Hi friends,
I’m putting out a single tomorrow, Time Is On Your Side. I’m pumped about this one, it’s a new direction. First the lyrics are strong, and the chorus is ironic and slightly dark (a Nick Arneson specialty). I’ll let you the listener interpret, though this style of writing is slowly becoming the vibe. Verses are stream of consciousness, symbolic for sure though somewhat unclear even to me for a while and they slowly dawn on me. Damndest thing happened the other day, went for a walk because I felt shitty and it started raining. I was thinking about money, and needed to clear my head, though didn’t bring a jacket because it looked clear. It started dumping on me. True story. Why is this weird? Because the line in this song popped into my head “Now I’m in a downpour, getting soaked, feeling poor, don’t have a hood” - and it suddenly felt like that (previously written) line now had meaning. Synchronicity? Not sure…. it’s fucking weird though. To suddenly realize that you had written about an insignificant event a month before it happened in a fit of feverish writing. Interpret it as you will.
Also pumped about this track because of the production. It’s the first track I’ve released that doesn’t have live drums, it’s all drum machine and production. I do some “live” keyboard drum set playing but it’s not the same. It has a much more precise and dancy feel to it, I really dig this direction and while I of course won’t give up the live kit (it’s my favorite instrument) this sound definitely has a long term home in the NAM universe.
Please do have a listen. If you have invested this much time into reading what I have to say, by all means go and listen to the music. It’s hard to get music to cut through, and plays and shares and likes matter sooooo much. The easiest thing you can do to support me as an artist is to listen to and enjoy my work.
I interviewed Mike Barnhill yesterday for podcast episode #2. It’ll come out next week. The interview was absolutely fucking fantastic. Mike is a close friend of mine from college, and a wonderful musician and human. We spend an hour talking about being creatives at our age, and how challenging and strangely rewarding it can be. We discuss at length the emptiness that it fills, and have many meaningful tangents. It left me buzzing and energized to make more stuff. This buzzing feeling is likely what I am always chasing - it’s fucking magical, and I hope you feel it often. It’s a completely engulfing feeling of joy that seems to be electrified and moving. It doesn’t wear off like a cocaine high, and it doesn’t make you jittery - it’s just complete and utter happiness, and knowing that in that one moment things are fucking glorious. I encourage you all to find something that makes you feel this way. A word of warning however, once you experience it you don’t go back. You may try to put it away, write it off as insignificant, or just shrug as if it was nothing…. but it will find you.
Keep coming back and I’ll keep making cool shit. Hahaha, thanks for the support. Love you guys.
Nick
