Quinton: Let’s start with a standard question: Why are you doing this? Who or what inspired you to begin this arduous quest?
Nate: This? When songs show up inside I am compelled to record and perform them. They are a fire that keeps burning. They also provide a source for journaling and processing life I believe curates health in me and ideally others. I write alot of songs hopefully I’ll do this as long as I can.
My punk rock fire was lit by Green Day in 1994. I have a very vivid memory of hearing them for the first time and coming alive with passion as never before. 10 years later I found myself writing my own songs and playing for my survival. Eventually I bought a van, self-released a CD, and became a touring artist.
Q: Who or what keeps you dedicated to it today?
N: I very much love performing and feel like music is the best way I can currently make a difference in the world. I believe learning pacing has helped me keep my dedication and not burn out. We took 2013 off from heavy touring so I could work on my some of my negative patterns (like being a work-a-holic). I’ve come out better on the other side and I recommend everyone take a little time off with some good books and friends.
Q: You’re fairly new to the area. What attracted you to Kansas City?
N: Portland was getting expensive. I guess you could say I came for the cheap rent and stayed for the baseball.
Q: You’ve spent a lot of time on the road over the years. What’s the most serendipitous thing that’s ever happened to you while on tour?
N: Oh man so many stories…. let’s see. We played a really crazy show (like the crowd won’t quit stomping so we play two encores crazy) my first time through Boise, ID. I was on cloud nine. Then I found out we made like $5 which wasn’t enough to get back to Portland. I was crushed. It put me in a horrible mood. We decided to go downtown and try to busk.. now I hate busking so this put in an even worse mood as we drove around town.
I decided to try and turn around in a parking lot and accidentally drove my van over a concrete parking divider. Somehow the divider split in half and managed to high-center my van in the middle of the parking lot. I felt so bad I just started crying. As we tried to figure out how to get our van unstuck the stupidity of the situation eventually was enough to make us just start laughing. After we freed the van (and quickly drove away) we decided to go busking anyway. We busked for about an hour without making anything.
Eventually a guy named Cody started hanging around and listening intently. After a bit he requested a old song of mine… and I was like wait… “How do you know me?” He said “You’re Nate Allen”. Turns out he was from my hometown and had my first album. He offered us a place to stay and his roommates took care of us and made us breakfast. It was really a best case scenario and totally lifted our spirits. We’ve since played many shows with that circle of friends and eating breakfast the next day is a tradition.
Q: Hypothetical question alert: A mysterious, reclusive billionaire comes up to you after a show and is blown away. She wants to build you the band of your dreams, using cloning technology that she has spend the last 30 years perfecting in her secret lab. Who do you clone?
N: Philip Peeples – Drums. (Old 97’s) He’s the best of seen and really blew me away.
Orlando Greenhill – Bass. (Havalina Rail Co. / Create) I am lucky to call Orlando a friend and he was the first person I ever saw scare someone into running out of a venue.
Jerry Lee Lewis – Piano – in his prime he blew away everyone else.
(Is it bad I had google guitar players?)
Bruce Springsteen – Guitar He seems like he kind of guy would come up with just the right riff.
Pete Townsend – Guitar (The Who) – rock n’ roll played right.
Q: If you could live inside of any video game, what would you pick and why?
N: Super Contra because shooting the spread gun was just too fun!
Q: Lastly, would you be so kind as to write me a haiku?
N: Looking for love
Looking for work
Sriracha