Metal Sludge — It’s been a while since we’ve covered Slik Toxik, or their lead singer Nick (Nicholas) Walsh, but here we go…

The singer’s former band, Slik Toxik have recently celebrated the 30th Anniversary of their “Doin’ The Nasty” release, with it seeing a reissue on all digital music platforms, 3 decades later.

Walsh tells Metal Sludge about how that happened, and gives readers an update on all things Toxik.

He also gives us an update about his project Famous Underground, and his ‘day job’ if you wanna call it that, as the voice of a Led Zepplin show.

Walsh, 51, who still has his golden rock voice tours North America as part of the Classic Albums Live production, where he is featured singing the music of Led Zepplin.

And after watching a a few clips, it’s apparent that Walsh still has his top notch chops, as not everyone can sing Zepplin, especially in their 50’s.

With that said, we sent Nick some questions and he was prompt in his response, filling us in on all kinds of news.

Enjoy our recent exchange with Nick Walsh….

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1. What is new in the world of Nick Walsh and Slik Toxik?

Well…I am still living in Toronto, Canada and am the father of a 16 year old son. During the past 2 years it’s been a bit difficult with all of the lockdowns and online learning, that I feel for my kid who is now in his 2nd year of high school and hasn’t had the same opportunities that we had to be social butterflies. Hopefully we can already be done with it all and move on.

2. How did the deal with Universal come about to reissue the “Doin’ The Nasty” record 30 years later?

I had been thinking about this now for a number of years and couldn’t understand why it was not available in the digital world. I had spoken with numerous people who used to work for Capitol/EMI and this led me nowhere.

I then reached out to an old industry acquaintance who still has his finger on the pulse, who then hooked me up with someone in the catalog and archival department at Universal. You see, the EMI music catalog was purchased by Universal Music Group in around 2011, so now I had to be introduced to some new people regarding the masters of our two EMI releases. Believe it or not they had no idea it hadn’t been released to the digital world!

3. Is the band (Slik Toxik) still active, or partially active playing the occasional “reunion” gig?

We have not been active since 1995, when after the last tour I decided to leave the band. I had known with the advent of the grunge and boy band era that it was gonna definitely be an uphill battle for the band, we were under so much pressure at that time that some of our members literally went off the deep end. At 25 years old, I thought that this would be a good time to embark on some new (ad)ventures. 

4. Has Slik Toxik been approached to do any of the U.S. based 80’s rock or hairband festivals or events, like M3 Music Festival or the Monsters of Rock Cruises? 

(I personally think you would be a GREAT addition…)

Unfortunately not. I too think that our music would’ve been a great fit. I do know some of the Canadian bands that seem to be on those shows have told me what a blast it has been. Actually, with my band Famous Underground we do pull out some of the classic Slik Toxik songs like Helluvatime, White Lies/Black Truth and a few more.

5. We’re aware that you have done some solo records and side projects (Famous Underground) over the years, are any of these still active?

Famous Underground is still active. We had recorded a full length album a couple of years ago but due to the pandemic we sat on it for a while, then decided to break it up into a few E.P.’s.

We had know idea how long this ‘Break’ was gonna last as shows seemed to be on and then off again like the movie Groundhog Day! We released an E.P. titled ‘In My Reflection’ June 2021 and plan on releasing another this June as well. A single will be coming from it soon titled ‘Sludge Garden’…No it’s not about your magazine. LOL! 

I also contributed a track to New Jersey native and guitarist Jack Frost’s love project ‘Brothers in Arms‘ last year. Lots of fun.

6. What does Nick Walsh do for a day gig or job? Anything in the way of your work outside of music to share with our readers?

Actually, I am fortunate enough to be able to make a living through music. I have sung and written on music from doing theme songs on Kid shows for Nickelodeon to anthemic tracks that get used by the likes of ESPN, MLB and more.

Mainly though, I have been a mainstay for a company called Classic Albums Live. I have been touring North America with this company now for 7 years. What we do is different from ‘Tribute’ acts. We are more like the modern symphony playing the classics of the last century ie, Led Zeppelin, Queen, Bowie, CCR, Beatles, Pink Floyd, etc.

My main show for them is Led Zeppelin which is a staple, shows like Queen and Bowie are more specialty shows that usually only tour for a year or so. So yes, music is and has been good and bad to me.


* Dates featuring Nick Walsh singing Led Zepplin II are noted below.

7. What new music, or new singers are you listening to or fond of?
Have you heard Dino Jelusick?

Fuck! Dino is amazing! I heard his covers over the past couple of years with Joel Hoekstra and all I can say is Wow! I heard his cover of ‘JANE‘ (Starship), it’s Killer.

You see, I love Rock and Metal but that’s not all that I listen to. I listen to music for vibe and mood. Example, when I am cooking (which I love to do), I may put on some Smooth Jazz or lounge music to have a cocktail and chill. When I am out in the backyard during the summertime, my roots seem to come out (Jamaican Mom) and I like to listen to Reggae or Dancehall. I just LOVE FUCKING MUSIC!

8. Who are some Canadian bands of note that you have become friends with over the years? Any good stories, good, bad or ugly to share?

I had become good friends with lots of them. I go waaaaayyy back with the Killer Dwarfs, Hell, they had us open for them in the early days a few times and I was just so fucking thrilled! I also had the opportunity to sing background vocals on the Helix album ‘Bastard of the Blues’. I loved them growing up. I also had the fortune through my buddy Sean Kelly (Lee Aaron, Helix, Coney Hatch, Gilby Clark) to sing a cover of the Kick Axe track ‘On the Road to Rock’ for his companion CD for the book ‘Metal On Ice‘. Kick Axe were one of my favorite Canadian Metal bands as a young teen growing up in Canada.

9. It’s 2022, 30 years earlier your band was on Capitol Records (EMI) and releasing your full length debut “Doin’ The Nasty”, how do you view the same record 3 decades later?

Well, after not hearing for so long and then finally hearing it on Spotify I am damn proud of what we accomplished in such a short period of time. I believe that if it had come out when it was actually finished it would have done better. Capitol/EMI sat o the album for a year before it was released, that would have pre-dated certain rock staples like ‘Slave to the Grind’ and “Use Your Illusions 1 & 2′, which I think we could’ve filled a void for the genre before those albums came out.

10. Last chance to send your thank yous, share links or promote your social media platforms?

I’d like to thank you guys at Metal Sludge for allowing me the platform to let people know where and what I have been up to for all of these years.

For those who are interested in seeing and hearing some of my latest works, please check out the links below:



Editors Note: Thanks Nick for catching up, and to all those reading, make sure to go see Nick Walsh on tour singing the music of Led Zepplin with Classic Albums Live.


Nick Walsh @ WebSite – Linktr.ee – Facebook – Instagram – Spotify – Youtube – Classic Albums Live

Slik Toxik @ “Doin’ The Nasty”

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