Like so many musicians these days, Nikki Gaddis, who goes by the name Veauxgue, started making music online at the age of 12. “ I would go online and just find websites where I could make fun beats. Then at the age of 13, I made simple beats on my musical keyboard and just wrote around what I made. It was an off and on thing for years and although I did have a studio mic around the time, I didn’t take it too seriously and didn’t do any recording. I wrote more songs throughout the years but it wasn’t until after my freshman year of college, age 19, when I recorded my first single titled ‘Thank You For Loving Me.’”
This week, the senior at the University of New Orleans drops Shadows Glitter after a two year hiatus. The singer and sonic developer says that it was depression and other distractions that led her to hit pause on musical work. And again, like so many of her generation, a new laptop and new equipment inspired her to create beats once again, composing songs “Pretty Depression Wordplay,” “Gloomy Note,” “Shadow Trip,” and “Sad Girl’s 808.”
“These four songs paved the way for my sound and was the start of a new era. I recorded ‘Sad Girl’s 808’ and released it outside of Soundcloud [last year]. [Then] I met up with another musical artist, Erth? at a premiere party for Do You Love Me? (directed by KC Simms). He invited me to attend these music nights that were being hosted in the dorms. Shortly after, we began creating more music together. This is how my first EP Hour2Kill came to life,” she explains. A year into quarantine, Veauxgue finally debuted Shadows Glitter on April 23.
The Mississippi native says it is hard to pin down who her influences are but says some of her work is inspired by James Blake and Tame Impala. As a child, Alicia Keys influenced her to play the piano. Lyrically, Veauxgue hopes to transform feelings of darkness into light.
“A lot of my lyrics come from experiences and some of them are just about learning to love yourself and being able to come out of a dark place. I do believe how an artist chooses to write about the subject does matter. Are you telling the same story or a different one? Switching things up could keep someone’s attention but also the beat you’re singing/rapping over matters as well because they help to tell these stories. So if you have different types of beats with a similar core theme in the lyrics, you’re actually providing different emotions. Writing about love in some form couldn’t go out of style because it’s always there in our everyday life, and such a broad topic; whether it makes us happy or hurts us.”
The Shadows Glitter album begins with Gaddis declaring “I call this glitter music” and admits it “sparkles” when she “gets into it” while giving shout outs to her 808s. The LP length also features the track “Pretty Song in Wintertime” with its sister track and collaboration with Erth? called “Pretty Song in Summertime.” (If you check out stories from UNO students in the know, this may just be the breakout hit of Summer 2021, as Veauxgue harmonizes over thick bass beats and slow claps.)
To check out Shadows Glitter, visit Veauxgue’s Soundcloud page here.
