Saint Nick the Lesser Releases 'Growing up, Growing out' and Connects with Us to Discuss the Journey Behind the Album
- STAFF
- Aug 9
- 12 min read
By: Staff
Saint Nick the Lesser's "Growing up, Growing out" is a raw, soul-stirring masterpiece of growth and resilience.
Saint Nick the Lesser is back with something you won’t want to miss. The artist’s debut full-length album 'Growing up, Growing out' is a journey through years of introspection, growth, and unapologetic authenticity, and its power lies not only in the sound but in the story behind it. With raw energy pulled from the heart of punk, ska, and anti-folk, each track offers a window into the artist’s evolving self, embracing uncertainty while challenging personal limits.
We spoke with Saint Nick the Lesser about the making of this transformative project, exploring what it means to transcend boundaries, the role of collaboration in shaping the sound, and how vulnerability has woven itself into each song. From the sounds of live strings on tracks like "Amethyst" and "Cassandra" to the intimate process of creating in a studio that became a second home, the journey feels as raw as it is personal.
What’s the story behind the artist’s name, and how does it align with the music you’ll hear? What pushed them to tackle the challenges of personal growth, and what lessons do they hope you’ll walk away with?
Dive into our full interview and uncover the truth behind 'Growing up, Growing Out', an album that’s as much about facing the unknown as it is about finding yourself.
Begin Interview:
Hello Saint Nick the Lesser, we’re thrilled to have you here for this interview! We've had an amazing time exploring your music and diving into your creative journey. Now, we’re even more intrigued to get a deeper look into both your brand and your personal and professional inspirations.
Q. You’ve mentioned that the album spans a decade of songwriting. How did you feel revisiting older songs from 10 years ago and incorporating them into this project? Was there a sense of personal growth or change in the way you approached those tracks?
A. Overall accomplished. A lot of these songs had been sitting unreleased for quite some time and needed to see the light of day. I had to go back and retool a couple of them as my craft both as a songwriter and lyricist had deepened since writing a few of them, but for the most part I’d had an outline of what I wanted to do when I decided to create the album.
Q. We heard that the recording process at Sivraj Studios became a second home for you. What aspects of the studio or the surrounding community in North Hollywood felt especially inspiring or grounding during your time there? Was there anything you wished you could go back in time and do differently?
A. Honestly just the sheer amount of time spent there. We worked on the whole album for a little over 3.5 years, and I was there roughly 2-3 times per week. The regularity, coupled with the fact that over an extended period of time, we were discussing tracks describing heavy/intimate topics…you develop a sense of deep personal trust with your teammates. As far as things I could’ve done differently, I wouldn’t change a thing.
Q. Collaborating with Ryan Jarvis and Rob Maile had a significant impact on the album. What was it like having them influence the direction of your songs for the first time? Did you discover anything new about your own creative process through their guidance?
A. Challenging at first but incredibly rewarding in the end. Up to that point, I’d maintained creative control over pretty much anything I’d done, so maintaining trust and conviction in my teammates (especially when I didn’t agree with them in the moment) was an adjustment. While I had my vision, and ultimately did have final say, the choice and subsequent trust to let them practice their craft (producing, audio engineer, etc.) was immeasurable wonderfully. I’m a huge fan of the collaborative dialogue which takes place when working with other artists, and this reinforced my belief that the whole is greater than the sum.
Q. "Amethyst" and "Cassandra" are standout tracks with live strings. What was the significance of introducing that new dynamic to your music, and how did the strings elevate those songs in ways you hadn’t expected?
A. There’re a few reasons why I think they’re significant: scarcity of the instrument, driving narrative tension, and more personally, a deviation from my artistic norm. At the time, I’d written “Cassandra” with bare-bones orchestration in mind to highlight the narrative, so I was hesitant on adding an instrument which by nature draws attention to itself. Ryan suggested we add live strings as a texture, and when demoed, it added such a somber aspect to the music that we had to include them.
Regarding the personal note, I often find myself contrasting dark lyrics with happy sounding music, but “Cassandra” was one where the strings really reinforced the alignment between the aforementioned. “Amethyst” originally used a glockenspiel for the solo section, but we felt that bright strings would make for a better solo instrument.
Q. The title of the album, "Growing up, growing out," seems to reflect a journey of maturity and self-realization. How does this album reflect your current self, and how do you hope your audience will connect with that journey?
A. While it wasn’t a conscious decision, I think a natural consequence of putting out an album which has a mixture of older and newer material is seeing themes like maturation, perspective, etc., emerge. In retrospect, I can see my own path towards healing and growth, and while that’s an ongoing process (as it is for us all), I am far better able to cope with the exigencies of life in a (generally) healthier manner. At the time though, each song was in effect its own snapshot of a moment in my life where I was dealing with something in particular.
