Traditionally he has a full head of hair, today he sports the world's best mohawk. He holds a sweet spot for hair bands. He writes, sings and plays acoustic guitar beautifully. He shows you how pretty the world is and he puts on one of the best, most hilarious live shows. He, of course, is Matt Nathanson. And he is as energetic and humorous as he has ever been.
Nathanson is no stranger to the music business. Since he was young, he has been involved in the music scene. He has worked hard independently, toured endlessly and was signed to a major record label last year.
\I started playing guitar in like the sixth grade, and I played around with metal covers,"" Nathanson said. ""When I went to college in Southern California, I knew I wanted to do it for a living, so I started to play in Los Angeles. I interned at labels and publishing companies just to get an idea of how it all worked.""
The music he creates is so warm and uplifting, even if the lyrics speak about a relationship that went sour. Nathanson plays both 6-string and 12-string guitar and is able to write lyrics and music that fit together beautifully and are constructed perfectly. ""Some of [the songs] are lyrically driven, some of them I write the melody, some of them just all come together at once,"" Matt said. ""They kind of all come from different places and it's kind of all about constantly trying to keep the creativity open.""
Nathanson's song construction is not only extremely artistic, but as he writes, he searches deeply into other art forms when finding his inspiration and creativity.
""It's all about reading or seeing films, or going to a movie. It's that kind of stuff that gets me so charged up when something kicks ass, and it moves you, and it elevates you no matter what form it comes in. You are sort of filled with this fire to go and create, at least for me,"" Matt said. ""When I do find something that dials-in and blows me away, I am immediately inspired to be a part of my own creative stuff.""
Nathanson has exemplified dedication to music throughout his career. By touring almost non-stop, he worked up an enormous fan base lured by his vibrant, creative style. His extreme talent shines brilliantly especially during live shows.
In concert, Nathanson can joke about anything and everything, but he is truly genuine and gracious as a performer. He breaks the invisible barrier between artist and audience. The audience is extremely lucky that it is able to engage in Matt's energy, wit, humor and amazing stage presence.
""It just pretty much comes form me wanting to just be me. To get on stage and kind of put on a false thing like, 'Hey this is me; I am a rock star, what's up sweet baby.' That's kind of tiresome to be that way,"" Nathonson said. ""If I can feel loose and good about it, I feel like everybody else feels loose and good about it. It makes a connection between the crowd and me, and then that connection elevates the show to a place I could never get to by myself. I am just being dynamic as a performer.""
During his shows, fans should expect to hear and sing-along with at least one '80s hair band song. Since Nathanson learned guitar by playing metal covers, he holds a sweet spot for hair bands. When asking him his favorite, he replied, ""Oh boy. The four would probably be Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Poison, or Warrant. It's hard to say no to an '80s metal band."" A hair band song is definitely a staple when Matt performs, and the crowd always responds extremely well.
Matt uses his live show to talk about brutal relationships Some of his ex-girlfriends know which songs are about them
""They are never like, 'Oh that's so rad that you wrote that love song about me.' Like this one girl, I sent her my last record to get her opinion about it,"" Matt said. ""I was like, 'What did you think?' And she's like, 'I thought the drumming was great, and I liked the way the keyboard sounded.' And I was like, 'Alright, (laughs) mission accomplished, you did not like that song I wrote about you. Awesome.'"" He laughs.
Nathanson jokingly said the future will bring him ""wealth, man servants and lady servants, a mansion and 'bling'. No."" He laughs, ""I am having a blast making records and playing shows. It is all a part of evolving as a person. As I evolve as a person, it sort of initiates the evolving of the music. The whole thing is this big movement towards trying to get more satisfied and better at what I do.""
Matt Nathanson is definitely a person everyone can relate to. Nathanson is a ""lucky boy"" but completely deserving of good fortune. Seeing him live only proves the point that he, like the rest of us, is human. He just sings and writes about his life, creatively molding it into an art form. He is incredibly gracious, and loves his fans as he waits and talks to them after the show.
As for the incredible mohawk, unfortunately Nathanson replied, ""It's time to do something."" Hold on to your hats ladies because although he was getting tired of it, he did promise he would keep it for tonight. You'll have to go to find out and see for yourself what a charming person Matt Nathanson is with and without it.
Beth's column runs each Wednesday. Reach her at eawick@wisc.edu.
