My Album.
The First Snow
DEBUT SOLO ALBUM
His songs are each short stories: emotional narratives that get under you skin and into your heart. The more you listen, the more you love them. There is an honesty and authenticity that comes through in every single song.
- Dan Shaw, Rural Intelligence
Music & Lyrics by Niko Tsakalakos
(track 3 lyrics by Janet Allard, track 5 lyrics by Rachel Jett)
Produced by Niko Tsakalakos, Brian Usifer
and Sammy Merendino
Arrangements & Orchestrations by Brian Usifer
Recorded & Engineered by Sammy Merendino
at Harlem Parlour Studios
Recording Mixing and Additional Recording by Derik Lee
Strings Recorded by Tim Hatfield
Mastered by Paul Stefanidis at Viking Lounge Mastering
© 2013 Creative Cove Publishing (ASCAP)
INTO THE WILD
DEMO
Chris McCandless generates strong views about the wisdom of his preparatinos for living in the bush, but everyone respects his spirit.
- Alaskan Audience Member, Perseverance Theatre
A musical stage adaptation that expands on the story told in the book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer incorporating the writings and photographs of Christopher McCandless from the new book, Back to the Wild. Into the Wild is a new musical that follows the journey of Christopher McCandless, a restless twenty-something year old who in seeking more than a conventional lifestyle can provide, sets on an Odyssey across the country, ultimately headed for Alaska.
MUSIC & LYRICS BY NIKO TSAKALAKOS
BOOK & LYRICS BY PETER SINN NACHTRIEB
Each full of ingenuity, this is a thrilling new writing team well worth our attention. In Fall Springs, their styles blend beautifully into a show that is exhilarating, refreshing, hilarious and moving all at once. I can’t get these songs out of my head! —Jason Eagan Artistic Director, Ars Nova
- Jason Eagon, Artistic Director,
Ars Nova
Dramatic action sequences, parent/child angst, lost limbs, found souls, and a rocking, driving, passionate hook-filled score, Fall Springs takes the best of musical theatre and disaster films to forge a hilarious and heartfelt musical comedy about the consequences of pushing Nature too far and what happens when our routine lives become interrupted and we're forced to sacrifice to save what we love.
POOL BOY
MUSIC & LYRICS BY NIKO TSAKALAKOS
BOOK & LYRICS BY JANET ALLARD
Standout numbers written by Nikos Tsakalakos and Janet Allard...allow for narrative and harmonic complexities, in which characters can reveal themselves and move the story along in a way that grabs your attention and doesn’t let go.
There are few writers I've met who rose to the occassion with the same relish and fearlessness as
Niko Tsakalakos and Janet Allard.
There are few writers I've met who rose to the occassion with the same relish and fearlessness as
Niko Tsakalakos and Janet Allard.
POOL BOY
A young singer-songwriter from New Jersey lands a job as a pool boy at the Hotel Bel-Air. Trying to parlay his interaction with celebrities into his own dreams of fame and fortune, he encounters people who see him only as a servant. As he learns “the game” and the lifestyle around him, he falls for the one other “real” thing poolside—a girl named April. Nick must choose between ambition and love—and struggle with how this fake, material world might even give him what he never knew he needed—something to write about.
The Story of the
Framingham
Dodecatuplets
Play by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb
Music by Niko Tsakalakos
It's a fully professional outing, staged with panache by Associate Artistic Director Mark Rucker with brightly comic choreography by Erika Chong Shuch and music by Nikos Tsakalakos for Nachtrieb's satiric pop songs. It's also often fiercely funny...
My Musicals.
In 1990, a young man named Christopher McCandless set out on a journey, just months after graduating from Emory University. He donated his trust fund to Oxfam, abandoned his car and belongings, and began a cross-country odyssey that would ultimately lead him to Alaska. When he ventures into the Alaskan bush, he entertains no illusions that he is trekking into the land of milk and honey; peril and adversity are exactly what he is seeking and what he finds.
