" .. Instant love !! " KAT CORBETT , 106.7 KROQ " ..destined for stardom. Park Los Angeles is a true testament of power. This is a stirring album..It is exquisite... " CAMPUS CIRCLE "...the new boss." FLAUNT MAGAZINE " ...I think I'm in love .. " MY OLD KENTUCKY BLOG "...growing on me like sumac, have to itch for relief even if temporary...." PASTE MAGAZINE "...haunting..." SKRATCH MAGAZINE "...haunting....beautifully understated..." STEVE BALTIN "....achingly emotional...beautiful melodies..." CD REVIEW.COM FLAUNT MAGAZINE ARTICLE...... "Nico Stai may not yet be a rock star, but the L.A.-via-Spain singer-songwriter has lived the life in more ways than one. For starters, Stai, who has a recently self-released solo album, Park Los Angeles, has already played the major-label game with his former band, Tinpaco. “We did a thing with Warner Records in Europe and the whole thing just fell to pieces, and it was a dodgy experience,” Stai says over lunch at a Silver Lake restaurant. “We did this record, which was a great record, then Garrett Lee, who did Snow Patrol, fell in love with it and he wanted to do it. But at that time Warner Brothers Europe decided to back out of the whole thing and I was just like, ‘Fuck this.’ I went home, threw up a mic and my eight track, and I just started laying down acoustic songs.” Then there were extra-curricular activities that, he says, are behind him. “I’m clean and sober now,” he says. “I was a fucking wreck.” In some of the older songs on Park Los Angeles, he revisits that perspective. “It’s like some of it was written from that side of the fence and now I’m seeing it from this side of the fence, and that’s actually really cool. That’s definitely the case with something like ‘Andy’s House,’” he says. As someone who’s gone through the ringer of drugs, Stai has a strong opinion of the artistic myth that drugs and creativity mix. “I think that’s the biggest lie ever sold,” he says. “A lot of the machinery in rock ’n’ roll and the industry and the business works on hype. It don’t impress me, someone shooting up dope, walking on stage and playing in front of a thousand people, and be the shit; anybody can do that. The easiest thing you can do in this life is put something in your arm. It’s the other stuff that’s not.” Having “wasted so much time,” as he puts it, Stai has a strong appreciation for the opportunities now being presented to him, as well as the response he’s getting from fans who con- nect with the music. “More and more I’m just really grateful to be able to be up there and sing in front of people,” he says. “People show up and they sing along to the words. Since this record I’ve been get- ting so many e-mails from people, just really grateful and a lot of thank-you-type stuff. ‘Hey, man, that song really helped me. Thank you.’” While Stai, a big fan of Springsteen (on the drive to his recent SXSW gig, he listened to Springsteen nonstop), understands the connection that stripped-down, singer-songwriter music can make with fans, he is not giving up on the rock side he displayed with Tinpaco and Bonnie Stai. Following our lunch, he is off to audition drummers and bassists for a live band to accompany himself and fellow guitarist Jeff Evans. “I’m just going to do whatever I can to serve these people. That’s all I can think about.” Written by Steve Baltin