Real stories, told by real people.
We've a new episode, and a new GIANTS AMONGST US. Today Nate joins us, and he's got a story to tell. Nate's a musician, who's been in love with music for as long as he can remember. At an early age, he was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. With there being no real treatment or medication for his condition, he was prescribed pain killers at one point, and found himself heavily addicted for 13 years. Nate talks about the point where he finally decided to kick the habit (cold turkey), and his growing discouragement with Western medicine.
There's also 2016, where Nate was diagnosed with lung cancer - "the middle & bottom lobes of my right lung removed during a 9 hour surgery. Luckily the surgeons got all of the cancer out and I didn’t need chemo or radiation." It's not the size but the fight in the dog, and Nate's got plenty of fight in him. Despite his condition, he's still ROCKIN', he's still ROLLIN' and he's without a doubt one of the GIANTS AMONGST US. From acupuncture sessions, to hot spring waters, floating tanks, and an investment in his own sauna. Plus, the loving support of his wife and kids. Nate is still enjoying life, and doing what he loves, and that's to create MUSIC.
It's not all doom and gloom, and he's proof of that. Check out his new album, just released - BAD PART OF TOWN https://natermusic.com/shop/ He plays all the instruments, writes, sings, produces, mixes and masters his own music. He's a one man band folks!
If you enjoyed the Show, give it a review and share it with someone you think might find value in it. And if you appreciated hearing from Nate and his story, stop by his website to shoot him a line and check out what he's doing over there. I'm sure he'd be happy to hear back from you.
'Til next time,
and very soon,
PEACE!!
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Connect with Nate :
Website : https://natermusic.com/
Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/artist/2Oou2lO661CvV9ccND2GOI?si=i2lUNXJ9S52lUpzJrG_Nag
Youtube : https://youtube.com/@nathanielrolandmusic
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/natermusic/
_____
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Website : https://giantsamongstus.org/
Show Updates & Extras : buymeacoffee.com/Giantsamongstus
Share Your Story : giantsamongstus@tutanota.com
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Background music by :
@bnoizemusic
00:00:00
Now, here's a little story I got to tell.
00:00:06
This is Giants Amongst Us.
00:00:11
Welcome back ladies and gentlemen.
00:00:13
It is Sunday, the last day for a fun day.
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That's what some would say.
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So I hope this finds you in good spirits.
00:00:22
We've got another one for you today.
00:00:25
Nate joins us and he's got a story to tell.
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Nate, at an early age, was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy.
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And because of his condition, he found himself prescribed and eventually dependent and addicted
00:00:41
to those painkillers for 13 years.
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13 years.
00:00:48
Till finally, he decided, out of his own accord, to cut out that poison himself, cold turkey,
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which might not always be a good idea, but for him, it worked.
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And once that happened, he founded his quality of life improved, that is, his creativity
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opened back up.
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Because nature musician, he grew up around music.
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His father was a guitarist and he wears a lot of hats when it comes to creating and
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making music.
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Nate also had a bout with lung cancer and survived that.
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He's been tried and tested, but he's still keeping on with it, keeping on.
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Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, this is Nate and his story.
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Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the show.
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We've got another story.
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We have another guest and today we're joined by Nate.
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Nate, thank you so much for taking time out of your day.
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You could have been anywhere.
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You could have been doing anything, but you're here with us to share a little bit about your
00:01:50
story and about yourself, so I appreciate you and your time.
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Thank you.
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Thanks for having me.
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For starters, if you don't mind sharing with us a little bit about where you're from and
00:02:02
how it was for you growing up.
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I'm from Wisconsin.
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I've kind of been raised around the area, bounced around a little bit when I was a kid.
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Minnesota, Wisconsin, but always from this part of the Midwest.
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I was raised in a music loving family.
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My dad was a guitar player and my mom sang around the house all the time.
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So I just grew up loving music and turned out I was a guitar player.
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But then around the age of eight, I started slowing down.
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I have muscular dystrophy.
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So things kind of got a bit rough.
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They still are, but I manage.
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Is that something that developed or you were born with?
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When I was younger, I was able to run and do a lot of stuff, but around the age like
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eight or nine, I started slowing down quite a bit.
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My mom noticed me changing the way I walk and then not running as much and I would complain
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about my legs hurting.
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So yeah, and then it's just kind of been downhill from that age, but I'm still up and walking
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around.
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I have to use a cane these days.
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Is it mainly your lower body?
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It's all my muscles, every muscle.
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So like trying to raise my arms above my head or just like brushing my teeth, like simple
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stuff.
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Yeah.
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Growing up and as it progressed, how did it affect you?
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I'm sharing a lot of different ways.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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When I was in school, the other kids would make fun of me and then they put me on prednisone
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when I was younger.
