When you are listening to Nathan Nice on the mic, his energetic raw presence easily comes across in his tracks. Nathan has a way of making us “listen” to what he is conveying in his music; and that is a good thing. In the age of nonsense lyrics, Nathan Nice’s lyrics/flow is refreshing. This middle-school mentor by day takes his night position of a Hip-Hop performer seriously.
Hailing from the Los Angeles, California area, Nathan keeps a busy schedule that details graphic designing and local-level activism. Needless to say, sleep is something that he does not have the luxury to do these days. But, it is all worth it, once you get a sample of his music. I recently interviewed his partner in rhymes, Andrew Clark, Brontosaurus, and discovered another treat in Nathan Nice. I recently reviewed his EPK (Electronic Press Kit) on Sonicbids.com (Music Resource/Submission Giant) and was thrilled to feature Nathan in Junior’s Cave.
Isaac-Joseph: Happy New Years Nathan. How are you doing today?
Nathan Nice: Thank you, Happy New Years to you too. I’m doing well. I went to a big new year’s party last night, even though I usually like to lay low on new years, and it was inspiring. I got to watch a number of hip-hop legends perform and bounce around to dub step all night. Today, I just slept in and took it easy, chilled with friends and family.
Isaac-Joseph: How have the people from your old neighborhood reacted to your music (being an entertainer)? What have been some the feedback from them about your music?
Nathan Nice: My old neighborhood is still my neighborhood. I left for a little while when I was going to school at CalArts, but I was born and raised and still live in Echo Park. Everyone I chilled with back in the day still knows I’m doing my music and they all support. They come out to shows, ask if I have any new stuff out. I got one song off my first album entitled “SIlver Lake,” (with Avid D of Learning Curve) all about where we grew up. A lot of kids from the neighborhood love that song; it’s kinda’ like our anthem.
Isaac-Joseph: If you had to describe your music to someone, how would you describe it?
Nathan Nice: I like Brontosaurus’ description: “fat beats and sonic gems over a bed of hard hitting drums and tripped out melodies.” Like a bomb salad; It’s much more musical than most. Changes, progressions, real instrumentation... something you can enjoy and get hype to or just chill with in the background or really sit down and study. The sounds are super diverse from track to track; there are traces of jazz, dub, electro and even folk and rock influences. Overall, it’s grounded in that traditional boom bap though: bass, kicks and snares, analog shit, flipped samples. As much love as we get from hip-hop heads, I’m always surprised by the comments we get from people who don’t really like the hip-hop they’ve heard, or who have very little experience with it. Saying things like “I didn’t know it could be like this” or “finally, something my ears can enjoy.” It makes me think our music has a much more universal appeal then I usually give it credit for. The lyrics are thoughtful and there’s a lot of improvisation and spontaneity going on too. I should probably figure out how to answer these “describe your music” questions more succinctly like, “if Bob Dylan was an MC, and Air and Dan the Automator collaborated on beats...” Actually, I kinda’ like that.
Isaac-Joseph: You wear many hats Nathan. One of your hats consists of being a middle-school mentor. How do you incorporate what you do as a Mentor with what you do as a performer? What do you think you bring to Hip-Hop from your experiences as a Mentor?
Nathan Nice: When you work with kids, you constantly find ways to engage them in the experience, to keep it interesting, connect with them and connect them to previous lessons. Whether if it’s chess, math, water color, writing stories or whatever. So I definitely find that seeping into my live shows. Or maybe it’s the other way around. Maybe my live shows sink into my work at school. Either way, I have to be totally present and aware when I’m with my kids. If I ever come to work tired or grumpy or my mind is somewhere else, they pick up on that real quick and they’ll call me out on it. You have to respect your students just as much as you expect it. And hip-hop is no different to me... when I get up on stage, I look the audience in the eye, speak clearly, be visual. Basically, I’m giving them my full attention.
Isaac-Joseph: Your range of topics is what makes your music so diverse. How important is it for you as a performer to continue to keep/maintain conscientious lyrics?
