Musician and songwriter Nicholas Durocher — best known by his artist name, TALK — wanted to share a message of love and positivity. “That's something that people like Chris Martin of Coldplay did for me,” TALK says. “You know, he made me feel good and feel safe and made me love myself more, and that's what I want to do for other people.”

TALK has been doing just that since his single, “Run Away to Mars,” first captured people’s attention on TikTok. In addition to going viral globally, “Run Away to Mars” has gone platinum in TALK’s home country of Canada, and gold in the U.S., Sweden and Norway — and all this before the release of his debut album.

That album is expected later this year. TALK — a nickname derived from Durocher’s gregarious nature — discusses that album and much more in conversation with host Ayisha Jaffer during a recent visit to The Current. TALK will be back in Minnesota later this year as part of a show with Young The Giant and Milky Chance on Tuesday, June 27, at Surly Festival Field in Minneapolis.

You can listen to or watch the entire session above, and read a transcript of the interview below.

Interview Transcript

Edited for time and clarity.

Ayisha Jaffer: Hey, I'm Ayisha Jaffer, I'm hanging out in the studio today with TALK. Thanks so much for being here.

TALK: Hi, that's me.

Ayisha Jaffer: So we're going to dive in.

TALK: Yeah, ask me anything.

Ayisha Jaffer: So TALK, I have to ask if that is a character, if that is you, or a combination of both?

TALK: I think it's a combination. I mean, I like a lot of alone time and personal time and friend time and stuff. But I'm generally loud, obnoxious, and I don't shut up. 

Ayisha Jaffer: It's my favorite kind of person.

TALK: Yeah. Yeah! So I mean, that's me. And that's what TALK is. It's just like a little brighter, a little louder, 20% more of everything. But it's me.

Ayisha Jaffer: That's great. So, like 20% more of everything. So instead of — you're going to change the game from “turning it up to 11” to “turn it up 20%.” 

TALK: Twenty percent!

Ayisha Jaffer: I love that.

TALK: Yeah.

Ayisha Jaffer: So you are an artist of great proportions. You play so many different musical instruments from piano, banjo, mandolin. I want to talk about like the mythology behind like, the future legend. 

TALK: I'm very mediocre at everything, though. I'm not, like, by any means like a god at anything. But I do play. Yes.

Ayisha Jaffer: So what got you into like this plethora of tools for music?

TALK: Mostly ADHD, I would say. I couldn't really sit still. My parents bought me a drum set — awful idea. I was four or five. You don't by the kid that can't sit still a drum set because you're just going to drive yourself insane. But they put up with it for a while. And then I got bored. Switched to piano, had a very traditional piano teacher who would, she'd hit my fingers with a pencil if I hit a wrong note. It was very strange. She's a great lady. Fantastic, nice lady. Madame Dwyer, I'm sorry. I'm not talking about you, if you're watching. I'm scared of her! Yeah, and then switched to guitar. Banjo seemed like a funny thing to do in high school, so I played that enough to accompany myself. That's kind of where I'm at, you know; I'm not a virtuoso by any means on anything. But you know, enough to make music and make friends, I guess.

Ayisha Jaffer: Yeah. So you're playing all these instruments. I heard that you were in a country band as well.

TALK: Yeah, I played bass in a country band for a short period of time, end of high school, like first year college. And that is definitely when I knew that I wanted to be the front of the stage. That's when I knew that. But it was a good experience. It was fun. It's how I met my guitar player, co producer, best friend, a million other things, Connor [Riddell], who was just in here playing. And we make every song together now, and I don't think we would have done that without that country band, so, still thankful.

Ayisha Jaffer: Oh, that's amazing. So then, what was the fire that ignited like, I'm going to create this project TALK? 

TALK: TALK goes back, probably 10 years this year. So while I was doing all that stuff in the small town, it was still TALK. I recorded a 20-song album, spent like a whole bunch of money, and then deleted all the files. And I didn't like it. And so I don't even know where those are. I doubt there's any copies of them anywhere. But that was still TALK, and that was like 2013, 2014, 2015, and then it just kind of progressed. I didn't really know who I was, I think. I spent a long time trying to pretend I was something I wasn't, or someone I wasn't, and then eventually I just got so lazy that I gave up on that and just decided to be myself. And that's what took, you know, took the eight years of learning and working with different people and writing a million songs to figure out what I wanted to say and who I was and what I was about. And now we're kind of there.

Ayisha Jaffer: I mean, finding that self awareness, too, is like this huge, long journey.

TALK: It was crazy, yeah.

Ayisha Jaffer: Ten years is small in the scheme of things, I think.

TALK: I wish it would have been quicker. Because I wasted a lot of time, but I'm really happy with where I got and who I am and the message I'm putting out, you know; it's full of love and positivity. And I think that's something that people like Chris Martin of Coldplay did for me. You know, he made me feel good and feel safe and made me love myself more, and that's what I want to do for other people. And I think especially with "Run Away to Mars," the feedback I've gotten is that I'm doing that for other people. And so that was really the original goal. Yeah.

Ayisha Jaffer: Of course! Well, you touched on runaway to Mars, which were of course playing at The Current, and went number one to triple — this is my brag section for you! — number one in Triple A in the U.S.; you know, gold in Canada.

TALK: Yeah.

Ayisha Jaffer: That's your home country.

TALK: I think it's a platinum—

Ayisha Jaffer: It's platinum!

TALK: Gold in Sweden, gold in Norway.

Ayisha Jaffer: Yeah. So you gotta visit Sweden and Norway.