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So I kind of ballooned up, got kind of chunky.
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So making fun of me for that and the way I walked.
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I mean, with that, whatever, kids are kids are kids.
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I mean, you get over that after high school.
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But other than that, I just did the best I could.
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I was still able to do quite a bit up until like my early twenties.
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I was still skiing and riding motorcycles, that kind of thing.
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And then just got worse after that.
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I was doing, I was playing in bands too up until 2012 or 2013.
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And then that got to be too much like playing live.
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You go out, you play three hour show, like three sets that are each an hour and then
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you have to set up and tear down.
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And by the end of the night, I was so exhausted.
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And it got to the point where I couldn't bend over to set up the guitar pedals anymore and
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then get back up.
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So at that point, I was just done with the live stuff anyway.
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Yeah.
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There's really nothing you can do to besides, I don't know if it's pain medication or whatever
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it is that you're taking, like anything else that you can do to help with the pain.
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I did pain medication for 13 years or so.
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And it was a horrible experience.
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It made everything worse.
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Like I think it eventually amplified the pain.
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I was just, I became way more sensitive to it.
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And then you build this huge tolerance to the pills.
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And the doctors, they first started, they're like, oh, here's some Oxycontin.
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Let's just, here's 80 milligrams.
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Just take that.
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Oh, you're falling asleep.
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Well, here's some Ritalin.
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Like, oh, yeah.
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And so I had this nice cocktail of the Valium, the Ritalin and the Oxycontins, the Vicodins.
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And that really messes with you after a while.
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And I was really unhappy.
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I struggled with a lot of depression through those years.
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That seems to be, I'm not going to speak for everyone, but it seems like a lot of people
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have had that experience, say, with an accident or whatever it is that the doctors right away,
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they're quick to just put you on the meds and push that on you.
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Yeah, they definitely used to be.
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I think they're kind of coming around now to where they're not throwing as much painkillers
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at it.
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And they do suggest a little more like homeopathic type stuff or like physical therapy, which
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I do that and I do acupuncture.
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There's a lot of stuff I do now to combat it and stay off of all those.
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The only thing I do use is cannabis, which is a godsend.
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Okay.
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So what are the laws in Wisconsin?
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Is it recreational or medicinal or it's still verboten?
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Yeah, I'm surrounded by legal states.
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Michigan, it's legal.
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Minnesota just legalized it.
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Illinois, it's legal.
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And it's ridiculous that it's still illegal here.
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We don't even have medicinal here in Wisconsin.
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You cross a line and then all of a sudden it's okay.
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Yeah.
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How about when you were 13 years on pain meds, did you find yourself during that time addicted
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to it?
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I know you said you built the tolerance, but I mean, that's a long run.
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Oh yeah.
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Yep.
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You can't go.
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I think even a short term, people have trouble getting addicted to them and there's the physical
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and the mental addiction part of it.
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So if you go off of them, then you start to feel sick because you're going through the
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withdrawals and then, I mean, yeah, it's a tough, slippery slope.
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So yeah, I was definitely addicted to them.
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How did you manage or eventually find your way off of them?
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Or at least not using them as much?
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I actually ended up going cold turkey off of them.
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I was running out early every month because I would take more than I was supposed to because
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that's the only way you get any relief.
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And then you run out a week early and the doctors are like, yeah.
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Because of that tolerance, right?
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Yeah.
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And then they don't want to give you pills early, so I had finally had had enough and
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just gave it up.
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I was like, I'll do something else.
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And the longer I was off of them, I started feeling better and better, more energy and
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wanted to do more things.
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I wasn't depressed or as depressed.
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And then that got better and actually pretty happy most of the time now.
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You didn't experience any withdraws or like.
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Oh, yeah.
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I did a lot of actually about eight months of, I mean, there's like the first you go
00:09:20
through the first couple of weeks and like that's the rough part.
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But then I still had a lot of sleepless nights and sweating and I think the half life of
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those drugs, like if they stay in your body for quite a while even.
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So I had some like the depression and sleep issues, sweating and like hot and cold type
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of like I'd be hot and sweating and then cold and it was no fun.
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It's pretty much like you have to be willing to go through that hell, right?
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Because I mean, you hear a lot of people, I don't know, maybe you've come across people
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also that they have an addiction.
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It can be from for an opiate or whatever and they're in a place where they feel like it
00:10:05
is impossible.
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Their body craves it so much that it's impossible to get off of it.
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But you went cold turkey.
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I know everybody's case is different, but it's really, what do you think?
00:10:17
Like, how do you feel about that?
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Do you think it's just that it's up to the individual if they're willing to go through
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that hell in order to find some relief or release from the beast?
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Yeah, I probably did it the wrong way.