Nathan Nice: It’s the lyrics that first got me into hip-hop, it was my element. I’ve been a writer since I was little, but putting it to a beat just made it way more exciting. Out of all the hip-hop I heard growing up, when the lyrics were as powerful as the beat, that was always like a golden moment for me. That’s where my first attempts to rap stem from: being inspired by MCs with something relevant, even urgent to say. Public Enemy, KRS-1, Rakim, Ice Cube, Brand Nubian. It made me want to make an impact in some way too. Then I found that making words rhyme just feels good regardless! It’s like therapy. I’m always trying to find undiscovered rhyme schemes, crazy connections, I’m addicted. As far as my content though... I’m not gangster, I’m not a pimp or a revolutionary or some mad scientist rapper. I’m not hard or emo. There’s no constructed role, I’m just a student of my own life with a genuine love for this. That’s what I’d be even without my own music and that what shows up in what I write.
Isaac-Joseph: Your influences include such iconic rap giants such as KRS-One, Nas, Modest Mouse, Hieroglyphics, Slick Rick and Ani DiFranco. What have you learned from these rap legends that you have incorporated in your own musical performance?
Nathan Nice: Not all those you mention are rap legends, Modest Mouse is an indie rock band, and Ani DiFranco is a punk-folk songwriter, but they’re just as influential to me as those rap artists are. They all have an ability to tell stories and bare their souls... masters of rhyme, rhythm, deliveries. KRS-One is especially inspiring to me. The way he came from poverty and homelessness, intent on being not just an MC, but a relevant one: putting social issues smack on the table, teaching sucker MCs along the way. He was also the first to really clarify MCing to me, as opposed to rapping. To rap is to merely spit rhymes, but to MC is much more. It means you know how to engage with your audience, to conduct that moment exactly the way you want it to go, leading and uniting. That’s what I aspire to do, to be a positive force. All those other artists influence me in the same way. The need to be original is mad important too. A lot of MCs who came up in the 80’s and early 90’s, when I first fell in love with hip-hop, EPMD, Digable Planets, De La Soul, Biz Markie, Digital Underground and a grip more... it was so important for them to each have their own unique styles, beats and rhymes. Biting was the ultimate sin, so you really had to work for your shit. The hip-hop community was much smaller than it is now too, so you could easily notice copy cats. It was strict. Nowadays, you can’t differentiate between a lot of artists. A lot of heads are just trying to do what works, boiling up their little success formulas. I just let my work float, being honest with myself and working hard at my craft. That’s the only way I’m gonna be able to make music that I’m proud of, that other people can respect. That’s what I learned from all those artists I listened to growing up.
Isaac-Joseph: Recently, you completed a successful 18-city U.S. tour with half of the legendary hip-hop crew The Pharcyde, (Fatlip and Tre Hardson). Describe your experience of working/touring with one of my favorite groups of all time: What lessons did you learned from this collaboration that you feel will enhance your own music?
Nathan Nice: Oh man, it was amazing. I learned so much about myself, about them, about hip-hop and just America in general. Too much to say all here. The conversations on the tour bus alone! A friend of mine told me right before I left to just be open to whatever came my way, not to try to do too much or be disappointed in what I did or didn’t accomplish, to just be open and learn and experience. I really heeded that advice as much as I could. I’m used to performing anywhere from one to five shows a month and this was 18 cities in like three weeks. Pretty much back to back to back. I was handling a lot of the tour manager stuff too, and that was nuts at times. Everything quickly fell into a rhythm though, I caught my breath and it just became effortless and fun. I love being on tour. My stage presence got crazy strong out there too. Watching Tre and ‘Lip bust every night, they had every crowd on lock. Seeing them fine tune and evolve their set at every sound check, by the time we got back to LA it was razor sharp. There was this pivotal point for me where, just as I was about to go up on stage, I suddenly realized that I felt no fear, no butterflies, nothing; just pure awareness. I’ve done a lot of shows, and even when I’ve been totally comfortable with the situation, I still kinda get that little anxious feeling. So maybe it was because of the repetition or whatever, but all the sudden I just didn’t give a fuck; Total freedom. That was one of my best shows ever too. We were in Bozeman, Montana, and the spot was packed with so many people, bodies pressed right up to the stage. I just went out and blasted on ‘em. I kicked off my shoe by accident, I was rapping so hard. Freestyling call and response shit, had them saying “Nathan Nice” at the top of their lungs. I never do that! After that, it was like I had figured it all out. There are memories from that tour I will take all the way to my deathbed for real.
