Even with recent attention from stations like VH1 and MTV, rock musician Matt Nathanson maintains that the music, and not mainstream media's version of success, is still the most important part of his career.
Nathanson will bring his signature mix of emotionally charged ballads and jokes about genitals to AU on Saturday, where he will play Student Union Board's first show of the semester in the Tavern.
Boston native Nathanson moved to San Francisco in the early '90s, where he began his musical career playing his 12-string guitar in coffee shops and releasing a steady stream of independent albums. Now in a very different creative environment, Nathanson looks back at those days with a sense of pragmatism.
"If I miss the old days, I've got to pull my head out of my ass," Nathanson said during an interview with The Eagle. "[Now] there's not nearly the struggle there used to be to just play music. The operation itself moves a lot smoother. I liked it back then ... but I definitely don't feel nostalgic unless I'm having a real self-absorbed moment of 'pity party' time."
Not that Nathanson doesn't have reason to complain. Years of touring and gaining fans by word of mouth finally culminated in being signed to Universal Records. But after releasing only one album, "Beneath These Fireworks," on Universal Records in 2003, he ended his relationship with the label.
Nathanson didn't bear any ill will toward Universal specifically, though he was critical of the music industry as a whole. Nathanson said that when he was first signed, he thought a label would help him learn the best way to make a record, but instead it left him disillusioned with the record industry.
"They don't have any fucking idea what they're doing," he said. "I was intimidated. ... Once I was in that system and the record came out, I began to see it all for what it was."
"It's kind of like when you date 'the hot person,' and then you realize they're just broken and fucked up like you are," he said. "It's much cooler to date someone when you're confident in yourself."
Nathanson took the lessons he learned from his experience at Universal and applied them to his most recent studio album, "Some Mad Hope," released in 2007. Nathanson said recording "Some Mad Hope" without a label allowed him to record at his own speed, with an uninhibited control over the end product.
But when it came time to release the record, Nathanson did find his way back to a record label, albeit a small, independent one called Vanguard Records, even though major labels also showed interest. Nathanson has since been named a VH1 "You Oughta Know" artist, had his music featured on MTV shows and completed several radio promo tours that helped him carve out a new niche in the pop genre.
But Nathanson doesn't see his recent commercial success as selling out nor does the idea of being played on the radio between Britney Spears and Katy Perry bother him. Nathanson's passion for preserving his musical integrity - as well as his casual attitude towards the term - proved selling out wasn't a concern.
"I don't really know what selling out is," he said. "Like, did John Mayer sell out? I don't know. I think when the music suffers, that's when selling out occurs. But not music suffering, like someone evolving, more like, you're actually writing for a commercial concept over and above actually expressing yourself. I don't fucking do that."
Though Nathanson said his ideology is admittedly hippie, he still stands behind the belief that nothing is more important than the music.
"It's about writing the music, and it's about connecting with people," he said. "At 36, I know this. I'm not just saying it. That, to me, is the only thing that matters. It's the only reason to get up in the morning."
You can reach this staff writer at thescene@theeagleonline.com.