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I probably should have had help from the doctors and weaned down, but I was so done with like
00:10:40
Western medicine.
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Like, I just, I wanted nothing to do with any doctors at that point.
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I'm just just one of them to leave me alone and take care of it myself.
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And so my wife, you know, sort of feed me supplements and vitamins and, you know, getting
00:10:57
me outside more.
00:10:58
And it's like you became your own healthcare provider, right?
00:11:02
Yes, yes, absolutely.
00:11:05
And then it's funny you say that because in 2016, I was diagnosed with lung cancer and
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the doctors are asking me like about what I was on and I was like, oh, well, I'm on
00:11:19
cannabis oil.
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And they're like, oh, who prescribed that?
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I raised my hand and I'm like, yeah, we did.
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I did.
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Yeah.
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I met my wife, Dr. Angie.
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So did you guy, you and your wife, both of you just start doing like a lot of research
00:11:36
on your own and try to figure out how to, how you, like how you put it, you were just done
00:11:40
with Western medicine and looking for any kind of alternative.
00:11:44
Mm hmm.
00:11:45
Yeah.
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And we'd been, you know, kind of working on a lot of that stuff throughout the years.
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We kind of designed our life to suit us and my disability.
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We started a business in 2007 designing websites and then she was doing virtual administration
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at the time and then which that's now turned into like digital marketing and just, it's
00:12:19
just a whole big, big thing now that we support our life with.
00:12:25
So we did that and then the whole like acupuncture and the supplements and vitamins and exercise,
00:12:33
like that all just, it fits and works well for us.
00:12:37
Right.
00:12:38
If I could go back a little bit just so when, when you were, you know, when you were taking
00:12:43
the painkillers the way you were during that, that 13 years, how was, I know it affected
00:12:49
the body and a lot of different ways mentally, physically, all of the side effects included.
00:12:55
But did you, were you still able to on the medication and taking the painkillers, were
00:13:00
you still able to function the way you are today or were you able to function, you know,
00:13:06
in a good capacity, whether it was playing music or, or living your life?
00:13:12
I think I functioned the best I could at the time.
00:13:17
Yeah.
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I did, I was still making music and doing the band thing and writing music at home.
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But I don't know, I mean, I functioned, but I don't know how, how well, maybe not as,
00:13:30
as clear as now or without purpose, maybe like I didn't have the same purpose as I do
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now.
00:13:39
Yeah.
00:13:40
I don't know.
00:13:41
It's a good, good question.
00:13:42
And you've always been a musician, like that's been your gig from the rooter to the tutor.
00:13:48
Yeah.
00:13:49
I, I wasn't a musician until my teens when I got a guitar, but from my earliest memories
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are about music pretty much like running home after school and putting on a Beatles 45.
00:14:07
You know, when I would get home, I'd listen to I'm Down and then on the flip side, I think
00:14:12
was Ticket to Ride and I would just listen to that and all my other 45s that I had.
00:14:18
Some vinyl.
00:14:19
Yes.
00:14:20
You have any record stores in your area that you can, you can frequent in?
00:14:26
There were.
00:14:27
I used to go to Minneapolis quite a bit and dig through the records, but now online is,
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is my music store.
00:14:35
That's right.
00:14:36
Yeah.
00:14:37
So, and I still, I still buy vinyl occasionally.
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I actually have a big shelf behind me filled with vinyl.
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So it's really a different sound.
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It has that warm sizzle when the needle, it's a beautiful thing.
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I have a record player.
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It's all broken.
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I need to get a new needle for it.
00:14:56
And, but once I do, yeah, it'd be nice to listen to, listen to some records again.
00:15:01
Yeah.
00:15:02
For sure.
00:15:03
It's kind of an experience.
00:15:04
I like to put the record on and I mean, you got the artwork and you flip it over on the
00:15:09
back.
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You can see all the people that worked on the album and the song titles and the artwork
00:15:14
is that stuff.
00:15:15
So cool.
00:15:16
Right.
00:15:17
Yeah.
00:15:18
I really, I really liked the fact that, I mean, not that you had to go through what
00:15:21
you, what you went through, but that you were willing to try.
00:15:25
I guess maybe it was just out of desperation also.
00:15:28
Sometimes it desperate times call for desperate measures to where you're looking for something
00:15:33
other than pain kills or medication because it's really not doing anything, but like you
00:15:39
said, I guess it was almost escalating the problem.
00:15:43
And you found, now you also said, acupuncture you're doing, how was that?
00:15:48
How has that been for you?
00:15:49
Acupuncture, I love it.
00:15:51
I do it every week.
00:15:53
It helps.
00:15:54
I know if this is my opinion, but I feel like when I do acupuncture regularly, I don't get
00:16:00
colds or flu.
00:16:02
So the immune system, everything.
