Check out Richard Nihil’s Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Richard Nihil.

Richard, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I am a transplant from Long Island. To describe me briefly is difficult. I have been making noise for 30 years. Music has saved my life on multiple occasions. I am epileptic, and I very much believe I have been abducted by aliens metaphysically. My first childhood memory is of seeing a ghost in the corner of my room while I was moon gazing from my crib. The first piece of music that tore me to shreds emotionally was “Adagio For Strings” by Samuel Barber. Ever since then, I wanted to disrupt peoples frequencies with my own interpretations of music. For the most part, I was sheltered musically as a child from anything but Top 40. I was a huge fan of Billy Joel, and my grandmother is responsible for my appreciation of Elvis, Sinatra, and Cab Calloway.

When I was 11, I joined a punk band and had my eyes (and ears) pried wide open to all kinds of music I didn’t know existed. Until then I had only seen people with mohawks in the movies (Return Of The Living Dead and Star Trek 4), and here they were in large groups. I had a high school band, but they wouldn’t really let me sing, just play bass and to try and not act like a fool, which is still very difficult for me. I would spend hours in the basement of my mom’s house making a horrendous mess of music because it was the only sure fire way to keep my abusive stepfather away from me until he went to work at night. It’s because of him that I trained my voice to be a weaponized instrument.

There was a time when I needed to relearn how to communicate with my hands so that I could play guitar again. Sounds weird, I know. I could remember how it was supposed to go, but my fingers were not receiving the messages I sent them. It was around this time that I dropped pharmaceuticals for cannabis, and adopted the name Richard Nihil because my real name sounds very proper and I am everything but.

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do? Why? And what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I am best known for my work as I Am Hologram. What started out as a way to regain focus and concentration became an algorithm for a specific ritual for songwriting. In 2013 I played my first gig under that name for The Bloody Basin Festival which was held at The Sail Inn (now defunct) in Tempe, Arizona. The name came from a strange parallel between myself and a character in the book VALIS by Philip K. Dick and was originally intended to be my tag for online gaming. The ritual includes playing guitar and singing, while my toes handle the rhythm section duties using a drum machine from the ’80s and a pawn store keyboard.

Since 2016, I have released 13 collections of songs under the I Am Hologram flag. Most of which are live or recorded live in the studio and feature my artwork or photography. In 2017, I started a side project called Philip Kills Dick, again influenced by the writer. In that year I released 4 EP’s and have been working on new material this past fall. 2019 will see releases from my acoustic only project Working Class Weirdo, and We Are Hologram, where I am joined by a string section and a didgeridoo. And as if that wasn’t enough, I also play lead guitar in a band called Ghost Cat Attack.

The takeaway? Nothing lasts forever, not even the bad times. My motto is “Shut the fuck up and make art!” so that is what I do because the seizures are constant reminders that my time is limited. My coupon will expire. I want to leave behind a vast trail of musical breadcrumbs, that only when assembled, you can see the whole picture. Before that though, I want to inspire others to create and to feel the freedom of self-expression. Death is my inspiration to live and motivation to give birth to songs that I may never get to see grow old. And that is beautiful to me.

How can artists connect with other artists?
If you want to make friends with an artist, just ask them about their art. And then listen.

Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
I have a website, IAmHologram.Com, that has most of my links and information. There is also an email list that you can sign up for that I will be doing more with this year. You can find me on the normal channels like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr. Each has some different content. BandCamp has all of my relevant releases while SoundCloud and Mixcloud have some rare tracks that are found nowhere else. Sometimes I get to manipulating old pictures of mine that have or have had some powerful attachment to me. Some are very personal and have great emotional weight, and others are random and comical. You can also stream I Am Hologram on Spotify, though you will have to spell it “i.am. Hologram” to find one of the tracks.

Philip Kills Dick is also on BandCamp, SoundCloud, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Working Class Weirdo is currently on SoundCloud, Twitter, and Instagram with BandCamp releases coming soon.

You have to comb the YouTube for We Are Hologram, but it is out there.

Ghost Cat Attack is also on all of the above.

As far as how someone can support. I would ask people to please tell other music fans about me. Follow me on social media, like-comment-share that whole gag, show up to shows, let me know about opportunities you hear about venues or festivals, purchase music online, wear my t-shirts, stick my stickers everywhere, etc.

I have just released my first single for the song “There’s A Light Out In Waco” under the name Working Class Weirdo

https://workingclassweirdo.bandcamp.com/releases

https://www.reverbnation.com/workingclassweirdo

Contact Info:

• Website: http://iamhologram.com/
• Email: whoisthehologram@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamhologram/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iamhologramofficial/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/i_am_hologram
• Other: https://iamhologram.bandcamp.com/

Image Credit:
All photos are by friends and family. No professional photographs used.

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