Wigan singer-songwriter achieves global success

Singer-songwriter, Nigel Yong-Ching from Appley Bridge, has seen some of the tracks from his latest album, NYC, do particularly well abroad.

He is now enjoying international success with his videos and songs which are getting plays in almost 100 countries including: USA, Mexico, France, Germany, Australia, Tunisia and Nigeria.

Being a musician was his childhood dream and after purchasing some recording equipment just seven years ago, things have been moving in the right direction for the artist.

For his last album, Stranger Things, named after the TV series and a reflection of the weird and unprecedented times we all experienced during the Covid pandemic lockdowns, Nigel had to improvise and get a little creative with it.

He bought a green screen and filmed much of it on his parents’ drive and around the beautifully scenic area of Appley Bridge, which saw him receive compliments from fans as far away as Japan.

Nigel said: “I’ve been writing and recording music since the early 2000s and with paying to use studios, I ran out of funding and everything got put on hold.

"Then, in 2015 I invested in some of my own equipment and began recording my own music at home.

"I was then in a position to start releasing some of my own stuff. Since then I seem to be gaining a good wide range of listeners from around the world, which is really good.

“I haven’t had the chance to do much promomotion work for my latest album, NYC, yet but it just seems to just be taking off all on its own.

“As a kid, I remember seeing Bruce Springsteen on MTV and thinking: I wanna be like that.

“I really enjoy the whole creative process starting from hearing and forming music inside my own head, writing songs, to making them.

“I even hear music in my dreams and then I have to make a quick voice recording as soon as I wake up, much to the annoyance of my partner, Jamie!

“With each album I’m gaining more experience and with NYC, I wanted to make something which is more in line with what I was hoping to create.

“My teenage years were spent in the ’90s and naughties listening to all the R’n’B and pop music of that time and I’ve kind of merged the two together, so it does sound a bit retro but also hopefully still sounds current and fresh.

“Its called NYC because they are my initials, and the most popular tracks from that so far seem to be: What I’m Waiting For, Get With Me and Shotglass. NYC is catchy and anthemic to listen to.

On what’s next for his music career, Nigel said: "I’ve gotten more belief in the fact that people are really enjoying my music. I’m also getting more comfortable with my sound and so I will look at developing that to the next level.

“I’m going to focus on promoting the album, see about performing some live stuff and making more music videos,

“I also want to write more songs for my next album."