Dancing is an evocative form of expression, and Nicolas McCoppin recognizes that music is the sonic 'plus-one,' to all the impassioned stratagems connected with the action.
On 'Heaven,' the dance-pop track from the New York native's debut album, he exemplifies the carbonated buoyancy, dynamic energy that keeps dance-floors buzzing till the morning hours of the night.
'Loverboy' is Nicolas's first L.P. since his formal debut in 2019, when McCoppin was infatuating hearts over various sold-out venues across New York City, and the bubbling splendor of his progressive beats, oscillating pads, and punchy bass-lines that make a substantial case for his stardom, both inside LGBTQ community, and all over the world.
McCoppin's vocals sound prismatic and drenched in elegant sonic texture, developing the perfect grooving climate for a synth-wave bass line to buzz and vacillate as it flutters amidst synergized synth pads that flush into blithe sounding harmonies.
His ethereal tenor vocals offer an invigorating lift with the pumping jurisdiction of his contemporary Pop and House-type instrumentation—and the words he sings render him up like he's performing for a gyrating dance-floor, chaperoning the crowd into an intoxicated state of bliss. "You got a part of me now and feels good as hell," he admits, before offering up the release and rise before the flashiest parts of the hook, "cause when I'm hanging with you, I'm in heaven."
'Heaven,' as McCoppin resounds, is from a record that he's stated as representing the "truest form" of himself, a task that comes as a challenge for any artist. Yet, on this latest dance floor anthem, romance becomes McCoppin's secret ingredient for pure expression, communicating the juiciest vibes audiences demand on every dance floor, straight into the skull, wherever they might be. For Nicolas McCoppin, when he's "ripping a few 511's," it's easy to embody the type of blithe disposition he's diffusing from every melodically unhinged uproar expression that rises from his soul.
'Heaven' bounces listeners into a jaunty and flirtatious dance-floor, and arrives off Nicolas McCopplin's debut L.P. trimmed with 80s pop flair and electro-dance vibes, and flourishing as a soundtrack anywhere dancing feet might congregate.
Can you run us through the process of how you sit down to write a song like, 'Heaven'? What emotions are you channeling? Where do the melodies arrive from?
Thank you guys for having me! I’m so excited to be back. The process is always different! Sometimes it starts as a poem or with production. “Heaven” is actually an interesting story. It was the last song we did for the EP. It actually almost didn’t exist. I had a different song on the tracklist at the time. We ended up scraping that song for “Heaven”. I was on FaceTime with my executive producer Nick Trapani, and he had the idea to add another song to the project. We started working on it over FaceTime that same day and I instantly fell in love when he played the intro chords of the song. I knew it was going to be my favorite song. I co-wrote the song with Nick, as well as Heidi Rojas (who I’m such a huge fan of). The melodies came from the three of us just playing around and humming over the track to see what works! When we finished this song, it really tied together with the whole project for me. It was the missing puzzle piece.
What is something you wanted people to understand or appreciate about 'Heaven' was there a deeper meaning behind this story, maybe regarding a personal life experience?
“Heaven” is the fun and flirty side of “Loverboy”. I wrote that song about the height of falling in love for the first time. I really wanted a song that showed the fun side of being in love that some of the other songs didn’t touch on. “Heaven” actually has my favorite lyric that I wrote on the entire EP, “When I’m ripping off your 511’s”. I had that lyric in my notes app for months and when we started working on this song I was so excited to finally be able to use it haha!
Where do you see listeners enjoying, 'Heaven,' and what activity do you think might pair well with this song's vibe and energy?
Hmmm. “Heaven” to me is a very energetic and happy song. My perfect answer would be in a gay club or a house party but obviously, none of those are happening with quarantine. But besides those, it could definitely be a good workout song!
If you could give listeners a few words that would stand as a prologue to the experience behind 'Heaven' and 'Loverboy' as a whole, what would you say and why?
“Loverboy” is a project I’ve been working on for over two years now. I fell in love with a boy for the first time and “Loverboy” tells that story front-to-back. Writing and singing was my way of expressing all of my feelings and emotions through the relationship. Everything was so new to me. At the time it felt like we were the only two people in the world. So I wrote everything down. This project doubles as a love note to New York City. I’m born and raised in New York but during this time I felt like I re-discovered the city all over again. I hope you can hear my love for New York through the record. I hope anyone who listens can dance around, have fun or maybe even fall in love like I did while writing it.
What has been keeping you inspired in 2020?
2020 has probably been the craziest year I’ve ever lived through. Through all the craziness I’ve actually been more inspired than ever. With live music completely shutting down with quarantine, artists have completely shifted everything online. I feel like I’ve seen some of the most inspiring and creative music I’ve seen in a long time. So to answer the question, all of the artists who haven’t let COVID stop music have kept me inspired!