Up through elementary school, Nick Weiller had the typical boyhood dream of becoming a sports star. He wanted to play in the NFL and during the offseason wished to play baseball in the MLB. Two-sport professional athletes are extremely rare, but it has been done before. It was around the same age (4th grade) that Nick also received his first guitar. Let’s just say his dreams of becoming an athlete were short-lived. After picking up this guitar for the first time, Nick completely immersed himself into music. He fell in love instantly. Through his teenage years, he was heavily involved in the punk music scene – going to concerts and forming a few of his own punk rock bands.
As his musical influences evolved, so did his music. He first formed a drum n bass trio in 2000, better known as Evol Intent. Evol Intent is still very much in existence and has been touring across the world the past 14 years. You may have even seen the name this summer on the Moonrise 2014 lineup. Even though Nick still tours with Evol Intent, it is now more just a side project. When drum n bass began to teeter off several years ago, Evol Intent tried to experiment with several other genres, but the fans were very resistant to the music. This was heartbreaking for Nick, as he loved producing drum n bass, but also wanted to take his career to the next level. He wanted to prove to himself that he could create a successful music career on his own. He took some time off from producing to work on rock music instead, but eventually fell back into the dance music scene. And therefore, Bro Safari was born – a project that is 100% about Nick and what he loves to produce. 
For Nick, Bro Safari was and still is his escape and is very fulfilling. When Bro Safari first started to work out, he felt a lot better about himself and realized that yes, indeed he could create a successful career in music on his own. There’s no doubt that this is the furthest he has gone with his passion. It’s been a very surreal experience for Nick and has proved to be a scary one as well. Considering Nick is already 35, he is no longer that young compared to most up-and-coming producers in the game. Therefore, he fears becoming irrelevant as an artist. It’s something that is always in the back of his mind. However, as he continues to surround himself with inspiring people who do it strictly for the music the fear lessens and it is much easier to keep going. For example, he recently went on tour with Skrillex and saw from Sonny (Skrillex) that even if people love or hate his music, none of that matters because he just makes music for himself. Nick left the tour inspired by Skrillex and recalls thinking, “Wow, you can do what you want and still stay true to yourself. Make what you want to make, and as long as you’re good it’s going to work out.”
This is exactly what he has done with his Bro Safari moniker. If you’ve listened to his productions or his sets, then you will see that Nick is known for pushing the boundaries and mixing in different sounds – aka, genre hopping. Genre hopping used to be a negative term, but now it is becoming more and more acceptable. Also, an artist can still maintain their own unique sound, while combining different musical influences. For Nick, if something isn’t working for him in the studio, then he will just cut it because at the end of the day he doesn’t want to compromise his sound. Ever. He would rather wait 6 months before releasing a track, than to put out a tune that he isn’t feeling 100%. Even though he is now producing for himself, he enjoys when the fans respect that as well. When this happens, it is the ultimate collaboration.
One of the main reasons Nick combines so many different genres in his productions is because he finds inspiration in everything. Often times, as cliché as it sounds, his best productions result from feeling inspired by a negative situation or challenge in his life. When he found out that his girlfriend was pregnant and he was going to have a son, he was at a time in his life where none of his musical endeavors were really panning out. He questioned if he should go to school or give this music dream one more shot. Since Nick didn’t want to grow up regretting that he didn’t take this opportunity, he took a leap of faith and it worked. Then when his son was born, he was a machine in the studio. He was in the studio everyday cranking out tunes. He has since realized that the best songs spark from real emotions and they happen quickly.
As every touring musician knows, it can be a very exhausting (physically and mentally) career. Nick is touring at least 3-4 days a week and has a hard time concentrating when he is trying to produce on the road. When he is at home, he doesn’t necessarily just have time to sit in the studio and produce. He has a family, remember? Nick currently has a wife, a son, and three stepdaughters. While his wife is incredibly supportive of his music dream, if at any moment she asked him to stop touring, he would do so in a heartbeat. He wouldn’t stop producing music because it’s what he loves to do, but his family means the world to him so he would take a break from touring if needed. Trying to find a balance between his family and his music has proved to be a challenge for this 35-year-old. However, even when he’s exhausted and in a terrible mood from touring (like the day of HARD), getting onstage and realizing that his fans are giving him the life that he needs is what makes him persevere.
He now knows that there’s more to life than accepting the hand that you’re dealt. You have to constantly challenge yourself as Nick Weiller has always done. Pick your passion or your dream and just make it happen. According to Nick, the other 50% of pursuing your passion is risk. Life is going to throw you curveballs and obstacles, but you have to persevere and overcome them. You have to take a leap of faith in order to gain a reward. As a result, Nick is living his dream and is grateful for this opportunity.
