INTERVIEW: Nigel Dupree Opens Up About New Songs + How the Music Industry Has Changed

On Tuesday (Feb. 10), Nigel Dupree joined Loudwire Nights as the show's latest special guest. He dove into the latest project he's working on — his new band Nigel and the Heat — and what their future looks like.

Listen to the full conversation in the player near the end of this article.

"During the pandemic, I made my move to Nashville and naturally, it opened up all these crazy doors of different ways to survive in the music world," Dupree explained to host Chuck Armstrong.

"One of those was teching — stage managing, guitar teching, whatever. I was out with our friends in Pop Evil and after a couple of random soundchecks, like once every five shows, Leigh [Kakaty] would have something else to go do and one day I just hopped up on the mic and sang at soundcheck."

Dupree admitted that experience reignited a passion in him, one that he had pursued in past years.

"I was just like, man, I miss this," he recalled.

"Over the years, you have a song idea and you pick at it and you might record a demo and sit on it. I'd done all that, but that really sparked the fire and just got to where it was like, I just want to feel that again. Ever since I was a kid, I started out on drums when I was like 5, 6 years old, and by the time I was a teenager, I wanted to play guitar and sing."

One of Dupree's recent gigs was drumming on Breathing Fire, the latest solo album from his dad and good friend of Loudwire Nights, Jackyl's Jesse James Dupree. But wanting to be behind the mic is his focus right now and Nigel and the Heat are scratching that itch; they've already released their first new song, "Break My Heart." Fortunately, there is plenty more to come.

"I'm sitting on a nice little bank of songs," Dupree shared.

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"I didn't want to go the album route because I wanted to get a band. I've got three songs in the pipeline, 'Break My Heart' is the first of the three that I recorded myself. I'm no Wolfgang Van Halen by any means at all, but I did go in there."

As excited and inspired as Dupree currently is, he said he's just getting started.

"Now it's ready for phase two," he told the Loudwire Nights audience.

"We got the door kicked open and now we got to get the band on the road and start to get these song together."

What Else Did Nigel Dupree Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

• What excites him about rock and roll: "The rock and roll lifestyle and the words rock and roll and rock star [have] come back into pop culture. It's awesome. But to me, the definition of rock and roll is kind of getting a little lost. It's okay to be rock and it's okay to say that you are rock and roll because it doesn't necessarily have to be defined by the genre of music you play ... But if you really break it down, [there is] a certain blend of swing and the drums and this whole thing that's not appearing yet in this new wave of rock and roll."
• Why there's no plan B for him: "God, this is all I know. I can't do anything else. I can't do anything else but give you the bare bones, straight up old-school rock and roll stuff. I'm just doing my part to keep that alive — and to just enjoy everyone appreciating rock and roll being a lifestyle thing."
• How the music industry has changed over the last 15 years: "[It used to be] if you had a conversation on a business level about what do I need to do with my band, everyone at that point in time would have said, 'You've got to break it at radio or you don't stand a chance.' Today, obviously, the environment's way different. There's streaming platforms and just social media and it's changed so much."

Listen to the Full Interview in the Podcast Player Below

Nigel Dupree joined Loudwire Nights on Tuesday, Feb. 10; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand.