By Daniëlle Gerber
Up-and-coming artist Adam Narain, under the alias Starchiiiiild (with five i’s), is releasing their debut album, mrNiceGuy, on the 15th of July 2022. Listeners can expect a combination of Prince harmonies, Stevie Wonder chords, and the essence of D’Angelo combined with gospel sounds. Narain hopes to continue the tradition of modernizing these past genres through their music.
Narain has been on Stellenbosch’s music scene since their first year in 2017 – occasionally playing at The Meeting Place and Aandklas. Narain grew up around music – they have been making music from as young as six years old, and one of their core memories is seeing their uncle play and being mesmerized by the admiration received by him. Narain mainly plays the piano, but as pianos are somewhat rare in Stellenbosch, they have since started playing the guitar as a hobby.
This year, Narain is focusing on their debut album, mrNiceGuy, which serves as an introduction for themself as an artist. The album contains various genres and styles that display their beliefs and thoughts about the world. Narain describes it as a ‘musical charcuterie board’ from which people can pick and choose.
Narain is inspired by music and musicians who communicate what they struggle to express in words and hopes to do the same for listeners. They want listeners to feel heard and experience similar catharsis by listening to their music. They are continuously exploring and expressing their thoughts and feelings through music, with mrNiceGuy only being the first.
The album has been in the making since 2016, with the recording taking place within the last year. Narain used the Conserve (Stellenbosch University’s Music Department) to record some parts, while the rest was completed in their home with their own equipment. The mixing and mastering are also a collaboration between themself and Marcel van der Veen, the sound engineer for Uncle Spike.
mrNiceGuy will be the first original work released by Narain, despite having performed in Stellenbosch before. In general, Narain has found it difficult to penetrate the music scene in town, as it favours more palatable sounds than their eccentric and soulful music. mrNiceGuy will be released digitally, which will hopefully help overcome this barrier and allow Narain to express themself through their music as unfiltered and ‘unabashedly’ themself.
mrNiceGuy is set to drop on the 15th of July across all major music platforms. To keep up to date with Narain, follow @starchiiiiild on Instagram or mrNiceGuy on YouTube. Narain is also working on a music video for mrNiceGuy that will be released later this year.
