trumpet and chords simultaneously. Since then, his music has become more electronic and story-like, as he performs on the same bills as other theatrical bands, such as 8Foot Felix, and Ungus Ungus Ungus.

‘A Selection Of Musical Tales’ is set for release on April 9, 2017. The album, of 11 tracks, takes the listener on a musical journey, with Reefman’s theatrical style reminding us of other Australian artists such as Peter Combe, Don Spencer, and Rory O’Donoghue.

Find Niq Reefman online on Facebook, Instagram, Tunecore, YouTube, and his official website.

About the author

Lisa has been writing for over 20 years, starting as the entertainment editor on her university newspaper. Since then she's written for Popwrapped, Maximum Pop, Celebmix, and ListenOnRepeat.

Lisa loves all good music, with particular fondness for Jedward and David Bowie. She's interviewed Edward Grimes (Jedward), Kevin Godley, Trevor Horn, Paul Young, Peter Cox (Go West), Brendan B Brown (Wheatus), Bruce Foxton (The Jam), among many many more. Lisa is also available for freelance writing - please email lisa@essentiallypop.com

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