Integrating multimedia elements from his own photographs, journal entries and letters, this new folk-rock musical pays tribute to McCandless’ complicated but ultimately transcendent story. His admirable quest for truth, understanding and purpose in life speaks to the restless spirit in everyone. Dramatic action
DEMO
MUSIC & LYRICS BY NIKO TSAKALAKOS
BOOK & LYRICS BY PETER SINN NACHTRIEB
Each full of ingenuity, this is a thrilling new writing team well worth our attention. In Fall Springs, their styles blend beautifully into a show that is exhilarating, refreshing, hilarious and moving all at once. I can’t get these songs out of my head! —Jason Eagan Artistic Director, Ars Nova
- Jason Eagon, Artistic Director,
Ars Nova
Dramatic action sequences, parent/child angst, lost limbs, found souls, and a rocking, driving, passionate hook-filled score, Fall Springs takes the best of musical theatre and disaster films to forge a hilarious and heartfelt musical comedy about the consequences of pushing Nature too far and what happens when our routine lives become interrupted and we're forced to sacrifice to save what we love.
DEMO
Standout numbers written by Nikos Tsakalakos and Janet Allard...allow for narrative and harmonic complexities, in which characters can reveal themselves and move the story along in a way that grabs your attention and doesn’t let go.
There are few writers I've met who rose to the occassion with the same relish and fearlessness as
Niko Tsakalakos and Janet Allard.
There is a sophistication in several of the lyrics that somehow reminded me of Cole Porter.
DEMO
A young singer-songwriter from New Jersey lands a job as a pool boy at the Hotel Bel-Air. Trying to parlay his interaction with celebrities into his own dreams of fame and fortune, he encounters people who see him only as a servant. As he learns “the game” and the lifestyle around him, he falls for the one other “real” thing poolside—a girl named April. Nick must choose between ambition and love—and struggle with how this fake, material world might even give him what he never knew he needed—something to write about.
The Story of the
Framingham
Dodecatuplets
Play by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb
Music by Niko Tsakalakos
It's a fully professional outing, staged with panache by Associate Artistic Director Mark Rucker with brightly comic choreography by Erika Chong Shuch and music by Nikos Tsakalakos for Nachtrieb's satiric pop songs. It's also often fiercely funny...
Bizarre and compelling, the world premiere of Litter is Nachtrieb's dark brand of comedy with a pop twist.
DEMO
“This is a good time to mention that score — Oh My God fantastic. This is a show that deserves a studio recording as soon as possible — get it out there, let people listen to it in their cars and on their iPhones, and sing along at top voice — it is that kind of score.”
My Concerts, Cabarets
and Song Cycles.
I really loved your show last night. The songs were fantastically written, the arrangements rockin', and the performances were stellar.
- Andrew Allanson, Classical/Film/Video Game Composer
Niko infuses his tunes with raw emotion and his disciplined approach allows him to color outside the lines and still make a gorgeous picture.
- Jason Eagan, Ars Nova
New Songs Now
July 27, 2016
The Araca Group & Rattlestick Playwrights Theater
present an ALL NEW unplugged summer concert series of new music
NEW SONGS NOW featuring 2 artists each night, all followed by audience talkbacks
Michael R. Jackson (A Strange Loop, Teeth, Only Children),
& Niko Tsakalakos (Sundance Institute Composer Fellow, Into the Wild)
Driving West
December 04, 2011
Music & Lyrics by Niko Tsakalakos
Book & Additional Lyrics by Janet Allard
In this night of music from his show Driving West, singer-songwriter Niko Tsakalakos and his indie-rock band embark on an epic musical trek from his New Jersey childhood to his stint as pool boy at the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles. Through songs and stories he tries to navigate the tricky star-studded world of the hotel while simultaneously coming to terms with his estranged brother and a family breaking apart.
November 13, 2009
Niko Tsakalakos and his band perform indie rock musical songs about insomnia, pool boys and the big city. August 2008 Barrington Stage Company, World Premier Run November 2009 Ars Nova, Ant Fest.
SAINT FRIDAY
This indie-rock trio comprised of brothers Niko and Christos Tsakalakos and their lifelong friend/soulmate/collaborator Achilles Yerou took the LA circuit by storm between 2003 and 2006. Soaring melodies riding over a mean, driving backline and deliriously ripping electric guitar came to define their eclectic, retro sound, taking LA audiences to epic heights. These headliners packed venues such as the Whisky A Go Go, The Roxy, The Cat Club, The Viper Room and The Troubadour. Stay tuned as they set their sights on reuniting!