Isaac-Joseph: Describe the one event professionally that happened to you in 2007 that you feel was the best moment in your career so far:
Nathan Nice: It was like a week ago... I even know the exact day, December 26th, 2007, ‘cause it was a show I did with Brontosaurus and DJ Frenetic at The Knitting Factory, the night after Christmas. We were performing alongside Learning Curve, Human Beings, Lost & Loaded and others (all local Los Angeles hip-hop crews). That was my first show since I had been back from the Pharcyde tour and it was really just for the homies. But it was that night that I really saw my growth as a performer reflected back at me. I didn’t feel too hype while I was actually up on stage, just doing what I do, but afterwards people were coming up and telling me they noticed a change, like an evolution. I was more daring, more focused and relaxed on the mic. It didn’t really hit me till the next day, but I’m really feeling so at ease with where I’m at right now. I have these new ideas that I’m really excited to expand on in our upcoming shows... to get uncomfortable again, if that makes sense. It’s a good foundation for where I wanna go from here. B-saurus and Frenetic and I are working out a much more interactive live show with new songs, live drum machine button mashing, freestyles, theatrics, a few secret weapons. Cold Lamp steez! This is that moment.
Isaac-Joseph: As the New Year begins, describe your plans for 2008:
Nathan Nice: To stay grinding and focused. To put together at least a couple small tours and maybe book a big one, definitely travel. To kill all these projects and start new ones. To put more energy into my visual art and graphic design. To learn Dreamweaver and Flash and put ‘em to work for us. And definitely to chill with my friends and family more.
Isaac-Joseph: Elaborate on your new album that you are working on currently as well as other shameless plugs:
Nathan Nice: Brontosaurus and I are working on a few projects right now: my next album To Meet You and some mini-projects that I can’t quite talk about yet. We also founded a new crew together, Cold Lamp, which includes Frenetic on turntables. It’s our live shows we’re most focused on with that for now. There’s also another project involving a lot of raw sugar with my girl Anita Savior. I’ll be exploring some alter-egos with that, it’s gonna be crazy. A few other collaborations. Check www.nathannice.com, www.myspace.com/bsaurus and www.myspace.com/djfrenetic, for more good stuff...
Isaac-Joseph: We call this our Shout Out time. Give props to anyone and everyone that matters:
Nathan Nice: Shots out to Brontosaurus, DJ Frenetic, Cold Lamp in 2008, Anita Savior, I Am Julian, Solrac Sevein, Twist One (R.I.P.), Learning Curve, Sirah, DJ Troma One, Noah-san, Molman, Omni, Fatlip, DJ Cee Brown, Tre Hardson, Cesl Rock, Farce One, The FutuRelics Crew, Shroom Tang Clan, JAKA, Comah, FA2HQ, The I.V. League, 2 Damn Hype Crew, Josh Stone, Zel 1, Amelia Burn$, DJ Aquatic, Joe Caluya, Solista, Destruct, Mariella, Bastard Artist, The Los Angeles Airliner, all my kids and co-workers at LACER and everybody else.. they know!
Isaac-Joseph: Final Thoughts from the mastermind performer Nathan Nice:
Nathan Nice: Just do what you have to, to do you what you love... that’s it.
Junior's Cave Online Magazine/JC Internet Radio Staff Team,
