In the Mind of Nate

“Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid”-Frank Zappa Hello, I know it has been sometime since my last post. After posting my first video in a blog, I wanted to give people sometime to soak that one in. Even though I know many of you do not play an instrument. This video was shown to co workers and many admitted that it seemed almost alien to them. Nevertheless, I will make more in the future & this entry has its own video as well. I did want to touch a bit of the reality of being a musician.This is one of the most misunderstood professions in existence. People often depict a musician as arrogant, yet expandable at the same time. I recall once I was in training class at my job with some guys that were a bit younger than me, pretty straight laced,car enthusiasts types from the suburbs. I remember one of them talking about a friend who was involved with a Girl who's Father was a decorated W...

I have been wanting to do some gear demos for since I started this blog. In the spirit of the NAMM show(the annual convention where all the music instrument manufacturers showcase their new products)which just ended a few weeks ago, I thought it would be a good time to do my first video and gear demo with the help of Dmitry, the guitar player from my other band of Beauty and Madness. Btw, the dog that sneaks into the video is also named Nate or Nathan.Enjoy Some tips for using this amp: I recommend buying the footswitch* for this amp,it's just easier to use and change from clean to heavy sounds while playing Turn the amp on (NOT on standby) about a half hour before you are going to use it so the tubes warmed up and you get the best sound from the amp Run the all effects(including pedals)thru the effects loop for a smoother sound, with the exception of an Overdrive *To get the model of the Footswitch please visit the Peavey Homepage

Yet again, another off shoot from my Facebook . I just decided to make this for myself on the weekend as part of my Saturday afternoon ritual & I have been perfecting it over the months. After I saw all the likes and comments(especially from the Ladies) I figure I would share it. I never thought that the old saying would now have people going around saying "the way to a Woman's heart is through Her Stomach" . Putting some thought into this, I think that cooking is a good practice for musicians to explore. I have noticed it is similar to songwriting(well for me anyway). I have found recipes online and followed them to a tee,much like my ideas on how I envision a song I am in the process of writing to sound when the recording is finalized. However, after making a dish a few times, I end up adding, altering or taking out something to my liking. Much like I do when honing a song from an idea on paper,to a demo & into a finished song. This time of year many peop...

This was originally a post on my Facebook page, but I saved it and decided to post it here after seeing how many people commented on it and liked the post. Maybe this post will actually generate some comments on my blog, and maybe, just maybe help some people develop some more etiquette in certain social situations. I wonder how many of you would do what I did: I'm in a club that has 2 rooms that share restrooms. The other room is of course the "mainstream" or "normal" crowd. I'm changing in the stall & the latch was loose, so this guy tried opening it. After noticing It was occupied he waits there, and I realize He has a woman with him. They are waiting for me to be done, just enjoying each others company(to put it mildly)never-minding what most people do in the stall, just waiting for it to be free so they can do their thing. Not that I am a prude or anything, but they should have used some discretion and waited outside the bathroom or somet...

This will obviously be the last post of the year. I was brooding over what I should write about, I really don't want bore everyone with some lame ass "Year in review" piece. I was just very indifferent about the Holidays this year with the requirement of having to rush around like a maniac to buy stuff, which keeps getting crazier and crazier with each passing year. So much so that I even dreaded going to Holiday parties, partly because of my need to not conform to what is being spoon fed to us, but mainly because of my own self disappointment in where I think I should be at this stage of my life. However, the much dreaded Holiday events made lead me to meeting a remarkable person from another era. This person had been telling me about how the music scene once was here in New York , and in other places. The importance of such places like the Joshua Tree (the place in Southern California ,not the U2 album) and how he feels that music will be society's saving gr...

Hello, I know it has been almost 2 months since my last post. Obviously this has a lot to do with Hurricane Sandy. For the most part I don't discuss my day job, simply because it has nothing to do with our music and I assumed that people have this stigma about a band whose members have to go out and work a "regular" 9-5 isn't worthy of the same respect that bands whose music is their main job get.Of course, I would be much happier to be doing the band full time.Although recently, I have been seeing it from a different angle. We are actually able to fuel our own machine, as opposed to dealing with a large corporate entity (such as a major record label) in order to stay afloat(that's why I started my own record label). Over the course of the years,I learned that many bands that are established, that make album sales,and tour actually do that. For example, some friends of mine in High School found out where the guy from Obituary worked and decided to attempt a p...

I figured you may enjoy reading some of poetry,and knowing a lighter side of me,here it goes I walked slowly(or so it seemed) to the main floor,I surveyed the space around me,right to left as i walked.Then on my left out of all the darkness,a hand comes out and goes down across this women's face as she is dancing. I immediately turned to her direction as if i were drawn in magnetically to her field. As I did everything seemed to be slower,and someone in all white crossed by between us and then faded out of view.I paid no mind as I mimicked her hand movements as she brought her right hand down to her side,we then locked hands as she grabbed me to draw me in closer and kissed me. That is how I found her, again.