Matt Nathanson

by itemvn  |  November 22, 2008 [Edit]

Matt Nathanson (born March 28, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter whose work is a blend of folk and rock music. In addition to singing, he plays acoustic (usually a twelve-string) and electric guitar, and has played both solo and with a full band. His work includes the platinum-selling song "Come On Get Higher".

“Please” that was recorded and mixed in February/March of 1993 in a house in Van Nuys, CA. Most of the songs were written while Nathanson was in high school and a freshman at Pitzer College in Claremont, CA. Before this, Nathanson had recorded only demos. This was his first collection of songs ever put on CD. Please was released in the spring of 1993.

“Ernst” was recorded in Nathanson's new hometown of San Francisco in the winter of 1997. An entirely acoustic record, the instrumentation is mostly acoustic guitar with some accordion, cellos and percussion . This record was mixed at Toast Studios in San Francisco, by Jaquire King.

“Not Colored Too Perfect”: This record is a compilation of unreleased material, the bulk of which was recorded in San Rafael, CA in the fall of 1997. Two other songs on this compilation, “You're Smiling” and “Wait Up” were recorded in Santa Barbara, CA in the summer of 1995. The final two songs, “Trace of a Cat's Eye” and “Vandalized” were taken from the unreleased record by Nathanson's college band Here Comes Everybody. The HCE album was recorded in Claremont, CA, in the spring of 1995 but was never released. Both these songs were written by the drummer in the band, Bill Foreman.

“Still Waiting for Spring”: Recorded December 1998 in Cotati, CA. and January of 1999 at Tiny Telephone in San Francisco, with Mark Weinberg. This record features David Immergluck & Charlie Gillingham of Counting Crows on tracks including the song "Loud," which was featured on the television show Dawson's Creek. The record was mixed at Different Fur in San Francisco and released spring of 1999.

“Beneath These Fireworks”: Recorded in Los Angeles in the winter of 2003, the team included drummer Nathanson Chamberlain, guitar player David Garza, and Glen Phillips, of the band toad the Wet Sprocket, for background vocals. "Lucky Boy," from Still Waiting for Spring was re-recorded for this record, as were most of the songs from the When Everything Meant Everything EP/sessions. It was mixed by Mark Endert in Los Angeles and released in October of 2003. "Suspended" and "I Saw" were released as singles and more than half the record was licensed to television shows like Scrubs, Tarzan, One Tree Hill, Joan of Arcadia and Men in Trees.

‘Some Mad Hope’ was recorded between August 2005 and March 2007 in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Cotati, CA. The album was made independently, and Nathanson partnered with Vanguard Records for its release in August 2007. It debuted #60 on the Billboard Top 200 and was on the charts for 34 weeks. Various songs on the record were placed on television shows including CSI, One Tree Hill, Private Practive, Melrose Place, 90210, Vampire Diaries, American Idol among others.

Singles included “Come On Get Higher (peaked at #2 at Triple A, #9 at Hot AC, #3 at Mainstream AC and #19 at Pop) “Car Crash” (peaked at #12 at Triple A, and #29 at Hot AC), “Falling Apart (peaked #29 at Hot AC) and “All We Are” (peaked at #26 at Triple A).

Some Mad Hope has sold over 300,000 copies and “Come On Get Higher” went platinum selling over 1.8 million in single sales.

On March 2nd, 2011, via Facebook, Nathanson announced that his upcoming album would be named 'Modern Love' and will debut June 7th. The first single from 'Modern Love' is a track called Faster, which is available as a free download from his website.