Nick Garrie

As a 20-year old Nick Garrie, an Englishman with a Russian father and a Scottish mother, recorded his debut album “The Nightmares Of J.B. Stanislas” in Paris. He had signed a deal with French label DiscAZ, who threw in a 52-piece orchestra for the recordings, and everything was set for the release. Yet Nick’s prime supporter, label boss Lucien Morisse, took his life just a few days before the release date, and the album never got the audience it deserves. Disappointed, Nick turned his back on the music business, managed a Swiss ski ressort and a ballooning company, or worked as a teacher. Every few years, though, he put out records under different names, hitting a surprise #1 in the Spanish charts in 1984 as Nick Hamilton. Among collectors the rare copies of “J.B. Stanislas” became more and more sought after over the years. Finally, in 2005 (on Rev-ola Records) and 2010 (on Elephant Records) CD reissues of the album were put out. At this year’s Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona and Porto Nick Garrie performed his debut in its entirety for the very first time to much acclaim from audience and critics. We met Nick just before his show in Porto in a small park close to the landmark Casa da Musica. Sitting on a war heroes monument, Nick performs beautiful versions of „Wine and Roses“ and „Deeper Tones of Blue“.