Equal parts powerhouse vocalist, magnetic performer and undeniable entertainer, Minang Noongar artist Ricky Neil Jr. is quickly making his mark on Australian pop with infectious grooves, joyful performances and a live show that demands attention. Now, he’s gearing up to release his latest single, HEARTBREAKER, on August 19.
Written during Ricky’s time in the Mushroom First Nations Pathway Program and produced and co-written with Ross James, HEARTBREAKER takes the messy emotions of a relationship caught between holding on and letting go and gives them a shimmering, disco-pop makeover. Drawing inspiration from Parcels, Jamiroquai and L’Impératrice, Ricky describes the track’s sound as “hot pink” — polished, electric and made for dancing through the heartbreak.
With an upcoming national run of shows, including performances alongside Baker Boy and Miss Kaninna and a BIGSOUND showcase, Ricky is set to take his high-energy performances to even bigger audiences.
Ahead of the release, Futuremag Music caught up with Ricky to talk about turning heartbreak into a dancefloor anthem, the creative freedom of co-writing, those all-important high notes, stage nerves, chaotic performances and why sometimes the best way through a breakup is to simply dance it out.
Futuremag: HEARTBREAKER is about messy emotions, but you’ve wrapped them in a disco beat. Do you think there’s any problem in life that can’t be improved by a good groove?
Ricky Neil Jr.: Look, the optimist in me says the groove will be your saviour, but good lord was I sooky for a WHILE before I was able to make this danceable! I’m chill now, I promise. I don’t even think about my ex…
Nah seriously, I made this song so that people in their feelings could move with them and take a bit of attitude from the jam. Hope it helps.
Futuremag: You’ve described the sound of HEARTBREAKER as “hot pink”. What does a “hot pink” song sound like in your head, and did the track live up to that vision?
Ricky Neil Jr.: I’m a very visual person when I write music. A great example of that is when I asked my producer and co-writer Ross James if he could find me a snare sound that felt like a tiger. Fortunately, he got it. I think that’s why we work so well together.
Hot pink to me is pure neon, Miami Vice, bubblegum overstimulation. I wanted the song to taste sweet and feel electric while having a real polish to it. I think we got there.
Futuremag: You’ve specifically told us to listen out for the high notes. How many takes did it take before you nailed those vocals, and were there any moments where you thought, “Yep, I’ve absolutely cooked myself here”?
Ricky Neil Jr.: Ross loves to let me do my best Jimmy Barnes impressions in the booth, even at my own expense. We recorded the vocals on the last day of our sessions, and thank god we did, because after I did the backing vocals in the outro, I was DONE.
Futuremag: You wrote HEARTBREAKER during the Mushroom First Nations Pathway Program. What did being part of that program unlock for you creatively that you might not have discovered on your own?
Ricky Neil Jr.: It was really exciting for me to work with someone who didn’t know me at all, had never seen me live and didn’t have the full context of my music. It gave me a lot of freedom to write how I wanted to write in that moment, to do what felt good and collaborate openly.
I’ve done a fair bit of that since, and I think it was a great first run at co-writing with strangers. Ross is now someone I’d call a great friend.
Futuremag: You’ve gone from performing at the MCG alongside Dan Sultan for the AFL Dreamtime Match to preparing for BIGSOUND. Do you still get nervous before huge opportunities, or have you mastered the art of turning nerves into stage energy?
Ricky Neil Jr.: I get nervous for sure. I think I would quit if I no longer felt nervous. I like to go into every performance with a bit of a chip on my shoulder, knowing that I need to win everyone over, from the person in the front row who knows every lyric to the bar staff who are forced to sit through it.
I want to put on the best show possible. That makes me nervous, but it also gives me a good shot in the arm, like I could run through a wall.
Futuremag: Your live shows are famously high-energy. What’s the most chaotic, ridiculous or unexpected thing that’s happened to you onstage?
Ricky Neil Jr.: I’ve been very lucky to have avoided any major disasters! I did break my finger doing a jazz split on NYE, though. Planted my hand right on my guitarist’s pedalboard cables in the first song.
I’m gonna move around, whatever is in the way is a problem I will deal with later.
Futuremag: You draw inspiration from Parcels, Jamiroquai and L’Impératrice. If you could steal one thing from each of those artists for your own live show, what would you take?
Ricky Neil Jr.: Steeze. I would take their steeze. They sound so clean, they look so fire.
Futuremag: You’ve built a reputation as someone who really knows how to entertain a crowd. What’s your secret weapon when you walk onto a stage and the audience is giving you absolutely nothing?
Ricky Neil Jr.: Quiet audiences need a reminder that you can see them too. I like talking to them directly to make them remember that.
I’m lucky enough that we’ve never had too much trouble with bad audiences, but we’ve absolutely had some weird audience members who stand cross-armed front and centre.
I’m looking at you, stern, stupidly tall, sunglasses at night guy from Albury.
Futuremag: You’ve got a pretty epic run of shows coming up, including BIGSOUND and dates alongside Baker Boy and Miss Kaninna. Which upcoming show are you secretly most excited about and why?
Ricky Neil Jr.: The best show for me will be one of the smaller-sized venues. On August 29th, my brother Kayps and I are doing a dual headline at Bar Open in Melbourne, with Squid The Kid opening.
That’s gonna be a hell of a night, with a bunch of my favourite people. I’m excited for all these shows, but that one’s where my heart is.
Futuremag: If HEARTBREAKER were the soundtrack to a disastrous breakup, what’s the ideal setting for someone to blast it: screaming the lyrics in the car, dancing through the heartbreak at a club, or dramatically staring out a rainy window?
Ricky Neil Jr.: All of the above work, but me personally I’m running the whole “dancing through the heartbreak” thing. Every damn time.
August 22nd – Albany Town Hall w/ Baker Boy, Miss Kaninna and Kayps
August 28th – Low 302 Sydney
August 29th – Bar Open Melbourne (co-headline with Kayps)
September 1-4th – BIGSOUND Brisbane
September 12th – Indian Ocean Hotel