Nick Phoenix Shares New Album 'Wide World'

From Marvel To The Main Stage, Film Sync Star Goes Back To His Rock N' Roll Roots

By RockNRollBuddhaPublished 2 years ago • 3 min read

Nick Phoenix - 'Wide World' Album Cover

Film & TV Sync Superstar Nick Phoenix work on movie trailers has sound-tracked the worlds of ‘Star Trek’, ‘The Avengers,’ ‘Batman’, ‘Harry Potter,’ and more. Now, he’s returning to his first love - Rock ’N’ Roll - with the release of new album ‘Wide World’, which features members of Death Cab For Cutie and John Mayer’s band.

Phoenix’s music production company with partner Thomas Bergersen, Two Steps From Hell, has been producing all manner of film trailers and sporting events since the early 2000s: music to accompany the biggest imagery imaginable. Nick explains how it got into Film Music: "When I came to Los Angeles after going to college in Connecticut, I was trying to find musicians to play with - but everyone was into heavy metal and that's not what I wanted to do. So I got a job at West L.A. Music, selling musical equipment. I got really into the gear at the store, and I ended up building my own studio. One day a customer asked me if he could borrow some of my equipment, as he’d got a job doing the music for a movie trailer. I suggested that we could do it together — and that’s what we did. It was for an Whoopi Goldberg movie called “Corrina, Corrina” [1994]. Somehow we pulled it off, and from that point on, I started studying everything I could, figuring out orchestration. Things have grown from there”. Two Steps From Hell are now the most streamed Film & TV music company in the world – bigger than John Williams, Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer.

Nick has long fostered a desire to return to where it all started. “My real love has always been Rock and Roll” Phoenix says. The new album is a rich, melodic love letter to Classic Rock and Americana, while also drawing influences from modern Country music. Phoenix says the title track ‘Wide World’ is a post pandemic anthem. He states “the song is saying Let’s get out there and see the world and live our lives - for better or worse. The pandemic isn’t quite over, but I still believe in the message of the song”. The cinematic video was filmed in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and features beautiful, sweeping shots of the area. The album is piano/keyboard driven, and is a refreshing change in today's beat-heavy music. The 'Wide World' album has wide ranging themes, from the lovelorn Astronaut in 'Andromeda' to a man who is tired of fighting in 'Last Round', which has Little Feat overtones. The Pink Floyd-esque 'Rise Up' starts slow and builds into a fist pumping anthem, while the wall-of-sound chorus of 'That Won't Stand' would make Phil Spector proud. 'Which Side You're On' speaks to the divisions in this country right now, and laments the denigration of facts and truth - emphasized by blistering guitar riffs. "Always On' is a song of praise to a partner whose positive attitude is a leveling influence in times of trouble. 'Tumblin' Down' has a very Beatles - 'Day In The Life' vibe, but more up-tempo.

Two Steps From Hell will be touring Europe this summer, and plans are in the works for solo shows for Nick Phoenix later this year.

'Wide World' Track Listing

1). Wide World

2). Rise Up

3). Always On

4). Andromeda

5). That Won’t Stand

6). Last Round

7). Tumblin’ Down

8). Row

9). Which Side You’re On

10). If I let You Go