To the other point though, I think “The Tunnel” is perhaps the closest to how I aim to be at this point, and why it’s the last track. For me, it was a statement about embracing the unknown; about the choice to live in spite of uncertainty/anxiety, and how given that those two things are inevitabilities for us all, means that none of us are truly alone when faced with them. Laughing in the face of darkness with friends is essentially where I’m trying to live today. I’m still here in part because other people cared about me more than I cared about myself at certain points, and so my goal is to pay it forward. I’ve been so incredibly fortunate to meet so many kind and wonderful people in my life and am truly overjoyed by the shared sense of humanity I get to experience with them.
As a result, regarding how that translates for audiences, my personal hope is that people take what they need from it. Whether that’s potentially finding solace in a single song, enjoyment of the whole album, or just something random the algorithm sends them for passive entertainment. Whatever helps essentially.
Q. You’ve expressed a desire to connect with others and help them through your music. Have you had any moments where a listener or fan reached out to you and shared how your music impacted them? How did that affect you as an artist?
A. Absolutely-they’ve been seminal moments in my life and artistic journey, and I am eternally grateful for them. One experience in particular though will always stand out to me. I’d been up for about two and half days running around the LAX Hilton volunteering at a conference I was on the committee for and also had the opportunity to perform at. The show was awesome-enthusiastic crowd, great pit, even passed out a ton of kazoos and had everyone perform the solo section for “Amethyst” with them.
After I was done, I started chatting with people before striking everything. Someone came up to me thanking me for my music and explained to me something that’ll stay with me forever: He’d said that about a week prior, he'd picked up his sister who’d just been discharged from a 72-hour psychiatry hold. He’d mentioned that my music had been playing when he picked her up and then proceeded to tell me that she burst into tears when hearing it because she knew she wasn’t alone and didn’t have to end her life-that things would get better. Told me that it helped save her life and thanked me for it.
It was by far one of the most humbling and profound moments of life so far and made me immensely grateful.
Q. With the album's eclectic mix of genres and personal themes, how do you envision future releases from Saint Nick the Lesser? Do you see yourself continuing to blend various styles, or are you drawn to exploring new sounds as you evolve artistically?
A. Definitely! I’ve never felt too keen on limiting myself to one genre. Though a stylistic pattern has emerged which tends to move within this larger space of folk, Americana, etc., overall, I still write as the song demands/in service to it which necessitates exploration into new sonic and expressive territory.
Q. We learned that you see music as a therapeutic tool during tough times. Most people can't even admit this, but you are very open and revealing. Can you tell us more about this and what it has done for you?
A. Undoubtedly, I’ve used music as a way of processing grief whether it be existential, moral, relational, etc. Those themes are all over this last record. This is partly because as a kid, I had no other vehicle to do so. I had a ton of inner turmoil as a child, and suffered from a profound sense of alienation, existential despair/nihilism, and all the subsequent maladies which follow. Music and writing poetry (which later developed into lyricism) gave me both language and a vehicle for expressing and processing emotions which I didn’t yet have language to describe or communal support for. While I now understand that most (if not all) people experience these things to a degree, at the time, I felt I was fairly unique in those experiences, and therefore alone, broken, and essentially hopeless. Music was the first real exposure to the fact that there were plenty of others out there with those experiences and that I wasn’t alone. A large part of why I write is ostensibly to provide someone else with that same type of connection point/experience I had.
I suppose more simply: it saved my life, and I hope to possibly aid someone else the way I was.
Q. Most people love or hate social media. Where do you land?
A. Not a fan personally; if it wasn’t necessary to have a presence I most likely wouldn’t have it. This is partially because a lot of times it feels disingenuous. I’m aiming for authenticity as an artist. The lack of polish is the point; I’m trying to connect with people over real things, and I’d much rather do that at a show, or just generally in-person.
Having said that, I don’t think it’s inherently bad. Like anything, it has the potential for positive/negative uses and/or qualities. Overall, I think it’s an excellent tool for promotion, entertainment, and potential connection points-all with some caveats, and potential for misuse, misinformation, and bad actors notwithstanding.
Q. How would you describe your musical creation process? Is it more rigid and calculated, or something else?
A. I work best with daily, structured time generally. I’m generally an abstract thinker when it comes to my thought process so learning how to dance with and focus my creative energies was a bit of a game changer when it came this album. Like most artists, I have a list of phrases, lines, melodies, or concepts written down as prompts and/or song ideas for a later. If I’m not already working on something, I’ll start from one of those premises and get to work.