00:16:04
Yes.
00:16:05
Yep.
00:16:06
The immune system, it helps my energy, my mood.
00:16:09
My mood's changed quite a bit since I started acupuncture in, I think 2015.
00:16:16
So it was a couple of years after the got off the painkillers.
00:16:23
But yeah, my mood has improved drastically and.
00:16:27
You have somewhere local that you can have that done?
00:16:29
It's just like 10 miles from my house.
00:16:32
So, but what I was going to say is like the two times that I've kind of slipped off the
00:16:38
acupuncture wagon, so to speak.
00:16:43
I got COVID.
00:16:44
So, I'm not saying that it cures COVID or keeps you from getting sick, but it's like
00:16:51
I wasn't doing my acupuncture regularly and then I got COVID.
00:16:57
But I also, I did also go to a flaming lips concert one time.
00:17:00
So that was probably why.
00:17:03
I mean, you got to enjoy yourself at the same time, right?
00:17:09
The lead singer of the flaming lips was in a bubble the whole concert.
00:17:12
Now I know why.
00:17:13
Was he?
00:17:14
Yeah.
00:17:15
Well, not the whole show, but he comes out and.
00:17:17
A literal bubble?
00:17:19
Yeah.
00:17:20
It's a bubble filled with air and it's like this plastic bubble and he sings inside of
00:17:25
it and then they used to walk out on the crowd with it, which was the.
00:17:32
Bubble boy.
00:17:33
You have to check it out.
00:17:34
They actually did a whole concert with the entire audience was in bubbles too.
00:17:40
Wow.
00:17:41
I was just watching, I don't know if he was in a bubble, but it has nothing to do with
00:17:46
the music, but just because you mentioned a bubble and being in something that's encapsulated,
00:17:51
but it was like a documentary about David Blaine when he was, I don't know if he put
00:17:56
himself in ice or he was whatever it was, but he was encapsulated.
00:18:00
And so that, I don't know why that came to mind, but that's crazy.
00:18:05
But now.
00:18:06
Yeah, those guys are cool.
00:18:07
Yeah, I'm going to have to check it out.
00:18:08
I'm curious as to how that, how that looks in real time.
00:18:12
Yeah.
00:18:13
It's a lot of fun.
00:18:15
Wayne Coyne running around out on top of the audience.
00:18:18
How often did you say with the acupuncture?
00:18:20
You said once every.
00:18:22
I go every Thursday.
00:18:24
Okay.
00:18:25
Or Friday.
00:18:26
So, every week.
00:18:27
I'm curious as to how that works out.
00:18:29
Are they hitting mainly the pressure points or are they like putting it all over your
00:18:34
body?
00:18:35
It's, yeah.
00:18:36
So it's all over my body.
00:18:38
She'll start on my head and go down my back, get some of my hands and my arms and my legs.
00:18:44
But she's hitting the Chinese meridians or energy points.
00:18:49
Okay.
00:18:50
And it's all about the flow of your energy and your Qi, probably mass-curing the explanation
00:18:59
of it.
00:19:00
But no, no, no.
00:19:02
I hear what you're saying.
00:19:04
That's very, that's very important.
00:19:05
I guess what it does is, I mean, I'm not an expert on it, but I read a little bit about
00:19:10
it and that's why I was kind of curious as to how that works.
00:19:14
But I guess it's supposed to release, like how you said the Qi, it releases the energy
00:19:19
at certain points that it's kind of clearing the junk and the toxicity.
00:19:25
It's, yeah, it's super relaxing.
00:19:28
She'll put the needles in and she'll walk out of the room and I'm out within five minutes
00:19:32
usually.
00:19:33
Wow.
00:19:34
Sometimes I'm even asleep before she leaves the room.
00:19:37
It's that like zen for me.
00:19:39
How long in the sessions?
00:19:40
An hour from the time I go in and she starts putting needles into the time that I walk
00:19:45
out.
00:19:46
Man, I might have to experience that.
00:19:49
It's in my life.
00:19:50
Oh yeah, you should try it.
00:19:51
You should try it for sure.
00:19:52
Especially if you said it, I mean, just in general, like just from detoxing your body,
00:19:58
because I mean, we're surrounded by chemicals all day long.
00:20:03
We don't even have to be a smoker or a drinker.
00:20:05
You step outside.
00:20:06
If you're in the city, you get into pollution.
00:20:08
We're bombarded by it, and especially in the foods and depending on your diet.
00:20:14
Has that also been something that you added to the mix, like you said supplements and
00:20:18
vitamins to help you with your pains?
00:20:20
Yeah, diet.
00:20:22
I do notice like if I eat a lot of sugar or more carbs, I'm definitely more inflamed.
00:20:29
I'm horrible about staying away from them though.
