"Life is the meaning of life, we can meditate but we have to eat and shit sometimes, so keep it simple."

Nicko Christiansen: Yin - Yang Blues

Nicko Christiansen was born in 1950 in the Hague at the seaside of West Holland. He started to accompany himself on the guitar, mainly songs of Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Bill Haley when he was eleven. In 1965 he met his music partner and friend John Lagrand the harmonica player and they formed the blues duo Indiscrimination. Afterwards, singer songwriter Leo Unger introduced them to the jazz and blues scene of Holland and a year later (1966) they made their first single record, accompanied by the most famous band of the Hague then, the Q65. Then John and Nicko created the Band Livin Blues, together with Ted Oberg, also with Cesar Zuiderwijk (Earring), Henk Smitskamp (Shocking Blue, The Motions), followed by Ruud van Buuren (Group 1850, Long Tall Ernie) and Johnny Lejeune. Three hitrecords and 5 albums were released with the help of producer Jaap Eggermont (1970) followed by tours through Germany, England, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy until 1975, when the band split up.

(Nicko Christiansen / Photo by Jorge Amaral Ferreira)

Highlights were the Dutch tour with Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, the Jazz and Rock festival in Palermo, with names like Ella Fitzgerald, Colosseum and Deep Purple. When this band split up in 1975, it was directly succeeded by a second Livin' Blues where Nicko was a singer and sax player in all combinations of the band. Later highlights were the Music and Harmony event in the Ahoy where they jammed with Steve Lukathor (Toto) and Ad Van Den Berg. And after the millennium change, the band toured from Moscow to Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic & Slovakia to Luxembourg, Spain and the Jakarta Blues festival in Indonesia with the help of manager Ruud Jansen. Nickos’ Band changed the name of the long-standing band Livin’ Blues Xperience to Livin’ Blues ’22, as the band composition has largely changed in 2022, this year released the album “Back on Track”. Nicko Christiansen’s new EP titled “I Don’t Need No Enemy” (2025).

Interview by Michael Limnios         Nicko Christiansen, 2014 interview @ blues.gr

How has the Blues and Rock Counterculture influenced your views of the world and the journeys you’ve taken?

The blues was the only kind of music I wanted to learn to play and sing. all through my life I played many styles of music but always with a blues feel.

How do you think that you have grown as an artist since you first started making music? What has remained the same about your music-making process?

When you go on playing and rehearsing then you have to grow, but now growing old I look back on a very exciting life on a sometimes-hard road. see my book, (mijn vakantie op aarde) it's in Dutch but it’s worth learning the language, double Dutch.

Why was the Blues never a part of the pop/popular music? What's the balance in music between technique and soul?

Well, some of the famous pop singers used a lot of blues riffs and scales and lyrics like Joe Cocker, Beth Hart, ZZ Top, Ray Charles, the Rolling Stones, the Animals, so the blues is more famous worldwide then we believe it is… I forget to mention JJ Cale, Eric Clapton, Tina Turner, Santana, Stevie Wonder, Louis Armstrong, the Neville Brothers, Pointer Sisters, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry; all those musicians had a blues feel and blues scales in their songs.

"For me painting is meditating and also having fun at the same time. in a life of rock n roll we need a lot of rest and emptiness. there is no such thing as a key to a well lived life, we have to learn our own style of living. Be free and love what you do; Don't let nobody be messin' up your mind." (Nicko Christiansen born in 1950 in the Hague, Holland. He started to accompany himself on the guitar, mainly songs of Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Bill Haley. In 1965 he met his music partner and friend John Lagrand the harmonica player and they formed the blues duo Indiscrimination / Photo by Jorge Amaral Ferreira)

How do you describe your sound and songbook? Where does your creative drive come from?

I call my style the Yin Yang blues because it’s got all different emotions and rhythms, that’s also my drive.

How did you hook up with Livin' Blues? Why do you think that Livin' Blues music continues to generate such a devoted following?

Livin’ Blues was raised in 1967 and still going strong because of the musicians and the 2 lady's we now have called the Bluezettes.

Who are some of your very favorite artists or rather, what musicians have continued to inspire you and your music? What is the driving force behind your continuous support for your music and art?

My very first favour artists were in the fifties: Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino and Louis Prima. When I started lessons on guitar in 1961, I was 11 years old. My first band was in school, when I was about 13 (around in 1965), I met my friend harmonica-player John Lagrand, so we formed the duo of Indiscrimination. My favourites were then: Muddy Waters (I met him in Belgium, we shared the same dressing room), Howlin' Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Paul Butterfield, the Stones, Them, Janis Joplin, BB King (I met him when we did his support act in Alkmaar). Later with my band Livin’ Blues, we had lots of favorites and we’re lucky enough to played in the UK and Germany with many of them in festivals, like Rory Gallagher, a very nice person; Deep Purple; Focus; Brainbox; Tony Joe White etc. Around the 1970s, when I started to played more saxophone, my favourite artists were Dave Sanborn, Brecker Brothers, Zappa, Capt. Beefheart, Jean Luc Ponty, and lots of world music from Brazil (Airto Moreira & Flora Purim), Buena Vista Social Club from Cuba, Africans like Manu Dibango, Youssou N'Dour, Salif Keita etc.

