Neil Nathan
| Neil Nathan | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Neil Nathan |
| Born | New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States |
| Origin | New York City, New York, United States |
| Genres | Alternative country, rock, folk |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar |
| Years active | 2007 – present |
| Labels | Pirate Vinyl |
| Associated acts | THIS, Matic |
| Website | Official website |
Neil Nathan is an American rock/folk/alt country singer songwriter from New York City. Neil is best known for his folky cover of ELO and The Move's "Do Ya," featured on the Californication Season 2 Soundtrack. His debut album, "The Distance Calls," released in Summer 2010, was produced by Bobby Harlow (The Go) and features musicians from The Dead Weather, Queens of The Stone Age, Kid Rock, Detroit Cobras, The Paybacks, and The Go.
Biography
Neil Nathan was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey and raised in New City, New York. Nathan graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Economics and soon after moved to New York City, where he simultaneously began his careers as a rock singer and world history teacher. Nathan taught in schools that were consistently rated among the city's most dangerous; Theodore Roosevelt High School in the Bronx, and Martin Luther King, Jr. High School in Manhattan. (While at the latter, Neil directed a nationally renowned arts education program and was featured on the cover of American Teacher Magazine.)
Nathan then fronted the power pop rock band, THIS, featuring drummer Jonathon Tebeest (from the band Rasputina). Their final EP was produced by Barrett Jones (who has also worked with the Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Melvins).
Nathan then co-produced and starred in the Off-Broadway Rock Opera, Automatic Superstar, written by Bob Weidman.[1] It was described as a "glam punk manifesto like Ziggy Stardust or The Wall" by the Daily News. Barrett Jones mixed the show EP, entitled Matic, after Nathan's mirror ball-masked rock star.[2]
Nathan's first solo composition was written after the death of his close high school and college friend, Fred Gabler, who worked for Cantor Fitzgerald and died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Neil wrote Freddy's Song to "memorialize his life" and sang it at his funeral a few months later. Nathan also held a fundraiser at the Lower East Side's Living Room where he sold copies of the song to raise money for the Fred Gabler Helping Hand Camp Fund (a charity that sends underprivileged youth to sleepaway camp). Neil continued to raise money for the fund in Christmas 2009, with a darkly comic video for his cover of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. In it, he played a little boy who opened his presents early and was kidnapped by an evil Santa and his Elves. Nathan recorded three EPs from 2007–2008 (Glide, Songsmiths, and the Nearest Future) and one single (Motor City Recordings). His Glide EP, co-produced with David Seitz (who has worked with Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen, Dar Williams) includes the songs, "The Lucky Ones", and "Glide." These songs were both featured in the film "Descent", starring Rosario Dawson (who was Neil Nathan's roommate in the East Village) and written and directed by Talia Lugacy.[3] Talia directed the video for Neil's song, "3 Seconds," also featured on the Glide EP. Neil's song, Gone (Fly Away), was also featured in the film and on his single Motor City Recordings.
Nathan completed 'Motor City Recordings' in Detroit with producer Bobby Harlow, (from The Go), with a more 'garage rock' sound. The two enjoyed working together and planned on doing a full album a year later, which became The Distance Calls. In the meantime, he recorded an EP of covers called 'Songsmiths' that was produced by lap-steel guitarist Mike "Slo-Mo" Brenner (who has played in Marah, Jason Molina, and Slo-Mo featuring Mic Wrecka). This 6-song EP featured a cover of Chris Malcarney of The Donuts' country ballad "Mia", ELO and The Move's "Do Ya," Small Faces "All or Nothing", Jesse Hartman's/Laptop's "I'm So Happy You Failed," and Beethoven's "Fur Elise." Vaj Potenza (who did the video for My Brightest Diamond's Freak Out Gold Chains Remix) directed the video for it. The last track on 'Songsmiths,' "Old Man Time," was co-written by Brenner and Nathan for Descent but it was not used in the film.
In the spring of 2008, Nathan reconvened with Bobby Harlow and recorded his debut album, 'The Distance Calls,' at Tempermill Studios in Detroit. The album features many prominent rock musicians from Detroit, including Dean Fertita (The Dead Weather, Queens of the Stone Age), Kenny Tudrick (Kid Rock, Detroit Cobras), Joey Mazzola (Detroit Cobras, Sponge), John Krautner (The Go), and Danny Methric (The Paybacks, The Muggs). It was engineered and mastered by Jim Kissling.
In 2010, Pete Sinjin released his Better Angels Radio LP on Nathan's Pirate Vinyl imprint. It peaked at No. 10 on the EuroAmericana Charts. The album was Co-Produced by MIke Davis and Riley McMahon at McMahon's New Warsaw Studios in Brooklyn. Nathan and McMahon then went on to Co-Produce two debut EP's at New Warsaw in 2011: Caren Le Vine's Ride and Susannah Conn's Hidden Treasure. Both were released on the Pirate Vinyl imprint.
Discography
- Glide (EP) (2007)
- Motor City Recordings (A/B Side) (2007)
- Songsmiths (EP) (2008)
- The Nearest Future (EP) (2009)
- Santa Claus Is Coming To Town (Single) (2009)
- The Distance Calls (LP) (2010)
- To You (A Happy Birthday Song) (A/B Side) (2011)
- Earth A.B. (A/B Side) (2011)