A Dirty Dozen with BRYAN NASH from N.a.s.H. – November 2019

According to a recent press release: “New York based Heavy Alternative Rock Band N.a.s.H. has released both an official lyric and live performance video for their single, ” “D.i.t.c.h,” off of their newly released LP, Incredible Villains. N.A.S.H. is the type of band where all it takes is one note, one beat or one nudge from the fan next to you, a fan swaying to the band’s infectious music and charismatic live performance reminding you to forget about the day’s stress’ and to enjoy the show.” We get band namesake Bryan to discuss new music, influences, and much more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets the band put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

There are a lot of time elements in our music, whether it’s specific points in time, or measurements of time, i.e. “October”, “…open sky and eight years why” (“Adjust“). It’s something I like to keep constant in my writing it all has a purpose… they reflect certain times in my own life that had meaning.  Also, the first track on Incredible Villains, which is our latest release, is a song called “The Fourth Wall”. It refers to the space that separates the performer from the audience, and the song and well the WHOLE ALBUM is kind of about tearing that wall down… bringing our fans closer to us.  We have a real love affair with our fans, and we make no means to hide it. Also, the numeric value in that song, fourth, in Roman numerals is IV, which are the initials of the album. So in short, yea we love throwing little Easter eggs in ALL of our music. It gives the casual listener something to maybe stumble on, and the avid Dan something to search out.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

I cannot tell a lie, nor would I have any reason to… my father and my mother got me into being a musician, in literally every sense of the word… my father really started it. Not only did he give me my first guitar, which I still have, but he also was my first band… which all those years ago was still N.a.s.H.  He was our drummer, my brother Joe our bassist, who although he went on sabbatical for a couple years, he is still the bass player for N.a.s.H. My mother taught me the important things about being a musician in my mind because not only were they pertinent to being a professional, they also helped me become a MAN. Always stay for the other bands, always be respectful to the club or venue owner, never get visibly angry at someone acting unfavorably at a show, give back to those less fortunate when you can… these helped me become a well thought of professional, and a musician in good standing.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

Two come to mind immediately, although there is an OCEAN of material and I’m telling you you don’t have enough time to hear me drone on… but Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam first and foremost… plain and simple… Kurt Cobain gave me something to dream about and something to have a love affair with… and of course: KISS. I love performing live and Kiss was my spirit animal in this sense. I just wanted to get on stage and spit blood the first time I saw them, which was when they went on the first of many reunion tours hahahaha. I have my parents to thank for that as well.

4. Who would be your main five musical influences?

Ah fuck, really?  Ok NOT in this order… John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, Eddie Vedder all day, Sam Cooke, James Hetfield, and Jimi Hendrix. Oh whoops you said five? TOO BAD I NEED SIX DAMMIT

5. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

Chris Cornell, God rest his soul  There are so many I need to work with but he is at the top  His vocal range is just beyond off the charts, and obviously there will never be another Freddie Mercury, and I’m in no way comparing the two, but Cornell just had such pain in his voice and lyrics… I would pretty much give anything to sit and write music with him.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

Hopefully my answers have been somewhat interesting up until now, but unfortunately this one is boring. Maybe a splash of ego, and a pinch of ignorance. But we’ve never been compared to someone that made us cringe… we’ve been told that 90’s era grunge is definitely prevalent.  I would say this “STOP TRYING TO THINK OF WHO WE SOUND LIKE AND LISTEN!!!” We are a combination of not only who we are musically influenced by, but also who we are just influenced by  In life and everything else That is the secret sauce to passion in my opinion.

7. What’s the best thing about being a musician?

Playing in front of people who sing along with songs that you wrote. There is no other earthy feeling I consider myself so lucky to be able to do this… consider this analogy  We have played Starland Ballroom in New Jersey… one of the most popular music venues in New Jersey, a venue that has housed the likes of some of the biggest current musicians of our time and time passed.  Others may be able to throw a baseball, but will never be able to play in Wrigley Field.

8. When the band are all hanging out together, who cooks; who gets the drinks in; and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Joe to the first two answers, Dylan and myself to the second. Jim Bobbi is somewhere on the ceiling.

9. When was the last time you were star struck and who was it?

I met Brent Smith from Shinedown, one of my favorite new bands and I was speechless  He is such an amazing and passionate singer.

10. If you weren’t a musician, what would be your dream job?

I often say that if I’m not doing what I am doing now, I will be doing some other version of it.  There is no version of my life without music in it. I know how cliche it is to say, and I’m sure it’s even more cliche to believe it… but music has been there for me literally every step of my life.  Not to say it hasn’t worried me from time to time, it certainly does more and more it seems recently, but in the end it has been with me forever, so far.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over”, even if it didn’t change your current situation?

Here comes another cliche response. I can’t say that I’d change a thing… I mean maybe there’s some things I  would have done a little different, but everything I’ve done up until now has made me who I am… to say that I’d change things would mean that I don’t necessarily care for who I am and that’s not the case.  For arguments sake, maybe I would’ve taken the blue pill… ok now THAT’S cliche!

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

I would love to have been there to record Nevermind (Nirvana).  There’s so many good records I would have loved to have been a part of (seems like I say that a lot) but Nevermind was a fuckin GAME CHANGER, and it helped launch one of my favorite musical genres. There is just so much passion and angst in grunge music, and Cobain was SUCH a genius.  Maybe that’s the do over I’d want, to be born a little bit earlier… and in Seattle. But all of my pain and all of my mistakes helped me to get here… and you have to always take the good with the bad. What is the saying, “the destination isn’t anywhere near as important as the journey”.  That couldn’t be any truer in this line of “work”. I love being a musician and a performer because it benefits me, and what would be even better is it benefits you. All this whole headbanging… where else can you get that???????

N.a.s.H. LINKS:

OFFICIAL SITE

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

Category: Interviews