How did your relationship with the music and saxophone come about? Do you have any stories about the making of the new EP “I don’t need no enemy” (2025)?

My relationship with instruments started first playing guitar, then vocals and percussion, like djembe and bongo's cabassa, and then saxophone. A few years ago, we did an album called “Back on Track” with members of my band plus friend-musicians, eleven persons in studio. The EP with 5 songs, called “I don’t need no enemy”, in studio with John Frick and great sessions.

”It is important to maintain playing and promoting good music, Blues Rock, Reggae, World, jazz because it is so rich and renewing. Blues is the best way to learn how to improvise and entertainpaople but also healing because of the deep feel. Jazz is a form of science but also a feel music, many ways of jazz. I like all simple music with a message of peace and love.” Nicko Christiansen / Photo by Jorge Amaral Ferreira)

If you could change one thing in the musical world and it would become a reality, what would that be?

If I could change something in music scene… well, I would say, more good music made by hand and real instruments and programs on TV about it, new music must come.

What has been the hardest obstacle for you to overcome as a person and as artist and has this helped you become a better musician?

Many obstacles, the first was when Livin’ Blues split up in 1975, then everything was happening at the same time, lost my girlfriend and my house and my mother, …and had to quit drinking because of stomach-troubles. I learned a lot in that period, but after that I had a lot of new adventures in the music. Other obstacles, were when I was young I couldn't focus on one thing and self discipline. I had to learn from Tai Chi and Aikido lessons, meditation too.

What do you miss most nowadays from the past? How has the music changed over the years? What are your hopes and fears for the future?

The nice clubs and idealistic companies. Money is making robot people, very bad for the whole planet and life on it. The system is wrong but to find out it is too late. Times will change, there is no other way. I really hope for health and strength for me and all the people, love respect harmony has got more power than the opposites.

What moment changed your music life the most? What´s been the highlights in your life and career so far?

The highlights were, first our hit records and TV in the seventies. In 1970, we were suddenly very populair and that lasted for a long time, till 1975 life was like a dream. Later highlights, were when we toured in many countries after 2000. Moscow was great in the Svetlanov Hall, and Indonesia in Jakarta blues fest, also Poland, Czech, Slovakia, Hungary, Denmark, Norway, Thailand, Germany, Italy, Portugal, France, Switzerland, to travel with a band of friends was always my main dream.

”To keep playing and writing new songs, and hoping people will still like it, what more can we do. Good music stays alive, only everytime in a new form. There is no old peoples music, when jazz, pop, classical music etc. was made in the beginning the musicians who played it were all young, so the music also stays young.” (Nicko with Livin’ Blues, the Hague Holland 1969 / Photo by John Wey)

Why is it important to we preserve and spread the blues? What is the role of music in today’s society?

It is important to maintain playing and promoting good music, Blues Rock, Reggae, World, jazz because it is so rich and renewing. Blues is the best way to learn how to improvise and entertainpaople but also healing because of the deep feel. Jazz is a form of science but also a feel music, many ways of jazz. I like all simple music with a message of peace and love.

You’ve worked in many different settings, from clubs and studios to open air festivals. How do you navigate between these different worlds?

Yes, the difference between playing in bars and cafe's or halls and festivals is always difficult for the sound and the space you've got. The larger rooms need good technicians who know the music and interact to it. The smaller places need a lower volume, to remain a good sound, if the audience don't talk to loud.

What are you doing to keep your music relevant today, to develop it and present it to the new generation?

To keep playing and writing new songs, and hoping people will still like it, what more can we do. Good music stays alive, only everytime in a new form. There is no old peoples music, when jazz, pop, classical music etc. was made in the beginning the musicians who played it were all young, so the music also stays young.

What are some of the most important lessons you have learned from your experience in the music paths?

Most important is to keep it simple and keep exercising your skills and maybe more important to stay fit enough to do it.

John Coltrane said "My music is the spiritual expression of what I am...". How do you understand the spirit, music, and the meaning of life?

Life is the meaning of life, we can meditate but we have to eat and shit sometimes, so keep it simple.

"Well, some of the famous pop singers used a lot of blues riffs and scales and lyrics like Joe Cocker, Beth Heart, ZZ Top, Ray Charles, the rolling stones, the animals, so the blues is more famous worldwide then we believe it is… I forget to mention JJ Cale, Eric Clapton, Tina Turner, Santana, Stevie Wonder, Louis Armstrong, the Neville Brothers, Pointer Sisters, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry; all those musicians had a blues feel and blues scales in their songs." (Nickos’ Band changed the name of the long-standing band Livin’ Blues Xperience to Livin’ Blues ’22, as the band composition has largely changed in 2022. A new album released at the end of 2022 on vinyl, called: Back on Track. Nicko Christiansen on stage / Photo by Jorge Amaral Ferreira)

What do you love most about the act of artwork/painting? What do you think is key to a life well lived?

For me painting is meditating and also having fun at the same time. in a life of rock n roll we need a lot of rest and emptiness. there is no such thing as a key to a well lived life, we have to learn our own style of living.

Be free and love what you do

Don't let nobody be messin' up your mind.

Nicko Christiansen / Livin' Blues 22 - Home