00:20:32
I like food.
00:20:33
I love food.
00:20:37
But I mean, if you can do other things like what it seems you're doing to combat it, I
00:20:40
guess it's easier said than done.
00:20:43
My wife and I, we always talk about it also.
00:20:45
It's like the moderation, right?
00:20:47
I mean, you can indulge into things, but sometimes it's just the moderation.
00:20:52
Know when to tell yourself you've had enough, but when it tastes so good.
00:20:56
Sure.
00:20:57
I think when it comes to self care, I don't know that you can really have enough.
00:21:02
You should do as much as you can and I think that helps.
00:21:06
I want to mention another really fun thing that I've done is a float tank.
00:21:15
It's like not a sensory deprivation chamber, but kind of because you lay down in water
00:21:23
that's body temperature and it's really, really salty water.
00:21:28
So you're very, very buoyant and you float super easy.
00:21:32
And then you close the door of the tank and it's mostly dark and your ears are underwater.
00:21:37
So it is a little bit of sensory deprivation, but the salt I think removes toxins from your
00:21:44
body and it's super relaxing.
00:21:48
That's cool.
00:21:49
That's cool that you mentioned that because I've actually done that with my wife.
00:21:54
First, I was looking into something to do for her because she has a lot of issues like
00:21:59
with her spine, with her neck.
00:22:02
She's had multiple surgeries.
00:22:03
So that was one thing that I looked up to, like, you know, just a bit of health and wellness
00:22:08
and some self care.
00:22:10
So I got her a gift card so she can do it and just enjoy it on her own.
00:22:16
And then the next time around, I guess she liked it so much, she's like, we got to do
00:22:19
it together.
00:22:20
So then they actually had like a room where they have some nice music that they play.
00:22:26
And like you said, you're just floating.
00:22:28
And I guess I want to, if I remember correctly, I think even your ears are submerged in the
00:22:35
water too.
00:22:36
Yeah.
00:22:37
Yeah.
00:22:38
So it's about a 45 minute session or maybe even an hour.
00:22:41
That's so cool.
00:22:42
And it was a beautiful thing.
00:22:45
The ones I did, I think were an hour too.
00:22:46
I loved it.
00:22:47
It was very cool.
00:22:50
Put on some Pink Floyd and float or Brian Eno.
00:22:54
Yeah.
00:22:55
Yeah.
00:22:56
Okay.
00:22:57
So was it, were you able to play your own music or you just brought your own speaker?
00:23:01
I think that a Bluetooth setup in there.
00:23:05
Because I remember listening to, very distinctly listening to Brian Eno music for airports.
00:23:11
Oh, wow.
00:23:12
Okay.
00:23:13
You didn't put a request in it.
00:23:15
Was just something that they had on?
00:23:16
It was either they had that on or I played it through my phone.
00:23:20
I want to say I played it through like my phone or something.
00:23:23
Now how about a like a isolation tent?
00:23:26
You ever plan on doing something like that?
00:23:30
Probably not.
00:23:31
I think as close as I would want to get is that it's funny.
00:23:35
We're just talking about a studio in Minneapolis that has, it's an acoustic chamber and it's,
00:23:43
I want to say it's like the quietest place in the world.
00:23:47
And like people can only stand to be in there for 45 minutes because you're hearing your
00:23:50
heartbeat and your breath and like you can eventually hear your nervous system or something
00:23:55
crazy and people are like, let me out.
00:23:58
Yeah.
00:23:59
Yeah.
00:24:00
I think that's something that could really put you on a trip too if you're not careful.
00:24:05
Yeah.
00:24:06
For sure.
00:24:07
I always hear my ears ringing, but I couldn't imagine how loud they'd be ringing inside
00:24:11
a perfectly quiet room.
00:24:14
Yeah.
00:24:15
Yeah.
00:24:16
That was something I was curious as to do, but like the floating in the wild, that was
00:24:20
a real cool thing.
00:24:21
You've done that one time or do you?
00:24:23
I've done that multiple times.
00:24:25
Okay.
00:24:26
We finally got a hot tub a couple of years ago and that was the best investment we've
00:24:32
ever made.
00:24:33
Wow.
00:24:34
How about like a spa, a little sauna?
00:24:38
Yeah, there you go.
00:24:40
A sauna.
00:24:41
Mm-hmm.
00:24:42
Yeah.
00:24:43
Actually the same place that has the float tanks.
00:24:45
We go there occasionally and do a sauna together.
00:24:48
My wife and I.
00:24:49
That's good quality time.
00:24:50
Yeah.
00:24:51
For sure.
00:24:52
Any time you're naked together is quality time.
00:24:56
Yes.
00:24:57
Over there, I don't know how it is.
00:25:00
I guess most saunas are like that, right?
