Israel Nash is a very tall and very long-haired, male singer from Austin, Texas. His music would best be described in my opinion, like folk or alternative folk music. His music itself is very original but leaves a similar taste in my mouth as Father John Misty does. They are similar vocally, and in appearance, I will add. His most recent release was in 2018 with the album, “lifted”. His most popular song though, “rain planes”, to date has nearly 3 million plays on Spotify, and was released on his 2014 album “Israel Nash’s rain plans”. I honestly didn’t know too much about the guy until I got a press email saying he had open availability for interviews. I thought me being a college student, he probably wouldn’t be too entirely interested to talk to me, but that was in fact opposite of the case. His PR team, who I guess happened to be an old friend of his, reached back out to me promptly and we set up a meeting at Forecastle Fest, located in Louisville, Kentucky. I had gotten lost a couple of times, but eventually met up with him right after he played in over 90-degree weather. We met in the PR tent, which was filled with lots of very cool and tempting snacks and we began our brief conversation.
I began by asking where he was from and how he got started, he explained to me that he was from Austin, Texas and started playing when he was around 8 years old, “I got a guitar as Valentine’s day gift, I was about 8 and just played whatever I could figure out how to play, there wasn’t really a process or structure until I started writing songs when I was about 13”. He discussed with me how he mostly enjoys songs and songwriters who talk about life and sing about a feeling or emotion, “I’ve always enjoyed the delivery of a good rock band …. Sonic textures and spaces that take you places, like Pink Floyd or other bands”. He talked about how that energy of bands defiantly influenced his delivery and appreciation of music now, “singers like Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and any 70s gold band, anything or anybody singing about the American Dream …. That’s always been super influential to me and helped me develop my style”. When listening to Nash’s music, it’s obvious to tell these characters are present in his work and throughout his songs.
His parents also definitely had an influence on this style of music he now creates, we talked for a bit about how his mom and dad liked classic rock and how he grew up listening to it. His mom actually was a singer and songwriter in the 70s.
However, just like most artists, things weren’t always easy for Nash. He was in over multiple different bands and worked in a smaller studio in Texas for years before officially releasing his own music on platforms like Spotify, and apple music; “things were definitely not easy getting started, I had to learn to work with people, then without people, then transitioning styles, but it all helped me in the long run”. He was 27 when he made his first professional album, (in my nervousness, I failed to ask him what it was called … rookie mistake) I’m assuming it’s his oldest album on Spotify named, “New York Town” released in 2009.
My final question for Nash was one a little bit more lighthearted. I asked him what food reminds him most of home, he told me anything grilled with hash marks, but preferably filet with asparagus & mashed potatoes (a good choice I think). All in all good interview and I hope the thought of a filet got you hungry for dinner, I’m going to go heat up my Bob Evans mashed potatoes right now, I’ll talk to you all after my next tent chat.