Nico Rattray
Music and teaching are two of the great loves of my life! I’ve been making music ever since I can remember, and I have been a teacher for 20 years. They have both challenged and inspired me so many times I’ve lost track.
I am deeply grateful to have wonderful relationships with my students. Most of my young students stay with me for years, and many of my adult students describe lessons as being “like therapy.” Because that’s how I see music, as healing! In December 2024 I was Certified as a Trauma-Informed Nervous System in the Arts teacher by Ruby Rose Fox at Muscle Music. That course gave me such a deeper understanding of how music and performing acts on our nervous system. Music is an energetic pathway; if it isn’t flowing, we keep trying new things until we tap the wellspring! And always with joy and lightness.
Songwriting and singing are my first loves: Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby McFerrin, and Miles Davis were some of my early faves. I earned a bachelor of music from UC Santa Cruz, where I was awarded the 2007 Hortense Zuckermann Prize for Excellence in Music Scholarship and Performance (proud!) After that I sang classical music professionally for a number of years, but always kept writing songs. In 2011 I was blown away by the expressive power of James Blake’s first vocal record, and decided to throw myself into electronic music production, which led me down some marvelous paths. But in the end, I’ve come back to acoustic music as my first and deepest love. Check out my lullabies and my portfolio!
I moved to LA from the SF Bay Area in 2019. I love it here so much. I have been practicing Buddhist meditation and yoga since the late 2000s, and it has significantly shaped my world view and life. I am profoundly grateful for their practices and philosophies. I host a bi-weekly meditation group (NELA Queer Sangha), and a choir (Quoir).
If you’re interested in working with me, please drop me a line!
Nico’s Studio —
125 S Ave 52
Los Angeles, CA
(805) 448-3814
