Meet Josh Nathan | Composer and Music Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Josh Nathan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Josh, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
When I was quite young and found out I could study music in college the whole perspective changed for me. I wasn’t a bad student or anything, but to say I was disinterested in traditional studies would be an understatement…So in some ways I’ve gotten lucky to be able to follow this path of music – support from my wife, family and friends the whole way – and I do feel like if you stick with it long enough you can find a lane to live in. Creatives often work multiple gigs, and figuring out ways to make it all work is a continuous challenge with a family now but it’s still fun. The field isn’t for every body, I do think it takes a somewhat obsessive mind in some regard to be continuously interested. This business continuously satisfies the same sort of itch that I still have when practicing my instruments or working on new skills.

And I feel that creatives often go all out in their hobbies, so in some funny ways music lead me to bread baking, which I’m now exploring as even another business endeavor/side hustle.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
There is a real need for a varied skill set in the creative industry. Creatives always are having to piece things together from a gig perspective, wear multiple hats in most of their projects, and also maintain a dedication to their art. It’s important to continue to make art for yourself even if you are creating things for other people professionally. Even though I still feel like I’m at the start of my journey, I only got here because of how hard I worked on music for so long – then I finally started networking more actively and landed a full time job with the music library Level 77 Music.

Along the way I think I’ve learned that even sometimes when the rain pours the sun is still shining. There can be a lot of bad things going on that make you forget what you are doing anything for. But it’s all a pendulum at the end of the day, so just try to enjoy the ride. I want the world to see me as someone who tries to follow their passions and makes ends meet without sacrificing too much.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’d take them into the back yard and give them a chainsaw and say start having fun.

In all seriousness I live well north of Atlanta on an acre of land, so we’d probably check out some of the wineries just outside of town. I play music every Sunday at one of the wineries in Dahlonega, and they happen to have some of the best food in town. We would check out some hiking spots near here or discover some new ones a little further away, and I’d ask them to come in the fall so that wherever we drive it’s just simply beautiful because of the leaves changing. We sometimes bring friends to a farm in Alpharetta we really love, a CSA we have been a part of for a few years. Since we have a toddler our activities are often for her to have a blast, so zoos and parks and splashpads are typically in the mix these days when we have visitors.

I do love to eat food, and I particularly love to find and buy from farms, so my friends who visit are typically victim at least once to a meal of all super fresh local ingredients. Along with that we may trek toward the city to get something special – Buford highway comes to mind.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Yeah definitely my wife Kelli, my parents Marc and Tyann. Some choice professors back in my college days. Many special books along the way – Man’s Search for Meaning, The Talent Code, anything by Kurt Vonnegut. My daughter Olive who is really our world.

Website: https://www.joshnathanmusic.com

Instagram: @oshnathan , @sourdoughbydad