00:25:03
Because I know in Germany, it's kind of a more open thing for the nudity.
00:25:08
So the sauna.
00:25:09
Sure.
00:25:10
These were actually the saunas were like a two person, it's like a room and then there's
00:25:15
a sauna inside there.
00:25:17
So it was totally private.
00:25:18
Oh, okay.
00:25:19
We just locked the door, go in and they had a little TV.
00:25:22
We watched Netflix and just hang out or listen to music for an hour and then sweat a bunch
00:25:27
and get out.
00:25:28
Oh, okay.
00:25:29
There's a sauna facility, I guess you could call it a sauna house, not too far from where
00:25:34
we live at.
00:25:35
And a couple of times my wife and I went and it's like a bit, you walk in, there's a huge
00:25:40
pool, you can dip in.
00:25:43
Then there's like different rooms with different, like a variation in the heat.
00:25:48
Some are hotter than others and then there's also like a little cold dipping pool where
00:25:53
the water is ice cold.
00:25:54
You can get in there, showers, there's like lounge chairs.
00:25:57
So it's pretty much like a whole in-house thing with multiple rooms.
00:26:02
But everybody's walking around in a nude.
00:26:04
It's like, you know, I don't know if it's like that.
00:26:09
I know there's sauna houses in the States, but I don't know, maybe there's some that
00:26:13
are nudity and there's other ones where you have to cover up until you get in the room
00:26:17
and then you can kind of, if you want to let them hang, you can let them hang.
00:26:20
But yeah, that was something different.
00:26:23
The first time I was like, well, I guess, you know, when in Rome.
00:26:28
Right.
00:26:29
Yeah.
00:26:30
We've been to some hot springs where it was nudity allowed after dark.
00:26:37
There's one out in Colorado, but we ended up leaving.
00:26:40
We wanted to stay, but like the boss was coming in and we had to go.
00:26:44
So yeah.
00:26:45
Yeah, how'd you like it?
00:26:48
I love hot springs.
00:26:49
They're great.
00:26:50
We went to Glenwood Hot Springs quite a bit over the last like 10 years or so.
00:26:57
And that's out in Colorado, up in the mountains.
00:27:00
Yeah, I've got to do that.
00:27:01
There's a couple other ones up there that we like.
00:27:03
Yeah, definitely.
00:27:04
If you have some out there in Germany, go for it.
00:27:06
Or even because we were, I'm originally from California and my mom, she was even telling
00:27:12
me, I think in Mexico.
00:27:14
There's a couple not too far from where she was born at over there, but I'm sure even
00:27:19
in, you know, where there's a lot of different areas in the States and we just had came back
00:27:23
from holidays.
00:27:24
So we were just visiting family and we got back May 10th, May 11th.
00:27:30
So we just got back actually, we had a nice little two weeks out there.
00:27:33
So it was good to see family.
00:27:36
Nice.
00:27:37
So, that's also something that I like to do.
00:27:40
So you're bringing up some real good points or some things that have to involve my, I
00:27:45
think anybody listening, like you said, self-care, you can never go wrong with that.
00:27:49
For sure.
00:27:50
Yeah.
00:27:51
And how long has it been?
00:27:53
I don't know if I asked you that or if you mentioned it, I might have missed it.
00:27:57
So forgive me, but how long have you been off of, you said it was 13 years that you were
00:28:02
on the meds and the painkillers.
00:28:04
How long has it been since you kind of weaned off of it and been doing your own?
00:28:10
About 10 years ago, I think 2013 that I got off the pain meds completely.
00:28:17
And feeling you said a whole lot better since.
00:28:20
Yeah.
00:28:21
Yes.
00:28:22
I mean, it's still been like, I would say mentally I'm feeling a lot better, but in
00:28:29
that 10 years I've actually gone downhill with my strength.
00:28:34
Yeah.
00:28:35
Like I used to be able to get up off the floor if I fell down.
00:28:41
Now I can't do it by myself.
00:28:43
So I have to have someone help me get my butt up onto a stool and then I can kind of shoot
00:28:51
myself up and crawl up a like a step ladder type of deal.
00:28:57
So pretty much anything that's going to be physical that you're having issues with, like
00:29:03
say getting out of bed or.
00:29:05
Yeah, getting out of a chair.
00:29:07
Yep.
00:29:08
No, I like we don't go out to eat so much anymore.
00:29:10
If we do, we have to sit at like at the bar or a high top table because it's really hard
00:29:16
for me to lean on the table and then get up.
00:29:19
Like I can't just get up off out of the chair.
00:29:23
So like sitting at my desk now, I have a step ladder that sits next to my desk all the time.
00:29:29
So I could just lean over and crawl up that or I have on my couch.
