Nick Riff
Check pic #2226
Bandname
Nick Riff
Country
US / Cleveland, Ohio
Musicstyle
Psych Pop • Space Rock • Psychedelic
Homepage
Myspace
Contact
New Band 2008:
Nick Riff - voc, g
Peter Platten - synth, keyb
Kevin Hines - b
Rob King - perc
Carl Hatcher - voice mutations
 2 Reviews / 2 Links
Haave been a fan of Nick Riff for years. His stuff is great. Keep at it Man!!!! Charles Savage

Nick Riff Interview


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?


Hi Klemen I am functioning in norml parameters. Serpent was a hard rock power trio. Marshall and Sunn stacks and oversize drums. We all came out of other local bands from the early 70s. Richie Hall on guitar and vocals, Rick Browning on drums and I played bass and backing vocals and wrote most of the songs. Richie had the Hendrix thing down, we did a killer version of Voodoo Childe( Slight Return). We were from the Hendrix, Blue Cheer, Dust, Blue Oyster Cult, Captain Beyond, Ursa Major, Cactus era. By the time Serpent was full review Klemen Breznikar

The official Homepage from Delerium
the official Nick Riff website New web site, new release, Nick Riff= Magick Museum on RIFFDISC label.

Records:
The Universe Is Mental
Record ID: 2343
Label
Riffdisc
Released
2011
Time (minutes)
58
Tracks
9
Format
CD • No Vinyl
Musicstyle
Psychedelic
 4 Reviews
Nick Riff has been watching the stars intensively and tried to find paleolithic rhythms to solve the question "if the Universe is mental, is there an answer?" This record is very different from what we have heared from him: space and psychedelia instead of catchy rock tunes. A very inspired and inspiring album, but also very different. And still great stuff! Try to listen to some tunes on the various radio shows at "Aural Innovations".  Betti

http://www.aural-innovations.com/issues/issue42/nickriff.html Jeff Fitzgerald

A Review and Interview with Nick Riff
by Jeff Fitzgerald



From Aural Innovations
Nick Riff has been playing on the music scene since the late 70’s, and over the course of a long career he has created some of the best psychedelic music and space rock out there. He’s still at it today; right in the midst of a series of CD’s called The Riffdisc series. I caught up with the very busy Nick and had the pleasure of talking with him via e-mail to find out more about this fascinating series of CD’s as well as a look into Nick’s ideas and insights, his past and a little sneak preview into his future! First my review of Nick’s latest album, The Universe is Mental, then onto the interview!

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

Nick Riff has been full review Jeff Fitzgerald

CD/download from www.17f.ch)

Fourth in the “Riffdisc” series, “The Universe is Mental” sees Mr Riff, stepping along into some spacey psychedelic instrumentals, sounding not unlike those huge sequence driven epics that Tangerine Dream were so good at creating in the mid seventies. Of course, cynics may suggest that with the technology of today, this is all to easy (maybe it is), however Nick assures us that the music was created without the use of MIDI, drum machines or synchronisation, meaning the musician has to listen and respond as he creates the sounds. All this means that we have here a huge pulsating beast of a record, with a human heart, generating a warmth that lift the music high into space, with a smile and a positive glow.
Opening with the electronic sweetness full review Simon Lewis

Photon Shift
Record ID: 2313
Label
Riffdisc
Released
2009
Tracks
7
Format
CD • No Vinyl
Musicstyle
Space Rock • Psych Pop
 2 Reviews / 1 Link
Nick Riff is getting better and better, where shall this lead to? A great record and when you hurry up, you listen to his song on Aural Innovations Spacerock Radio Betti

Nick’s a positive veteran of the space rock scene. ‘Veteran’ in that he’s been playing music since the mid ‘70s, releasing his first single with hard rock band Serpent (“influenced by Hendrix, Sex Pistols, UFO and Cheap Trick”) back in 1978 and going on to play with various bands before deciding to pursue a solo career that yielded albums in the UK on the fabled Delerium and for Cleveland’s garage rock imprint Sonic Swirl. ‘Positive’ in that despite dropping out of sight for a large chunk of the noughties, he’s recently returned to the music scene, revved-up and committed to an on-going series of releases on his Riffdisc imprint, of which Photon Shift is the third. And ‘positive’ again, in that he’s also playing live and recording with Freak Element, his ever-changing, peripatetic band full review

