An Interview with Nick & June: What happened during their break, the creation of "New Year's Face" and tour life

Guess who's back? It's the indie-folk project Nick & June. After their break, the project around Nick Wolf and Suzie-Lou "June" Kraft returned with their third studio album New Year's Face, which was created together with Peter Katis.

On January 30, 2026, before their show in Berlin, Nick from Nick & June, who founded the project back in 2011, met up with The Unseen Magazine for a chat all about life on tour, what he did during the break and the creation of their newest record.

HERE'S THE FULL INTERVIEW:

Andy: Nick, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us today. I’m Andy from The Unseen Magazine. Would you like to introduce yourself and your duo to our readers who might not know you yet?

Nick: I’m Nick, just as you said. Nick & June is our project. It’s been around for a few years now, and we also had a longer break in between. We released a new album this past December. We’re on tour now, and it’s an incredible amount of fun, and everything feels really great at the moment.

Andy: You’ve been active in the music industry for over a decade, as you mentioned. In December 2025, you released your latest and third album, Near Year's Face. Is there a small anecdote or memory that you particularly associate with the time when the album was made?

Nick: Definitely quite a few. Nick & June originally started out as a solo project. There were different line-ups, and we were touring very intensively for a while, which was actually going really well. Then there came a point where we said we needed a short break to really come down mentally. During that time, a lot changed. Suzie and I were a couple, then we weren’t anymore. But we decided to keep making music together and to make this album together. That was obviously very formative.

It was also a big step for us to record the album in the US and to be able to work with amazing people and musicians there. I can’t think of one specific anecdote right now, but all of these were very important, emotional things that happened during that time, things you then write about, talk about, and compose. I think this will always be a very important album for me. I have no idea what I’ll be doing in 20 years, but when I look back at this album then, I’ll immediately feel exactly how I felt at that time.

Andy: Do you remember what might have been a turning point that made you want to make music again?

Andy: What did you do during the break? Did you discover any new hobbies? Music is such a big part of your everyday life, and when that falls away, a lot changes. Did you find things that still accompany you in your daily life today?

Nick: Absolutely. Fundamentally, music was still my central focus during that time, because when I wasn’t actively doing Nick & June, I was working with other artists. That transitioned pretty seamlessly, and I did that the whole time and still do. But it was definitely a moment where space opened up for many other things that there hadn’t been room for before, like traveling. I traveled a lot, and that’s actually one of the great things about being a musician. When you’re not on tour, you can do your work from anywhere. I also started reading a lot more again. I really love reading, and sometimes reading is actually even more important to me than music. I’d say those two things became really fundamental parts of my life during that time.

Andy: Do you have a book recommendation for our readers?

Nick: The book I just finished and found very beautiful, very smart, and very sharp was "Am Meerschwein übt das Kind den Tod" by Nora Gomringer.

Andy: During your travels, did you discover a place where you’d like to play a show one day?

Nick: *laughs* For a moment, I thought you were going to ask where I’d like to live, because I could have named thousands of places. We’re actually playing cities like London and Paris this year, which is amazing. I really love southern Europe, especially Portugal. I’ve been there a lot, so I’d say I’d love to play in Lisbon and Porto.

Andy: And would you also like to live there?

Nick: Yes.

Andy: How, and maybe also where, was the album cover created for your album? I find it really interesting. It almost looked like it was shot on analog film.

Nick: It is an analog image.

Andy: What’s the story behind the cover?

Andy: On the album, you also have several featured artists, such as The Antlers, Russian Red, and Owen Pallett. In general, you already work quite a lot as a duo. How was it to work with external people who aren’t part of Nick & June, compared to working only with Suzie?

Nick: Super intense and super exciting, of course, because for us it was also the first time we produced an album in this way.

First of all, working with Peter as a producer, there are just so many records by him that I’ve loved over the past 20 years, like The National or Interpol. That was obviously a huge step for us. And secondly, as you mentioned, working with artists like The Antlers, who have released albums that have been incredibly important to me.

I still remember hearing Russian Red’s first album for the first time; I was completely blown away. And of course, every musician has their own way of working, their own way of thinking about music and about the aesthetics behind it. That’s why it’s incredibly interesting and enriching for us. And also very different.

The songs usually come together like this: Suzie writes something and sends it over, I tinker around with it a bit, or the other way around, she builds an arrangement around a song or a part that came from me. Opening ourselves up and saying, okay, we have a song, and we’re consciously allowing creativity from many sides, which is incredibly enriching, was definitely a really great experience.

Andy: Are there any other artists or bands you could imagine collaborating with someday?

