The legend of British and world pop music, Robbie Williams, released ten days ago a new album “Britpop”, which climbed to the top of all charts in a record-short time. Musical legends guest star on the project that was anticipated for a full seven years, such as Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi, and one of the future hits, a song titled “All My Life,” was played on his guitar by a Serb, Nikola Stajić.
Nikola has been living and working in Los Angeles for a long time, where he came directly from the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, which he completed as a full scholarship recipient and one of the best students of the decade.
Although he entered the music industry long ago and collaborated with many famous musicians, including Tommy Emmanuel, on whose recommendation he received the scholarship, Robbie Williams’ call was a surprise even for him:
-I clearly remember how as a child, sitting in front of the television, I watched Robbie Williams’ performance at Live Aid and thought: “God, this is what I want to do.” Twenty years later, here we are talking about a collaboration on his album. That thought still leaves me breathless, says Nikola Stajić at the beginning of the conversation for Serbian Times, and continues:
-My first contact with the song “All My Life” happened in 2024. My friend and long-time collaborator Oli Jacobs, one of the best mix engineers today, called me and said he was working on a song that needed an intro and a first verse on fingerstyle acoustic guitar. At that moment, I didn’t know which artist it was. Such calls are part of everyday life for me — friends and colleagues often call me to record certain sections. Oli and I met at Peter Gabriel’s studio, Real World Studio, thanks to Amira Medunjanin, who recognized that the friendship would make sense. I recorded the requested sections, sent them to Oli, and moved on with my obligations.
During that period, the film “Better Man” about Robbie Williams appears, with the new song “Forbidden Road”…
–I watched the movie, heard the intro, which had almost the identical atmosphere as the one I recorded for “All My Life”. True, while I was recording the guitars, Robbie’s vocals did not yet exist in that song. Only then did I realize that I was actually working on a song for Robbie Williams’ new album!, Nikola recalls.
However, shortly thereafter, he received information that the song would not be recorded for the album’s needs after all, because it was sonically too similar to already published material.
-Still, a year later, producer Freddy Wexler called me and said that Robbie definitely wants “All My Life” on the album, but that it was necessary to achieve a strong Oasis sound. Several guitarists tried to record the parts, but Robbie was not satisfied. At some point, it was suggested that the guitarist who recorded the acoustic guitars on the demo version should try to record the electric ones as well, which by some miracle was me, Nikola reflects.
-Then everything became serious. I didn’t sleep for the next two days. I analyzed every possible detail: What strings Noel Gallagher from the group Oasis uses, how old they are before recording, which guitars, magnets, pedals and amplifiers, which microphones and at what distance from the amplifier. It was the most detailed sound analysis I had ever done, in an attempt to truly understand and feel 그 sound. The same applies to the bass, acoustic guitars, and even some drones I recorded on the sitar.
And after such effort, the result was not missing…
-During 그 week, the song took on almost the final form that we all know today. In that process, trust was built between me and the entire team, which resulted in further collaboration on several more songs, some of which I also co-produced. At that moment, we didn’t know which songs would end up on the album, but we all felt that something important was happening.
SERIOUS WORK YIELDED RESULTS: Nikola in the stage of creating the song „All My Life“
A few months later, Nikola received information that Robbie exclusively performed the new song — “All My Life” — at a concert in Europe.
-Then I knew that was it. If the fans had already heard the song, it meant that the album was real. It was extremely difficult to keep such news a secret, especially when the release date of the album was moved several times. And then, completely unexpectedly, last week a link just arrived for me — the album was out, without any announcement.
A week later, “Britpop” was already the main music news of the year and entered history: Robbie Williams broke the record previously held by the Beatles, with a total of 16 albums at number one on the charts in Great Britain.
PART OF A HISTORIC PROJECT: The album „Britpop“ has already entered musical legend
-All of this is still surreal to me. My heart is full when I see how much love and attention the audience provides to this album and song, points out Nikola Stajić, whose arrival in the United States of America began as a student dream.
-I came to America as a winner of a full scholarship for Berklee College of Music in Boston, and that opportunity opened up for me thanks to the legendary guitarist Tommy Emmanuel, whose work and support played a key role in my education and development. At that moment, I could not even guess where that path would lead me.
About what is currently current in his career, he says:
-Currently, I am active on several fronts. I perform with two gospel groups — Maverick City and One House. With the band One House, I play regularly on Sundays at the Potter’s House church in Hollywood, while with Maverick City we recently performed at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. In parallel, I work as a musical director for Australian singer-songwriter Clinton Kane, and on this occasion, I invite the audience to support him on the American tour that begins on February 15 — the concerts will truly be special.
LIVING THE BOYHOOD DREAM: Nikola Stajić in his studio in Los Angeles
Still, the project that makes me the happiest at this moment is the solo album of the frontman of the band „Ripe“, Robbie Wulfsohn, on which I am working as an executive producer for the first time. I am excited for that album to see the light of day soon and begin its life outside of my studio.
And after the big breakthrough that guest starring on the album of such a great as Robbie Williams represents for him, he remains firmly on the ground:
CAREER ON THE RISE: Nikola Stajić before performing at the famous Coachella festival
–I am grateful to have the opportunity to deal with music at this level — music that shaped my childhood — and I sincerely hope that the audience will enjoy the album “Britpop” just as much as we enjoyed it while we were creating it, says Nikola Stajić at the end of the conversation for Serbian Times, whose guitar we will listen to on world music stages for a long time to come.
Author: Antonije Kovčević Photo: Wikipedia, Britpop/Robbie Williams, Privatna arhiva