We had the good fortune of connecting with Nathaniel Bowman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nathaniel, career-wise, where do you want to be in the end?
From a high-level perspective, I want to harmonize my skills in tech and music to build new things. I want my work to help people collaborate with one another, and also help them to play with sound in innovative and unique ways. To be honest, I’m still trying to figure out the specifics of what that looks like. I just know that I want my contributions to augment creativity. There’s so much cool stuff out there already, from web-based DAWs to gesture-based digital instruments. I really have no idea what my contributions will look like—I have a lot of ideas and am intimidated by the list—but I trust that my ambitions will guide me in the right direction.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
There’s a lot of stuff in the machine right now, but I’ll do my best to keep it concise. I’ve got some really exciting things both in tech AND music.

The big music project for me right now is my own solo concept album. It’s about a third of the way done and I currently can’t share any previews, but that’s definitely my proudest work right now. Music production is my strength, but my weakness has always been songwriting. This album has been a personal challenge to get better at both, with an emphasis on the writing. I’m getting a lot of encouragement and help from friends on this, which has certainly transformed the message of the work since its beginning. Aside from this, I’ve got a lot of music strewn all over the place and am currently in the process of getting it all together in a new website. It’s not live yet, but the content is pretty exciting and I’m looking forward to getting it live in the next month.

Speaking of websites, I’m also maintaining multiple custom websites for my musician friends right now, and they’re all evolving every couple of weeks with content and component updates. I’m getting close to streamlining this process by early next year and hoping to scale this idea to something bigger, creating an avenue for “an artist’s website on an artist’s budget.”

Getting here definitely wasn’t easy, and honestly, it’s still a lot sometimes. The simple answer is I just keep working at it, but naturally, it’s much more complex than that. I’m learning to cultivate new forms of rest along this journey as I go. Most of all, though, I wouldn’t be building sites, producing for my friends, or playing in a band at all if not for the opportunity, love, and grace that these friends have given me. They constantly refine both my character and my work, and I believe these projects really are a testament to that.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We’d probably go to Civil Coffee first, it’s my favorite coffee shop in LA right now. I usually get some kind of latte and a breakfast burrito. After that, we’d probably go to any number of thrift stores on that same street. Currently, I’ve been going to Bridge Thrift. They just opened a new location nearby and there’s always lots of cool finds there. In the afternoon we’d head out to the Griffith Observatory. If the day is cool, there’s a really sweet hiking trail that goes all the way up to the Astronomers Monument. I love space, and the observatory’s displays always inspire me. Conveniently, you can see the Hollywood sign from there too, so that’d probably be the last thing we do.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Shout out to my band, Ryland (@weareryland), and my constant collaborators, Sam Denton (@samdenton) and John White (@johnwhitesmusic. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have grown to become the musician I am today. They keep the fire going constantly, no matter how small it gets.

Website: github.com/actuallyitsnathaniel

Instagram: instagram.com/@actuallyitsnathaniel

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/actuallyitsnathaniel/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@actuallyitsnathaniel

Other: My Music (Riley): https://open.spotify.com/artist/3HaIWhKvLLXYc5okBfu2c1?si=JjTg6QxZQ8W0cX01v9_3Aw My Band’s Music (Ryand): https://open.spotify.com/artist/3Ekf9P1XRqjP3MBwl6iFVT?si=Ety8fAdfRcqLw2fwBPUOaA

Image Credits
Photos provided by Jake Dahm and Elijah Kaak

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