Nick: I know who Suzie would name; she’d say St. Vincent. I have to say Lana Del Rey. I think that would be great. And I’d also choose Justin Vernon and Bon Iver.

Andy: One song from your album that really stands out to me is “You Are the Voice That’s Hunting My Soul For a Show”. It reminded me a bit of Lana, because she also has song titles that are quite long. What’s one of your favorite songs on the album?

Nick: Oh, that’s hard to say. I think my favorite song at the moment, and I can say this because Suzie wrote almost all of it, is "Husband and Wife", the last song on the album. I still remember when Suzie sent me the demo. It was just a bit of piano and vocals, and I was immediately like, okay, wow. That’s so incredibly strong. For me, that’s probably the most intense song on the album right now.

Andy: Over the past few years, you’ve played quite a lot of shows as a duo. In January, you started your New Year’s Face-Tour, which includes more than 25 shows. Yesterday, for example, you played in Leipzig. How are you feeling right now? What does it feel like to be back on the road, especially after the break?

It’s beautiful to be back on the road with this team. Things are going amazingly well for us right now, and we’re incredibly grateful and happy that things are the way they are and that it’s working out like this.

Andy: Do you notice a difference compared to earlier tours, like last year or even before that?

Nick: Definitely. I think over time, it naturally always feels a bit different. An audience grows along with you; you really notice that. Right now, I’d say it feels very beautiful and very intense with the audience.

Of course, a lot of new people are coming in, but many have also been there for a long time, people who know the older material and maybe are wearing merch we had five years ago or something like that. Every tour feels different.

Andy: We’re backstage with you right now. What would you say is the strangest or most unusual thing on your rider?

Nick: *laughs* Well, number one, and Suzie makes no compromises on this, those cans of Coke Zero are for Suzie only.

*looks at the two cans of Coke on the table*

She insists that they’re cans, not bottles, and it has to be Zero.

Andy: I do think Coke from a can really tastes much better.

Nick: That’s what she always says. I can't believe it. *laughs*

Pauline (Photographer): I also think it’s always more fun to drink from a can.

Nick: Funny, cool that you’re saying that. Yesterday, for example, we had Coke in glass bottles. And Suzie was like, “No, I’m not drinking that.” And she really didn’t drink it. That’s the weirdest thing on the rider. It has to be cans.

Nick: Not really. I’ve kind of already planned for the fact that I’ll probably be sick for a week, which surprisingly hasn’t happened yet. It was sort of set in my head that I’d get home from Düsseldorf on Sunday and then be completely wiped out for a week.
But I actually don’t have any plans yet. I definitely want to take it easy and just come down a bit.

Andy: You make indie folk, a genre I only really got more deeply into a few years ago through Taylor Swift’s albums folklore and evermore. Can you remember your first indie folk experiences, or songs and albums that opened up the indie world for you and maybe still inspire you today?

Nick: I’d say that was probably Bright Eyes. Before that, I was already influenced a lot by my parents, with classics like The Beatles, The Kings, but also a lot of ’90s stuff like Radiohead or Blur, The Stone Roses or The Cure.

I think I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning by Bright Eyes was the first album for me that was a folk album, and that just emotionally overwhelmed me and really touched me deeply.

After that, I pretty quickly discovered a lot more in that direction for myself. Nick Drake or Elliott Smith, and then also things that were already around at the time, like Bon Iver. But I’d say the very first record was Bright Eyes.

Andy: Your songs feature a lot of different instruments. Kiss, Marry, Kill: banjos, mandolins, and ukuleles?

Nick: Kill: banjo. I don’t actually dislike banjo that much. And I think banjo can be great if it’s used in a certain way, for example, in a Sufjan Stevens kind of style. Really strange and weird. But still, banjo would be Kill. We don’t really use it anymore.

Then I’d say Marry: ukulele. Ukulele is cool. We actually only have one song with a ukulele, but we always like playing it. It’s fun and kind of charming.

And mandolin would get the Kiss. That’s fine. Funny. Great.

Andy: We’ve got one last question. The Unseen Magazine has curated a playlist with recommendations from different artists, and we wanted to ask which songs you’d like to add to it.

Nick: Husband and Wife by Nick and June, Margaret (feat. The Bleachers) by Lana Del Rey and Flea by St. Vincent.

Andy: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us!

Make sure to catch Nick & June on their New Year's Face Tour 2026 all around Germany, Austria, France and the UK for an intimate night of music. Throughout the show, the duo manages to take the audience into another world. You can expect a cozy atmosphere filled with intimate musical moments. A show highlight must be the performance of "Rain in June", unplugged and acoustic, in the middle of the audience.

Find tour dates and ticket infos here.