At first glance, singer Nikki Leonti looks like the mild-mannered, California church girl she was raised to be. A fan of the Winans family, she was only allowed to listen to gospel music growing up. Rich Velonkis has a bad boy air about him that probably stems from his days as a DJ in New York City. The unlikely pair are the two parts that make up the soulful duo, Nikki & Rich.
Referred to as “the most anticipated new duo in music” by industry heads, the pair combine pop, soul, R&B and classic ’60s sounds to make catchy hits. Leonti and Velonkis first met in Nashville when she was working as a backup singer for Carrie Underwood. Velonkis brought experience having produced tracks for Robin Thicke, Mario and Ludacris while Leonti brought an amazing voice, singing her whole life as a pastor’s daughter and Christian artist.
Needless to say, we were a bit intrigued when we read their bios. Then we heard the music and were sure: these two are definitely bringing something unique to the music world.
Check out what they had to say when we chatted with them:
Madame Noire: How did you both initially meet?
Nikki: It was about two years ago and we met through a mutual friend of ours that worked at my management company at the time, when I was living in Nashville which was the first writing session that I had been set up to do. Rich was producing a lot of artists at the time. So he let me come in on that and do some writing—and that’s how we got started.
MN: Were you writing before you were performing or did they both coincide?
Yea, I was writing for a little while before and really started song writing when I met Rick and more of it came out and developed for this record. Before, I had written a few songs here and there but nothing to this extent.
MN: Rich, how did you get into DJing?
Definitely in New York, when I was 16 to 19, 20. And then I moved out to L.A. and wasn’t DJing, it was a younger thing for me. Then out here I learned the drum machine, the keyboard and just started teaching myself how to make music and produce. DJing really developed my ear to hear which sounds that people responded to. So it was an important tool in terms of me as a producer and musician.
MN: What’s the process of making a song?
Rich: The way we usually work is I do the music, lay the track down. Then Nikki comes, hears that and it inspires her to write the lyrics. Then we sit down and tweak it, sometimes we don’t.
MN: What we the inspiration behind “Same Kind of Man”?
Nikki: Definitely personal experience [Laughs]. And I think it’s a very relatable place that I myself and many girls that I know have gone through. When I heard the music to that song immediately I had that topic in mind. It’s one of my favorite songs on the record and when performing live, connects the most. It’s rough out here [Laughs]. No yea, it’s crazy! Dating is hard anyway, no matter where you’re at and where you’re at in life.
I think we’re our own worst enemies because we know what’s good and what’s not good for us. And we continue to push on towards the bad even though we know it’s… bad.
That’s pretty much what the song is. I keep running back to the same situation, because I know that when I’m there I love it too much.
MN: How did gospel music affect your voice range?
Nikki: One of my greatest connections is being raised in a church with gospel music. I don’t think it gets more soulful than being in church on Sunday morning singing that gospel song. And that’s where I drew all of my inspiration because it was the only music I was allowed to listen to growing up. My inspiration comes from the gospel music industry, so those soulful elements I was able to bring into pop music.
MN: Does your dad, the pastor, embrace your career or want you to make a gospel album?
Nikki: Oh! He’d do anything to make me go back and do Gospel. [Laughs] He’d be completely happy, but… yea…we’ve learned, it’s taken years, but we’ve learned to take this as a second musical taste and he’s kind of come around to liking what we do and is coming to some of the shows. It’s a small miracle.
MN: So the inspiration behind “Dreaming”, was it based on your relationship with the church?
Nikki: Yea, “Dreaming” came from me doing a few records in the Christian music market and that was some of the judgment and hypocrisy that you deal with putting yourself in those positions where people are constantly picking you apart and judging your lifestyle. You have to be kind of perfect. The song is about looking towards the future and getting out of the judgmental.
MN: Rich, what are you doing while on stage? Since Nikki is working the mic.
Rich: I play the keys and then I also have a couple of things on stage, like a drum machine. For some shows I do a beat live on stage and then we transition to other tracks. We like to do cool things. On the Tonight Show we did “Cat and Mouse” the song and then right after the third [hook] I went into a live beat. I built it right there and covered it to work with the music. I try to keep it interesting without taking to long to build.
MN: Would you ever want to grab the mic and do your thing?
Rich: No, I do not. [Laugh] I’m very glad being behind the scenes and this is the first time I’ve ever been out. It’s been an experience and I love it. But no, I can’t sing for the life of me.
MN: How has the response been with audiences?
Rich: It’s been great! I think it blows us away whenever somebody knows the words to our songs that came from our studio and has transformed into an amazing experience there’s nothing like a live response, which I just recently learned. When I was creating things in the studio, it takes forever to put together and you never see a response, personally.
MN: So… Are you guys dating?
Rich: We are…no. We have a great relationship.
MN: If there’s one word to explain your place in the industry right now, what would it be?
Rich: Variety. I think everything on the radio is very similar. It’s about being fresh and not having to follow one type of system. And that’s why we take things from the 60’s and 70’s and try to introduce them to other sounds. Whatever is inspiring and motivation should come from a core, instead of trying to fit in a format. Everything we’ve done as a group has been happening because we enjoyed what we do. You have to make sure you never fall from that.
Nikki: I just want people to enjoy what we do via music and real live elements that we love and take pride in. I want [audiences] to see what we love and be able to say the words that mean so much to me. This album has allowed me to speak my heart. If I can come out there and have the opportunity to express through song, it means the world to me.
