Interview:

1. Hi Nick, how are you?
Well I'm interested in many things from your long career. Let's start at the beginning. You formed a band called Serpent. You released 7" vinyl in 1978. What do you remember from those years?

Nick Riff – "The Universe Is Mental" (Riffdisc 2011, Riffdisc 004)

And with that long of a resume, it also means that he has created quite a discography. By this point in his career, Nick Riff has amassed a collection of recordings that adds up to almost twenty-five releases, some of which were compilations on which his songs were included.

His voice is a rather thin tenor, but Riff's intonation is dead on and it fits the character of the music quite well. the one caveat is the presence of drum machines and other occasional synthesised sounds which make this one-man band possible. While it is clear that Riff is heavily into the psychedelic sound, it has been processed and filtered through his experiences with new-wave, punk and alternative rock (in the 80's he was in a group known as the Attitude).

As in such music, Riff often employs an austere, stripped-down texture and sonority, though the rip-snortin' fuzz guitars keep the music from becoming anaemic. This results in a music that is at once nostalgic and contemporary.