00:29:33
I have a, it's called a couch cane and it just kind of sits under the couch and then
00:29:38
there's a part that sticks up that I can lean on and help myself get up easier.
00:29:43
In your arms, you really, there's really no strength like say to push up.
00:29:47
I can do a little bit.
00:29:49
Like I have some strength, but.
00:29:51
Push your body up.
00:29:52
Yeah, it's, it's getting worse and worse.
00:29:55
If I exercised more, I would be a lot better off, but I like I struggle with that because
00:30:01
I don't have energy to exercise and then it hurts to exercise.
00:30:07
So it's, it's this like, if I do too much, it'll put me down for a day or two.
00:30:12
And then I'm trying to write and record music and, you know, be with my family and like
00:30:19
do these, just live my life.
00:30:21
And it's hard when you're, you're tapped out.
00:30:24
Right.
00:30:25
All the time.
00:30:26
So, but, you know, I, I'm a couple of times a week, I'll do my marching and so on.
00:30:31
Just pushups on the counter and it's not enough.
00:30:34
I need it.
00:30:35
I need to do more.
00:30:36
So kind of kick my own ass on that one.
00:30:41
It's interesting that you said, despite all of that, your mental health, you're still
00:30:45
in a good place with that.
00:30:47
I'm just thinking like if I were to be in that, in that situation and say, you know,
00:30:52
I'm not as able to, as a body as I am now, how, how would I be taken in like, you know,
00:30:59
just the fact of depression or, you know, the frustration and that kind of thing.
00:31:04
Do you, do you battle with that often or you're doing pretty good?
00:31:07
Yeah.
00:31:08
I mean, for the most part I do good, but I mean, I still have bad days and, you know,
00:31:14
sometimes it'll be a bad week or, you know, whatever, but I know that it's not going to
00:31:21
last.
00:31:22
Like it's just this temporary mindset and I try to keep, you know, positive mental attitude
00:31:28
as much as I can.
00:31:31
And how about doing the music?
00:31:32
Is that a, is that a sense of, you know, that puts you in a good place?
00:31:37
Yeah, that, that helps me a lot actually.
00:31:39
I mean, it gives me something to concentrate on and to look forward to like releasing my
00:31:44
music and it's not like, I don't really care if I get a ton of listens or, you know, like
00:31:50
not trying to get famous.
00:31:52
I just trying to write some good songs and express myself.
00:31:57
Express myself as an artist and create.
00:32:01
That's what I do.
00:32:02
Yeah.
00:32:03
That's what I'm built for.
00:32:29
Non man與 non bourgeoisie.
00:32:40
is a night and I tried my hardest can't you tell I'll ride that townward spiral
00:32:50
straight to hell.
00:32:57
Yeah that's right talk a little bit about that or share with we talked a bit
00:33:02
offline before we started recording about everything that you're involved
00:33:06
with and things that you're doing all the instruments that you play like you
00:33:09
might might share some of that with us. Sure so like I kind of give a little
00:33:15
history like 20 some years ago I was playing in a band with my friends and
00:33:20
we recorded an album and like you know I just I had the bug early on I played in
00:33:25
bands for up until 2012 or 13 or so about the same time I got off the
00:33:31
prescription pills and then you know once I quit playing live I'm just like
00:33:37
what do I what do I do with my my musical self now so I just was kind of
00:33:44
tossing around ideas all the time and recording stuff at home and after I had
00:33:50
recovered from cancer we're like well we had an opportunity to rent a place in
00:33:57
town and and I put a recording studio in the basement my wife had a yoga studio
00:34:02
upstairs so I was working with other artists and recording my own music and
00:34:08
I did an album called Phoenix of Tragedy I put that out did all the played all
00:34:15
the instruments except for drums on that one there was a program drums on most
00:34:20
of the songs but there was like three or four that I had my buddy come in and
00:34:23
play on so I played the guitars yeah they all available is that available on
00:34:30
Spotify on on all the streaming services and my artist name is Nathaniel
00:34:36
Rowland can you spell it can you spell it
00:34:40
N-A-T-H-A-N-I-E-L-R-O-L-A-N-D and okay got it and then and just because I was I
00:34:52
was fascinated I was blown away like you're pretty much the one man band it
00:34:56
sounds like like what are all the inch and yourself taught to top it off yeah
00:35:00
yeah I had for the most part I had some lessons when I was younger and I did go
00:35:05
to music school for a little bit I did like some recording school and then a
00:35:10
little bit of guitar school but other than that all self-taught that album you
00:35:17
mentioned now what was the name of it again Phoenix of Tragedy there you go
00:35:22
and that you played most of the instruments on it I can you kind of just
00:35:26
list off yeah some of the issues on that album I played bass guitar acoustic
00:35:32
guitar and electric guitar and bunch of keyboards on my new album that's coming
00:35:42
out this summer I have like I played melodica auto harp what else did I play
00:35:51
