Daily Discovery: Nic Armstrong & The Thieves, “Negative Slant”

Photo by Davide Coffman
Photo by Davide Coffman

ARTIST: Nic Armstrong & The Thieves

Videos by American Songwriter

SONG: “Negative Slant”

HOMETOWN: Birthed in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK.
 
CURRENT LOCATION: Austin, Texas.
 
AMBITIONS: Animal magic.
 
TURN-OFFS: Cheats / cheating.
 
TURN-ONS: Eye contact.
 
DREAM GIG: Performing with Paul McCartney and Saturday Night Live.
 
FAVORITE LYRIC: The original lyrics to “Rock The Casbah.”
 
SONG I WISH I WROTE: “Down Home Girl” – I would have been quids in after that Superbowl ad. Seriously though, how difficult is this to answer? This changes every fifteen minutes. Shooting from the hip…”I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know?” “Don’t Go Home With Your Hard-On?” “Pick Up The Tempo?” “Lost Highway?” “Out On The Weekend?” 
 
5 PEOPLE I’D MOST LIKE TO HAVE DINNER WITH: I haven’t been back to UK (long story short) since 2006 – so, my family.
 
MY FAVORITE CONCERT EXPERIENCE: I love playing live so much that my favorite concert experience is the one that is about to happen.
 
I WROTE THIS SONG BECAUSE… The seed of this song lies in an exchange with my brother-in-law. In reference to some of my regular, day-to-day English self-deprecation – he stated, “you are such an asshole to yourself.” Using that phrase, a musical motif (if that’s the right word) popped up, and I built the song out from there. I think the core message of “Negative Slant” is “if you haven’t got anything positive to say, don’t saying anything at all – keep quiet.” 

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