Nick Riff sells you his cd together with "Freak Element" for a cool price. Won't get 120min good space/psych rock/pop anywhere else!
The World's Alive
Record ID: 2255
Label
RiffDisc
Released
2008
Time (minutes)
46
Tracks
8
Format
CD • LP ?
Musicstyle
Space Rock • Psych Pop
Remark
With new Band released as: Nick Riff's Freak Element
 3 Reviews
CD Review: Nick Riff – “Nick Riff’s Freak Element”
December 5, 2008 by Matheson Kamin
Musician Nick Riff was born to be a musician. He has spent the last several decades going from one rock band to another. Throughout his musical career, Riff has performed with all sorts of rock bands; some of which were straight-out rock, some were hard rock, and some were very psychedelic. With a resume that stretches back into the seventies, Nick Riff has become a seasoned professional.

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.

While most of Nick Riff’s full review

http://psychedeliccentral.com/psychedelicgaragesurf/nickriff.html Psychedelic Central

Psychedelic / Rock / Punk
NICK RIFFS’ FREAK ELEMENT - THE WORLD’S ALIVE CD was recorded at Metrosync Studio in Cleveland Ohio. Nick Riff - vocals, guitar. Peter Platten - keyboards, synthesizers. Kevin Hines - bass guitar, and Rob King drums, comprise the cosmic powered festival band and studio band in this incarnation of Freak Element. Tim Lane from an early version of Freak Element adds percussion, and Carl Hatcher joins with a vocal mutation device.

The music ranges from psychedelic rock, to spacey psych-pop, to ancient tribal soundscapes. It is music to let unfold before you as it happens. An audio companion on your next psychedelic adventure. Multi-dimensional rock and roll for your next party on Earth or where ever you may find yourself in space and time. Best to turn off the cell phones and use your imagination on this one. Get it here : http://cdbaby.com/cd/nickriff2.

This is the second release on the Riffdisc label and continues the series that started with the Magick Museum cd from 2006. The series will continue until 2012. Brief overview : After the unfortunate demise of The Attitude in 1988, founding member John Lyon changed his name to Nick Riff, lost his mind, and embarked on a solo career that included worldwide CD / LP, 7"vinyl, cassette, and mini disc releases on labels such as Delerium Records, Cleopatra , Sonic Swirl , Pangea, Sound Of The Sea, and Riffdisc.

Various line ups for live performances and solo concerts have shared concert billings with Yes, Moody Blues, Hawkwind, Daevid Allen, Kasim Sulton, and many Cleveland area bands. Between incarnations of Freak Element, Nick performs as a solo artist playing acoustic versions of songs from his cd releases and unreleased songs performed exclusively in a solo environment.

Nick is currently working with former Freak Element synthesist Peter Platten on a new live presentation. The Magick Museum cd is the perfect introduction for those still unfamiliar with this hybrid form of psychedelic rock music. It is an internet only release for now , available from cdbaby.com , and Amazon.com . Digital downloads are available from iTunes , Indiecentric and others. MP3s from the Snocap store.

Nick is busy recording a new solo cd of all new material, nearly completed. A requested soundtrack for the recent gathering of the Psychedelic Council is in the final stages of mixing. A set of acoustic based psych-space pop is also in the works, along with the possible new release of an Attitude cd. For more info please visit the official website www.nickriff.com This music has been known to cause missing time, restless leg syndrome, Jedi cramps, Gollum writhing, stained fingertips, and general Rock & Roll behavior.

Band Members
Nick Riff - vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, lyrics Chris Keffer - studio engineer, co-producer JD Kimple - bass guitar Rich Maserik - drums Patrick Pryor - drums Amber Ferguson - backing vocals Thom Marianetti - drums Steve Taylor - bass guitar Chris Di Santis - percussion Ched Stanisic - keyboards Louise Macaulay - artist Tim Lane - drums, percussion Peter Platten - synthesizers, b vocals Kevin Hines - bass guitar, b.vocals Rob King - drums Carl Hatcher - si fi samples Angel Wolff - artist































Influences
The Attitude, Garage Rock, THC, Prog Rock, Hendrix, Psychedelics, Loud guitars, Ramones, T Rex , Alien abductions, Elvis , Beatles, you name it from 1955 on..