Q. When someone asks what kind of music you make, what’s the first thing you say?
A. I think I’d generally consider my music (at least the majority on this release) to be somewhere in the vein of folk/folk-punk, or more realistically Americana with an edge.
Q. What do you want this Album to say about you as an artist right now?
A. This is an interesting and complicated question which points to something deeper which my friends and I often discuss: artist intention and audience perception.
Aesthetics debate aside, I think I want it to demonstrate that I have both range and depth as an artist, and that I’m truly trying to connect with people over something meaningful; ideally in the hopes of inspiring someone.
Q. Do you find yourself needing to push back against trends to stay true to your sound, or do you feel like the current state of music encourages innovation?
A. I generally view art through the lens of pushing through personal limitations/exploration and less about externalities, so I’d say no, I’ve never felt the need to do that. I have, however, felt the need many times throughout my life as an artist to push out of my comfort zone to challenge myself and/or grow - it’s partly why the record is so eclectic. Collaborating with other artists has that effect as well; nurturing innovation I mean. So, to the latter half of the question, I’d say that my own desire to push my own boundaries coupled with working with others has absolutely encouraged innovation.
Q. Are there any lyrics in this track that hit especially hard for you, or sum up the heart of the message you wanted to share?
A. Yes absolutely. I think my favorite line I wrote throughout the whole record is:
“Here I am again, praying to a god I don’t believe in”.
I wrote it just before going into the solo section on “Thorazine” and for me, it encapsulates all the pain, frustration, anger, anguish, and existential hell which I’d been experiencing at that point in my life. It was an ineffable, deep-seated longing, an ache which was agonizing, but on a deeper level I think it alludes to an even greater desire for healing, hope, connection and transformation. Hidden within that line for me was the question: “Why do we suffer?”. It was my way of begging for an answer to the philosophical Problem of Evil, which is fundamentally a question which cannot be fully answered, but must be asked regardless if one is to proceed forward.
In retrospect I think it’s the arc of the album’s emotional bottom and subsequently the beginning of the climb out at the point, which is something I hadn’t considered until now.
It’s subsequently both the low point, and high point of the album for me.
Other notable lines: “The agony of hope is a march toward the unknown, which no one ever has to walk alone” from “The Tunnel”- this line summarizes the main ethos of who and what I was trying to do on the album
“…the scars on my wrists reminders, that I was always more than enough” from “21 Minutes”. I just really like the message here personally.
Q. How does performing a song like this live compare to hearing it in the studio for you personally?
A. Nothing beats live performance for me. As much as I enjoyed the recording process and love how the record turned out, I’m a performer-creative at heart. I absolutely love interacting with the audience and making them a part of the show. There’s an unmatched energy (for me at least) which is hard to replicate on a record. Having said that, the drawback is that so much of the richness found in this record was/is lost live just due to the nature of it.
Q. Now that your fans have had a chance to learn more about your project, we want to dive into something that’s just as important, your name, Saint Nick the Lesser. As we’ve seen, your fans are sure to become deeply invested in your music, and they’ll be curious about the meaning behind everything that makes up your artistic journey. So, when it comes to your artist name, how does it connect with the music you’re creating? What’s the story behind it, and what does your name represent to you?
A. Great question! It’s a bit of a long story which needs a bit of context, so here goes:
I was raised Catholic, and for those unfamiliar with that tradition, there’ve been numerous figures within the church who’re celebrated for various acts of charity, kindness, etc. Typically, these saints are celebrated on particular calendar days known as “feast days”. I was born on December 6th, which also happens to be the feast day of St. Nicholas of Myra, so my parents, who were devout Catholics at the time, decided to name me Nick.
Though not Catholic myself, I’d always felt a sense of connection to my namesake, and people would often jokingly refer to me as “Saint Nick” during shows, so it sort of made sense. I added the moniker of “…the Lesser” for a few reasons:
1. As a sign of respect, and to highlight the fact that I am far, far, away from anything even remotely resembling a saint.
2. There’s already a fairly well known Saint Nick haha
3. More than anything, I’m a regular person, and that’s who I want to connect with. To put it simply, and in the words of one my favorite artists Frank Turner: “If you’re oh-so-fucking-different then who cares what you have to say?”
Q. And finally, what’s next? We can't thank you enough for sharing these intimate details! So, what's next? Can you give us the inside scoop on your upcoming projects and what fans should be excited about? We'd love to be the first to share the news!
A. Definitely! I’ve got new material in the works I’m planning on releasing 2026.
Saint Nick the Lesser, thank you so much, we appreciate you taking the time to talk to us!
End Interview
We’re happy to have shared Saint Nick the Lesser’s exciting journey with you and uncovered such inspiring insights about their creative process.
