Nick Ward is a 19 year old songwriter, vocalist and producer from Sydney Australia.
With a strong lyrical focus on the concepts of breaking down traditional ideas of masculinity, sexuality and gender - as experienced by himself as a teenager navigating the current political landscape - Ward is excited to bring his fully realised debut EP 'Everything I Wish I Told You' out of his bedroom studio to share with the world on 5 February.
In the three years since his first single release the young artist has swiftly gained attention in both his home country of Australia and internationally.
In 2019 he was named a finalist for the prestigious triple j Unearthed High Competition for his highly personal song ‘Skin’, and saw continued support from the station when he received grant money towards his debut EP in 2020.
Last year saw him release singles 'Aubrey Plaza', 'Holding the Man' and the critically acclaimed 'I Wanna Be Myself Or Nothing At All' - which features NZ artist Lontalius.
'Everything I Wish I Told You' really feels like a summation of my life so far – musically and emotionally," says Nick. "It was written, produced and mixed by myself during lockdown in 2020, and is six tracks long. It was important to me that every song came from a different palette of sounds and emotions, but still felt cohesive.
"The project begins with the real audio of my birth, and poses the lyric 'Do you know who you are?', which brings me to the main theme of the project: identity.
"I'm 19 years old, so it wasn't too long ago that I was attending an all-boys school that warped my sense of masculinity and sexuality, and made my 'coming out' pretty convoluted. The emotional centrepiece of the project, 'I Wanna Be Myself or Nothing At All', goes into pretty explicit details about that experience."
Nick's debut project wrestles with these moments in his life in intimate detail, allowing the listener a gentle immersion into the young artist's inner monologue.
"The refrain on this song 'Everything I wish I told you all comes out / you've never known as much about me as you do right now' is the inspiration for the project's title, and also feels like its mission statement," Nick continues.
"Do I know who I am? The short answer is no, but I think that it's the interrogation of that question that will bring me closer. I really hope you love it."
Despite his age, Nick has already played support for major international artists such as BENEE, KIAN, George Alice, JOY., and Tora since he began releasing songs in 2018.
His music videos and songs are all self-produced, earning him a reputation as a bit of a wunderkind within the industry. Pilerats named him an "artist to watch in 2021".
Released under local label Hunnydew Recordings; 'Everything I Wish I Told You' is full of the honest lyricism and anthemic pop melodies which have earned him fans worldwide.