Releases










Freak Element
AMAZON.COM

Magick Museum
AMAZON.COM








 Psychedelic Central

Magick Museum
Record ID: 2184
Label
self released
Released
2006
Tracks
11
Format
CD • No Vinyl
Musicstyle
Psych Pop • Space Rock
Remark
collection of previously released limited edition and out of print material
 3 Reviews / 2 Links
WOW. THIS CD IS REALLY GREAT...
VERY SWEET GUITAR AND PROFOUND LYRICS...DOES THIS GUY EVER TOUR? Chris

I love this cd, it rocks !..and the
songs make me happy. mary

Nick Riff - "Magick Museum"
(Riffdisc 2005, 001)



From Aural Innovations
A veteran of the Cleveland, Ohio alternative music scene, Nick Riff is known to the world from the 2 albums he recorded for the great Delerium label in the 1990's, as well as contributions to numerous compilations. Though he seemed to have disappeared for a while, Nick is back in action with a new web site and his self-released Magick Museum, a collection of limited edition and out of print material, intended as an introduction to those who may have missed him in his 90's psychedelic heyday. The album opens hot 'n heavy with "Freak Element", a blazing punky psychedelic song that not only ROCKS but shows what a solid songwriter Nick is. This guy really excels at fusing psychedelic influences from full review

Aural Innovations review
Psychotropic Zone review
Sublime Prescription
Record ID: 350
Label
Sonic Swirl Records
Released
1996
Time (minutes)
9
Tracks
2
Format
CD ? • 7''
Musicstyle
Space Rock
 1 Link
Aural Innovations review
Cloak of immortality
Record ID: 246
Label
Delerium
Released
1995
Time (minutes)
54
Tracks
11
Format
CD • LP ?
Musicstyle
Psychedelic
 1 Link
Lyrics and Reviews
Mystified
Record ID: 347
Label
Delerium
Released
1994
Time (minutes)
7
Tracks
2
Format
CD ? • 7''
Musicstyle
Space Rock
Freak Element
Record ID: 245
Label
Delerium
Released
1992
Time (minutes)
38
Tracks
9
Format
CD ? • LP ?
Musicstyle
Psychedelic
 1 Review / 1 Link
Goldmine
The Neo-psych scene appears to be a minor rage in England, but it can't seem to pick up steam here in the States. as a result, Riff's debut release has been picked up by Delerium Records (affiliated with Freakbeat Magazine). Riff's music is characterised by loads of fuzz guitar, metaphysical and otherwise transcendental lyrics (check out titles such as "Strange Disposition", "Electric Eye God", and "Freak Element") droning harmonies, reverb-saturated vocals, bits of raga-rock and plenty of other psychedelic effects and gestures.

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. full review Goldmine

Detailed Review collection from Delerium

From the Heart of Oblivion
Record ID: 1907
Label
Delerium
Released
1989
Tracks
6
Format
No CD • No Vinyl • MC
Musicstyle
Space Rock • Psychedelic
 1 Review / 1 Link
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Nick Riff-From The Heart Of Oblivion,tape,1989,UK/USA

"Nick Riff, America's secret, psychedelic son, has always been in or around Rock & Roll in one form or another. Appearing at times as a studio musician, stage crew member, backing musician, or leader of one of Cleveland's more successful local bands of the mis-eighties, The Attitude he has always tried to maintain the original essence of Rock & Roll in a predominantly middle of the road society.Throughout his various incarnations as a musician, he has released or contributed musically to vinyl EPs, 7" singles and cassette LP projects. A five song EP released in 1986 by The Attitude, on an independant Cleveland label, was well received on targeted college radio stations, nationwide and in full review Mutant Sounds

Nick Riff's Suburban Psych...

 

 
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