Part 2 of discussion with Nate....
By: Courtney Grimes
CG: Tell me about this album.
NS: Well, this one I’m really excited about because on my first CD, I took a total left turn from what I’m used to. Because I was so burnt out at that time from people going, “What are you doing? Why did you go that direction, we loved your old stuff, and you were so creative…”
CG: Well first tell me about your old stuff, before you began recording.
NS: It was more jazz, like more big band. I wrote all the horn parts and I had all these BGVs (background vocals) and it was just creative. It was just stuff I wouldn’t even come up with today. So then I went to radio-land. And I was so sick of people saying they loved my music, and it was so creative, but not knowing what to do with it. There was no market for it. Every label was like, “Oh man, this is awesome, we love this.” And that’s how I would get signed. But then they wouldn’t know what to do with it, or where to put it. And they didn’t really want to take a chance on it.
CG: So going with what you just told me, and then hearing about Curb, do you feel like maybe if you stick with this direction for a little while and become more established, then you could bring some of your old style back out?
NS: Exactly, well that’s exactly my plan. So the first CD, I was so tired of people saying (what they were saying), that it got to the point where I wanted every single song to be a radio hit. And it worked. But it was all on guitar. I just got frustrated because I had been playing the piano, and I love playing the piano, but it started to have such a negative connotation for me. I was like, “I love this,” but it wasn’t working. I don’t feel that way now, but three years ago….
CG: Well, it’s totally different to write a song on piano than it is to write on guitar. You get a completely different song.
NS: Oh yeah, totally. And I was like, “Forget it, I’m just walking away from the piano for a little while.” So for the past year and half I’ve been rockin’ out on electric guitar – Gibson, an SG. The SG is very light, which I love. I also have a Les Paul.
But that’s what I did, and I’ve just now gotten to the point where it’s really smooth, everybody loves it, lots of energy, I’m jumpin’ around all over the place (on stage), which is what I hope to do when I go back to piano, which comes to what I’m doing now. Which is what I’m so excited about. Just in the last couple of months I’ve made that change to go back to piano, and I’m really excited about it because I haven’t been playing in a while. So it’s a little new to me, the chords are new and I can do things on it that I can’t do on the guitar, I was limited. I’m back in the studio, I’m working with this guy named Bernie Herms, who is a great piano player, great producer, but he comes from a piano standpoint. So I take all these ideas in to the studio and he takes them and expands and arranges the ideas, and I come up with the lyrics, and it’s just a real good working situation. But it all comes from the piano, which is great, it’s what I love. So that’s the second project, that’s what it will be, probably out next summer.
CG: And you’ve had a bunch of tour dates…
NS: I’ve been on the road a lot. I’ve probably played 200-250 shows in the past year and a half. Out – all the time. And in the beginning of the year I’ll be out again in January.
CG: What is it like to go on your own tour for the first time?
NS: It’s been awesome, because you’re in the studio so long. Even through those first three years, it’s just sitting around. When you finally get out and get to play for people…I mean that’s why you do it, so you can interact. Music is an expression and brings out emotions in people and all kinds of things, a way to create an outlet. So, you finally have that outlet to say, “Hey I’m creating here, hey now I can play it and people love it…” And people come up to me and say, “Hey this song means this to me,” or “that song means that to me,” and it might be completely different than why you wrote the song, but that’s what makes it worth it. So yeah, we’ve been on the road, doing the whole traveling thing.
It took me about a year, because I’m more of a planned out, routined person. So there’s no routine in that. I mean every day you’re gone, sometimes you’re here (home). I mean it’s great to travel, I love to travel. But it’s great being back. My fall tour ended in October in Florida, and basically these two months I’ve been in the studio working, I haven’t been out on the road. And every week I’m like, “Man I’m not going anywhere this week!” And it feels weird, I’m not used to that now. Which is great, it’s nice to relax a little bit as far as the travel thing. I mean I’ve got spot dates, but it’s not a constant travel thing.
It’s a little weird at first, but you always have it on your mind, and I’ve gone on tours before. I wrote a couple of Latin songs for Jaci Velasquez’s Latin CD when it came out. And so I went out on her spring tour of 2003 when her CD came out, and that was a nice little initiation. And then I went out and did my own thing.
CG: Who all have you toured with?
NS: Well last fall, I was out on tour with a big touring festival with Tate, Pillar, Skillet and ZOEgirl, and Jeff Deo, which was awesome, it was great to hang out with Tate.
CG: How do you feel about Christian music being fused in with mainstream music?
NS: Well the way I’ve always looked at it is, every artist - it doesn’t matter what genre you’re in - every artist or band, wants the most people to hear your music as possible. Who would turn down more people hearing your music, and especially in the Christian market, where you’re talking about your faith, things that are very personal as far as being eternal? So how much more do you want as many people as possible to hear?