TALK: Yeah, I was there earlier this year. I had one day in each place. I wish I could have stayed longer. I loved it there. 

Ayisha Jaffer: Well, you have a future there now, for sure.

TALK: Yeah, the people were so amazing, so kind.

Ayisha Jaffer: And then virally global, topping those charts!

TALK: Yeah.

Ayisha Jaffer: So how do you feel?

TALK: I feel good. You know, I put the song out and 2021, and — I mean, it sounds cocky, or maybe a little bit — but I thought it was going to have the reaction that it had when it kind of got its second life. When I first released it, but the infrastructure just wasn't there to support that; I mean, I was unsigned, I was independent. I was like, everything it was, it was really, we recorded it in Connor's basement. You know, like, the odds were against us to get it out. And it still caught the attention of enough people. And then we built on that. And eventually, the snowball got big enough to kind of get some global viral stuff. I mean, it's great. I think it's now become bigger than me. It doesn't really belong to me anymore. It belongs to everyone else, which is what, I mean, any artist, I'm sure, would want their song to matter so much to so many people. And that was really touching. I was getting hundreds of DMs when it really blew up. And it was like, I didn't end my life because of this, or I, you know, I told someone how I felt. And that was the whole message of the song. And so that was really rewarding. And I mean, I can't ask for anything more.

Ayisha Jaffer: Yeah.

TALK: Just if more people hear it, that's great. Like, I've sent it off, you know? It's on its own journey now.

Ayisha Jaffer: I love that. Well, so all of this has happened before your debut album has come out.

TALK: Yeah!

Ayisha Jaffer: Is there anything you can tell us?

TALK: It's, I think it's, I think it's good. I'm really hard on myself; like I told you, I deleted 20 songs after spending my life savings on them, and it just wasn't good enough. And I really feel like this is really good. And I'm really happy with pretty much everything. We're just like, trying to finish it up and figure it out. And, you know, it's another story I want to tell, and it's a bit of a narrative album. And I got a lot I want to say, and I'm trying to find the best way to say it. But I think it's good, and I think people are going to really like it.

Ayisha Jaffer: Yeah. Is there like a 2023 release? Can I ask?

TALK: I think. I mean, if everything goes to plan, I think it should come out this year. For sure.

Ayisha Jaffer: So well, you touched on this a little bit, but I know TikTok is part of the story a lot for the conversation on "Run Away to Mars" specifically, and just like in in general on recent TALK, because obviously you've been working at this for 10 years. Now when things go viral, from my perspective, I feel like that's when people resonate with your music so much that they uplift you and put you to the forefront. And I think that's so amazing and special.

TALK: Yeah.

Ayisha Jaffer: So I'm just curious, in your process as an artist, what has it been like to socially engage, like throughout that entire kind of process of TALK.

TALK: I was making TikToks for a couple of years, like a year and a half, probably doing covers and tons of stuff with no results at all; you know, a couple 100 views, a couple 100 views. And then I put out "House of the Rising Sun," like my version of it, which did really well. And then I was like, "Oh, people like what I'm doing, maybe I should put music out." And so the next week I teased "Mars." Meanwhile, the song wasn't done. It wasn't mixed. It wasn't mastered. It wasn't anything. And people were demanding it and demanding it and demanding it. And then it took me a long time to get that done.

And I think nowadays, the music industry really relies on the social side of things, and I think there's a lot of beauty to it, if you enjoy creating that kind of stuff. I think I enjoy the interaction. I've been going like live on TikTok a lot. I've actually had more fun doing that than than making TikToks. It's part of the artist experience now. A lot of people don't like it. A lot of people just do it to do it. I'm kind of in between; I think it's a great tool. I mean it obviously helped me a ton so I can't just discredit it completely. But I think it can be really challenging for a lot of people because it's kind of like an additional side of things that requires a lot of effort and time. But I do agree that for music right now, consumers that are listening and fans really get to decide on what everyone hears, and I think that that's a cool thing, and I think as a fan, you know, if I really love something I'm going to show all my friends. And so I think good music, it's still the same as it always was, is good music will find its way.

Ayisha Jaffer: Well, is there anything else you want our listeners to know before I let you go? 

TALK: Um, no, I just, thanks for having me. I really love it here so far, and I hope I can come back. Oh, I'm going to be back? That's something to know! What's the date? June 27. Yeah, Young The Giant, Milky Chance, we're going to be playing at... 

Ayisha Jaffer: At Surly!

TALK: Right, we talked about that. Surly! It's going to be real fun. I love playing live.

Ayisha Jaffer: Oh, I'm so excited for it. Thank you, TALK, for being in the studio here at The Current.

TALK: Of course, thanks for having me.

Ayisha Jaffer: The debut album might be coming out this year.

TALK: Yeah, we'll see. More to come on that.

Ayisha Jaffer: More to come.

TALK: And back to you.

Ayisha Jaffer: (laughter)

Video Segments

00:00:00 Train
00:03:08 Run Away to Mars
00:06:43 Hollywood
00:11:23 Interview with host Ayisha Jaffer

Musicians

TALK (aka Nicholas Durocher) – vocals
Connor Riddell – guitar, vocals

Credits

Guest – TALK
Host – Ayisha Jaffer
Producer – Derrick Stevens
Video Director – Aaron Ankrum
Camera Operators – Guillermo Bonilla, Eric Xu Romani
Audio – Evan Clark
Video Post-Production – Eric Xu Romani
Graphics – Natalia Toledo
Digital Producer – Luke Taylor

External Link

TALK - official site