Drumforge Interviews Nick Hipa
We spoke to Nick Hipa, Oahu born musician, guitarist, touring musician and motion designer. Nick talked about his creative process, his inspirations and how he incorporates Drumforge Matt Greiner into his workflow.
We highly recommend going to Nick’s IG profile and his band MIRE’s Spotify for some amazing tracks!
What single piece of art (album, film, book, painting etc.) has had the biggest impact on you personally?
The 1986 musical drama Crossroads is my favorite movie of all time and is a large part of why I had an interest in playing guitar at an early age. The story, music, and climax of the film created a sort of spiritual context around emotive and skillful guitar playing that I’ve always found special.
How does the Matt Greiner sampler increase your creative productivity / workflow?
As a guitar player I’m always seeking out the best possible tools to facilitate creativity in a way that isn’t too time absorbent. This plug-in is incredible in that it sounds amazing immediately and lets me get straight into riff and song building mode. The capacity to completely shape tones and mixes directly within this VST is also something I’m excited by and looking forward to exploring further.
It usually starts with a commitment to distraction free time set aside to play guitar and specifically write. There is usually an idea or feeling of what I’d like to capture in my head that I’m trying to transcribe with my hands. Once there is a solid riff to work with, I track it into ProTools then imagine parts to build around and repeat the process until there is a fully formed idea or song.
Why do you think music is so important to society?
Music has the ability to convey great energy, mood, and story with or without lyrics across any language or cultural barriers. It expresses what words cannot.
Do you have anything you’d like to promote (upcoming/recent release, show etc)?
The debut album A New Found Rain from my band MIRE is available to stream on all platforms and is worth checking out if you enjoy heavy music.
