- I'm gonna show you guys the craziest song I ever made, (cup clicking) and it's really noisy if I can find it.

(lively tribal music) So I grew up in Foley, Minnesota, so right in central Minnesota, and ever since I was a kid I really, really, really wanted to be a singer and musician, like I always thought, like I just truly believed that I was going to do that.

I didn't really think much about like, art or creative stuff like painting or anything until later on, but it was like music, music was my thing.

I had a bed, what are those called, like the canopy beds where you can put a canopy on top.

We just had like the knob that held the canopy in place and I would take one of those and even after we got rid of that bed, I kept that knob and I'd be like, family, come.

I'm doing a concert, (Nicole laughing) (rapid drumming) and this is my favorite part.

(rapid drumming) (electronic music) Okay, I should have played you a song where I can actually sing.

(Nicole laughing) (upbeat electronic music) ♪ Really pretty ♪ ♪ I feel the world ♪ ♪ I cannot breathe ♪ I make electronic music that's very much in the realm of pop, but it's quite experimental and a little bit industrial just 'cause I really like to experiment with sound and textures.

Yeah, and this is fun to use.

So it was a little bit tricky to hook this one up today, but I'll show you a song I made with this, if it will play.

♪ They show me ♪ ♪ Play play ♪ ♪ They show me ♪ And like I'll sample my voice, you know.

(Nicole vocalizing) Like made all the drum sounds.

(Nicole vocalizing) (energetic electronic music) I thought I was gonna move to New York and make it big, (Nicole laughing) (lively music) but I'll make a very long story short.

New York was really hard.

I did not like it and I just was like, I don't know where I belong, but I'm gonna move back to Minnesota.

From everything I learned from working at a startup, I was able to like, start my own business and have it be successful within like a month, which never happens, and then I decided, I'm gonna go to Costa Rica and have like, one of those limitless sort of vacations.

Like, I wasn't a billionaire but I was like, I finally did something.

I'm gonna go to Costa Rica to relax for one month, and that one month turned into three years.

I love the tranquility of Costa Rica.

I love being woken up by the monkeys and the birds and everything.

Grab your surfboard, put on a swimsuit, and walk to the beach and surf, like that quiet, tranquil life.

(relaxing music) Something happened with the water permits where all of a sudden one year everyone got a water permit, which meant everyone could begin construction on their properties that they had been waiting years to build.

So that led to endless amounts of construction noise, (trucks beeping) the destruction of nature, like that pure nature before my very eyes.

I just wanted to find peace and tranquility.

For months after moving back to Minnesota, I couldn't find a place because it was, COVID was making everything crazy.

I said, "I'm gonna close my eyes, point to a random dot on Zillow "and whatever house I land on, I'll buy.

"Like I don't care, I'm done.

"I'm gonna let go and let God, this is it."

So I did that, I clicked on it and I opened up my eyes and I was like, I don't understand how this is the price of this house or why this house is so perfect, but somehow I found my perfect house.

That was that, like I just paid for it and now here we are.

(Nicole laughing) (upbeat electronic music) ♪ Hold me ♪ ♪ In my morning sun ♪ For me, my creativity's not just meant for like only one realm, like music or art.

Like I wouldn't even say that I'm an artist of just visual art or just, sometimes I don't even feel like it's artistry.

I feel like it's just creation to everything that I do, whether it's like cooking, gardening, or renovating my house, it's the same exact feeling and the exact same process, which also has been transformed with like, that spiritual aspect.

There is a cat down there, he's very, very, very, very friendly.

His name is Walnut.

(thermos clanging) So this is where it all began was right here with my new style of art.

(paper riffling) ♪ Hold me ♪ ♪ In my morning sun ♪ ♪ You wanna ♪ Being an artist or a creative musician person has been maybe one of the most transformative processes of my whole entire existence as a human being.

A lot of people were like, just get a normal job.

Even when I started my own business they were like, "What are you doing?

"You're making the biggest mistake of your life," which it ended up being the best thing in the entire world for me.

I'm not working a nine to five job because I just can't.

- All right.

What's that?

- [Driver] She says, she'll show you.

- I definitely am a creature of faith and trust and surrender, like I just trust the higher order, I trust in God and I'm just like, yep, if this is where I need to be, like I don't need to know.

I don't need to understand.

I don't need to be able to like, predict what's gonna happen.

I'm just like, let's go.

(Nicole laughing) (cheery electronic music) (Nicole vocalizing) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) - [Narrator] "Postcards" is made possible by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund and the citizens of Minnesota.

Additional support provided by Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies.

Mark and Margaret Yackel-Juleen, on behalf of Shalom Hill Farms, a retreat and conference center in a prairie setting near Windom, Minnesota.

On the web at shalomhillfarm.org.

Alexandria, Minnesota, a year-round destination with hundreds of lakes, trails and attractions for memorable vacations and events.

More information at explorealex.com.

The Lake Region Arts Council's arts calendar, an arts and cultural heritage funded digital calendar showcasing upcoming art events and opportunities for artists in West Central Minnesota.

On the web at lrac4calendar.org.

Playing today's new music, plus your favorite hits, 96.7 KRAM, online at 967kram.com.

(upbeat music)