And plus music goes where it’s gonna go anyway. I mean you can’t really direct music. You can’t say, “It’s only gonna do this.” I mean if a song works great on Top 40 radio, and all these people are getting to hear it, what are you gonna do? Say, “Oh, I don’t want it there?” I mean, maybe some people do, but to me it’s like, just let it go where it goes. If I would be classified as pop-rock, but if I had a song that was classified as R&B that would be great for the R&B market, then I’d be like, “Great, go for it!” You can’t limit yourself, nobody wants to limit yourself. I mean, if you were an evangelist, or a pastor, you can’t just preach to the Christian market, that doesn’t make any sense. So a lot of people have opened doors and had the opportunity to do that, which is awesome.
CG: Do you ever feel that your faith is challenged?
NS: Oh definitely. It definitely is challenging. To me, I like the challenge, because to me, it sharpens you. It’s built my faith in terms of which way am I gonna go? Am I gonna dive into what my faith is, and what I believe in and my foundation? So basically that side is raised. I’ve seen even in the past few years, even going through all the record deals, it was kind of a stripping down process.
I got down to this place where I was like, “Ok, it doesn’t matter how well I can play piano, or how well I sing, or what I can or can’t do, or what contacts I have, it’s basically whether I’m covered by the Hand of God. If you’re covered by God’s hand, then you’ve got all of me, not just this part or that part. And He’s your hand of promotion, He’s the one who comes underneath you and says, “Ok. Now you’re ready.” And basically to me, that’s promotion. You can meet people here, you can meet people there, but man can only do so much for you, but they’re not the ones who are going to make or break it. When God wants to do something to use you, and when you’re ready, then He’s gonna do it.
So when I finally got to that point, where I was like, “Ok, it doesn’t matter how motivated I am, it doesn’t matter how hard I press, go go go,” because that’s how I always am. And that doesn’t mean you just lay back and go, “Okay, whatever happens, happens.” But when you finally realize, “Okay, I’m gonna let go of this, and I’m totally under your Hand, and whatever You’re gonna do, go for it, and I’ll follow.” Instead of just walking beside Him, trying to walk out in front of Him and going, okay this is what I’m doing, why don’t You bless it. So in that sense, it’s sharpened my faith, and built my faith. It’s definitely challenging.
CG: You seem to have such an even keel with all of this.
NS: Well I think it’s because I had time. I wasn’t ready at first. Looking back I thought I was. I wanted to be a big rock star and have a record out in a couple of months and be touring. And sure I still want to sell a lot of records and be successful career-wise, but that’s not my focal point. It doesn’t consume me.
CG: Were you consumed by that before?
NS: Oh yeah, totally. But like I said, I finally got stripped of all those things over a long period of time. It took me a long time to find that balance. Plus, nothing is surprising anymore, when you go through all of that, like people do with any kind of thing, you can roll with the punches, you can go with the flow, you appreciate things more. When I finally was out on the road, and doing concerts and on a tour, I appreciated it more because it took me so long to get that point. It was that much more worth it. I didn’t take it for granted, which I would have before. It’s so funny, when I was 21, people were like, “Oh man you’re so young.” And when I was 25, people were like, “Oh man, you’re almost past your prime.” What’s so funny is that I just turned 28 last month and all these people at my concerts are coming up and going, “Oh man, you’re so young.” Which is so funny to me because apparently I’m young again. It doesn’t matter how old you are, as long as you have a hit song.
CG: What do you think has been the most fun part of the process so far?
NS: Oh my goodness….of the whole process? If you want me to be real honest, the most fun part has just been that it’s not a 9-to-5 job. I’m just not built that way. I like to write when I’m inspired, I like to do this, I like to do that, and when I get stuck on one thing too long, I go crazy. Although, I’ve had so many jobs before where I’ve worked 9-to-5, and the cool part about my job is that it stays interesting. I like things to change. I like change. I don’t like to be in the same place. So you’re on the road, then you’re at home, then you’re in the studio, then you’re recording, then you’re doing interviews, and you have all these different things that keep you interested. But I think that’s the case with anybody, even somebody who works a 9-to-5 job. If they’re doing what they enjoy doing and what they love to do, it’s the same thing. But this is what I feel like I’m supposed to do. That’s another reason why I think I stuck with it through all those record deals. I mean, people sometimes ask me, “Why did you stick with it, why did you keep doing it, didn’t you just want to give up?” Well sure, I wanted to give up, I wanted to give up many times. It was no fun. It was not what I had signed up for. But the reason I stuck with it was because I felt deep down that it wasn’t just “I’m trying to get a record deal.” It was really what I was supposed to do.
CG: What would you say is now your ultimate goal?
NS: The simplified version is that you’re given a certain talent, all of us are, and to share it with people. I mean that’s the bottom line, that’s all we can do. God gives us certain talents, everybody has a certain one. I was thinking about that the other day. You look at a car or a computer, and you think, “How did we even get that?” If that was left up to me, it would never have happened. There would be no computers, no cars…I don’t know how to change my oil, I don’t know how to do anything. So it’s just using your talent and sharing it with other people. There’s no high and lofty “I wanna sell this many albums,” or “reach this many people.” It’s just that I wanna wake up every day and consistently do my thing. ’Cause that’s most of life right there. It’s not the ups and the downs, it’s just normal. And I enjoy doing that.
