Daily Discovery: Neil Nathan, “California Run”

Updated:

June 10, 2014 5:48 pm

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ARTIST: Neil Nathan

SONG: “California Run”

BIRTHDATE: Capricorn, Pisces Rising, Taurus Moon. You do the math.

BIRTHPLACE: New Brunswick, New Jersey

AMBITIONS: To record and play as many songs as I’d like, in a wide variety of styles, and have someone else pay for it.

TURN-OFFS: Folks that don’t listen to whole albums and consume singles like candy.

TURN-ONS: Songwriters who age like a fine wine. I’ve been blown away by recent Dylan, Petty, Guided By Voices, and Neil Diamond records.

DREAM GIG: This was actually a dream I had as a teenager, I’m wearing brown leather bell bottoms and a matching vest, it’s a summer festival and there’s a sea of people so big, you can’t see where it ends. Wonder when that’s gonna happen. Perhaps I need to have that outfit made first in preparation?

DREAM VACATION: Already had it at my wedding at a private villa in Mykonos. The views from our salt water infinity pool were breathtaking beyond measure.

CELEBRITY CRUSH: My wife.

WORDS TO LIVE BY: “It’s easy to grin when your ship comes in and you’ve got the stock market beat, but a man worthwhile, is a man who can smile, when his shorts are too tight in the seat.” – Judge Smails

5 THINGS EVERY MAN SHOULD OWN: 1. A guitar that feels right in his hands 2. A pair of jeans that fit like they were made for him 3. A woman who loves him and all his flaws. 4 and 5 are just gravy.

I NEVER LEAVE HOME WITHOUT: My “Best of” fortune cookie fortunes in my wallet. The most recent being, “You have the ability to sense and know higher truth.” and the “Learn Chinese” word was “Door.” That there’s some trippy stuff.

I WROTE THIS SONG: when I was feeling a little down on New York City. I have a real love/hate relationship with this town. It can knock your equilibrium out of whack if you’re not careful. I used to visit my brother in L.A. quite often. California Run is an ode to many of the things that make California so special and it came from a yearning to move out there during a particularly oppressive NYC moment I was having.

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