Nathanial Young's Journey in Music

     “So I just pull up to this venue on my twenty-first birthday. I had no idea this guy had a fully sold-out show. He played, like, seven of my songs and everyone knew them and everyone was jumping around and bouncing around, singing the words… like, a full packed house in Manhattan.” Nathanial Young, a seasoned musician from Monrovia, California, tells me pridefully as he relives the memory. We’re meeting over Zoom, and he’s in his studio space inside his Los Angeles home where foam soundproofing and music equipment can be seen behind him. “I’ll never forget that moment - that feeling - that was really really nice.”

    Nathanial is twenty-six years old and has been playing saxophone since he was five, placing him at a noteworthy twenty-one years of musical experience. In addition to mastering saxophone, he’s also adept at playing guitar, flute, piano, electric bass, and drums as well as producing music. He tells me that music is the only thing he never gets bored of and that he finds it a great way to express himself, which can be seen in his lifelong dedication to his craft. His goal right now is to land a publishing deal that would allow him to write music for several other projects while maintaining his creative freedom. 

    When asked if he could remember a specific moment or event that inspired him to pick up music as a career and passion, he stops to think. “What really did it for me, and this is the same for a lot of people my age also, was playing Guitar Hero. I was obsessed with playing Guitar Hero.” He explains. His guitar hero obsession began when he was in middle school and led him to eventually pick up a real guitar as his secondary instrument. “You know, you play saxophone for people and they don’t give a fuck, but you play guitar for people and they’re like “oh, that’s so cool!” 

    Regarding his musical influences, Nathanial is quick to credit his high school conservatory teacher, Lee Secard, with teaching him everything he knows. He says that while he does have other artists who inspire him, nothing comes close to spending your life learning from one person. “He’s just one of the best teachers ever.” He states, deep in thought about his time and relationship with Secard. Music having been part of his daily routine since he was young means that staying inspired to practice isn’t difficult for Nathanial. “It’s like Noam Chomsky says “A discrete infinity,” I feel like that’s what it is, it’s like a small thing that you can just find infinity in. He was talking about language but I feel like it’s similar to language.”

    Growing up in the San Gabriel Valley of Southern California meant being surrounded by rich music history, and Nathanial agrees that it helped shape his musical aspirations. While not musicians themselves, his family was close to many local music scenes. “My dad was very into the LA grunge scene in the 1990s, very much into the punk scene also in the late 90s-early 90s, and that does huge things to people.” He explains. His grandparents also had experiences seeing artists such as The Doors and Jimi Hendrix locally. He says that all of it influences how he feels about music, and he found himself intertwined in the Los Angeles punk scenes too only now of a different decade. He spent a lot of time at shows for a local surf punk band Jurassic Shark, leading him to explore new venues and meet longtime friends and collaborators. 

    As part of his creative process, Nathanial spends an impressive five hours a day practicing music. “I write songs every day, I practice every day, I make sure I get better every day, and then I’ll make 200 songs and one of them sounds really good, you know?” Not only are long hours practicing part of his musical process, but it’s part of how he maintains his mental health and well-being. “It’s part of my, like, meditation is setting aside the time to do that.” While he finds it difficult to hold relationships and job stability, he remains optimistic and appreciative, using words like ‘awesome’ and ‘blessed’ frequently. Expressing oneself through music takes a lot of vulnerability, but Nathanial is equipped to handle that too. He emphasizes being safe when exploring emotionally charged music and says that he feels comfortable engineering himself. He also tells me he has a supportive roommate who he can lean on. “I think it’s all about setting yourself up right, making it easy for yourself, and then sitting on it and listening to it and seeing if it holds up.” 

    When it comes to exploring new sounds, Nathanial feels he’s stretched thin enough and is content with the genres he’s been working with - mainly jazz and punk. His musical style and tastes have evolved over time and he’s found inspiration in many places, such as from Alex G or Lil Peep and the Soundcloud era of rap music. He knows what sound he likes and feels that “There's just something very structurally satisfying about hearing a beat with a nice melody, huge 808s, you know it’s like not too aggressive but it’s very strong. It’s slow but it’s got this momentum to it. I really like that.”

Nathanial pictured
 on the left

    Not only is he certain about the genres he likes, but he’s certain about who he wants to work with, too. Nathanial grew up with a large network of creatives which helps with finding people to collaborate with on music. However, he isn’t interested in working with people who have a big ego or who show no genuine interest in their craft. “I guess I just want to work with people I identify with in a certain way.” He concludes after sharing a story with me about a particularly difficult rehearsal that he had experienced once in North Hollywood. 

    The biggest challenge he would like to overcome is the financial instability that comes with making music today and adds that it’s an issue many musicians are facing. However, he’s grateful for the job he has outside of making music that allows him to remain stable and afford the equipment he needs. “I’ve worked around it in the sense that I make great money working at a restaurant part-time, which takes a good amount of energy but I still have time to do my things.” A theme throughout our interview is Nathanial’s humbleness and gratitude; with every negative, he always shares a positive.

    To Nathanial, the most rewarding part of this journey has been the internal and external validation he receives from making and sharing his music. “I have so much music I could listen to it for literally hours and if I like it then it’s so validating.” He then opens up about the external validation he experienced on his twenty-first birthday that opened this profile, his introspection turning to joyful reminiscing. He was producing for a rapper in New York who used his beats at a sold-out show, an unforgettable moment for him. “It just caught me so off guard, it was so validating externally to see that.” 

    There’s been a ton of activity in Nathanial’s recent projects and there’s even more to look forward to. This past Spring, he and his roommate Corey Gordon released a 6 track ambient-jazz album titled Sarsaparilla and he says the two of them are working on more music together that he wants to release in the Spring of next year. In late November his rock band Biting will have two weeks in the studio, and this past July they released a heavier album titled Samba. Nathanial also has a 7 track EP that he’d like to release under his own name and has been in the works for a year and a half. He jokingly refers to it as his “smooth jazz album.” He says he’d like to release it in winter but he needs to save up money and put a band together. 

    From practicing jazz every day and playing Guitar Hero to hearing his beats in a packed venue and making full albums, Nathanial’s growth and development as a musician is something to behold. His knowledge, not only of how to make music but of the soul (or language) of music is something that not everyone can grasp and is a testament to how fitting it is for him to have pursued it. Having had the privilege in the past to see Nathanial perform live, I can attest to his dedication and talent.