on there programmed all the drums on the new one wow and sing and I sing too
00:35:58
wow yeah I really got to check out what you do it on that's a feat in itself now
00:36:05
are there any of the like instruments that your baby you know one that you
00:36:10
really enjoy playing or is it they all have their own special charm guitar I
00:36:15
started playing guitar when I was 14 or 15 my dad was a guitar player like a
00:36:22
really really good guitar player and so like that's a lot of my inspiration I
00:36:28
think behind becoming a musician and did he teach you or you just grew up
00:36:33
watching him and picked it up I grew up watching him and then by the time he got
00:36:39
me a guitar was right around the time that he passed away so he did he showed
00:36:45
me one chord and that was all he got to teach me before he died so but I picked
00:36:51
it up after that he baptized you with that one chord yes yep baptized an A major
00:37:00
you play mainly by ear or you do both read read notes in ear I don't I don't
00:37:06
read I know a little bit of like music theory and I like you'd be like oh we're
00:37:11
an A minor I'm okay I know where that is you know I know I know my keys I know
00:37:15
some scales but I can't read notes well so everything I learn is by ear or by
00:37:22
like guitar tablature okay which is just lines and numbers so that's really easy
00:37:28
for me you also mentioned that you had a couple instrumental albums that you you
00:37:34
put together was it last year or this year I did two instrumental albums this
00:37:41
year so I think I have and we're only in May yeah I was working pretty hard this
00:37:47
year I don't something happened like man beginning of the year where I'm just like
00:37:52
I am going to concentrate on my music this year and it's kind of been a flood
00:38:00
I like a lot of this stuff was old ideas that I was kicking around on the
00:38:04
instrumental albums anyways I have these albums called up prairie dogs have
00:38:08
plague and there's there's four of all dogs yep there's four volumes of it and
00:38:14
they're all instrumental and they're weird kind of quirky playful albums of
00:38:22
just songs that didn't the songs didn't really develop into a song that I could
00:38:27
sing and turn into the full song it's just these like mini songs so some of
00:38:33
them are a minute long some of them are three or four minutes long but they just
00:38:38
worked really well as instrumentals and we're in South Dakota in the Badlands
00:38:45
and there's this sign that says prairie dogs have plague with an exclamation point
00:38:50
and I'm like that is the coolest aim for an album so I took a picture I took a
00:38:56
picture of the sign and then I think I did some Photoshop work and and put a
00:39:03
prairie dog and a goat and that was the album cover so and then that was the
00:39:09
first one or that was for the first one yeah okay and my son helps me with some
00:39:16
of the titles on on some of the songs so they're they're real weird real weird
00:39:23
titles and what's the what's the second one volume two prairie dogs that plague
00:39:28
volume two oh okay oh so it's their volume yeah yeah so there's there's four
00:39:33
different albums of instrumental stuff and this is these are all played by you
00:39:39
yeah yeah all the all the prairie dog have plague albums are all the
00:39:44
instruments are me everything everything on on those the guitars and the weird
00:39:49
synthesizers and recorded mixed mastered everything that was all you yes I
00:39:56
wear all the hats wow yeah which having talk about muscular dystrophy is is
00:40:03
difficult to get like I'll sit down to to play and sometimes by the time I get my
00:40:10
guitar on I'm tired already or if I have to you know mic something up and I'm
00:40:16
adjusting the microphones that wears me out really quick so man that's
00:40:23
inspiring for me you know because what you I could only imagine now you you're
00:40:30
giving a small taste of what it is like just the simple things of getting your
00:40:35
your guitar ready and all that and you're already wiped out but you still
00:40:39
managed to muscle up enough of mustard in you to to produce these records and
00:40:45
to make this music and me sometimes I was talking to you a little bit before we
00:40:50
started recording about my funny little setup and so it only takes me a few
00:40:55
minutes to set up but sometimes I'm like oh god I wish I could just have it you
00:41:00
know a station where it's already set up and I could just get right to it and
00:41:04
not have to put everything together what am I complaining about that that's
00:41:11
actually what I've started to do is leave my microphones on my guitar amps and
00:41:17
leave my vocal mic set up ready to go so that when I'm inspired or when I'm
00:41:24
ready to go it's just there and all I have to do is turn my stuff on and grab
00:41:29
my guitar so what I'm what I'm hearing right now is like the things that you
00:41:33
you are dealing with and you still produce and make music that there's
00:41:37
really no excuses if you want to do something and I guess for you it's a
00:41:40
passion and something that you love so that pain or that struggle or that hurt
00:41:45
all that discomfort is is worth you know getting past so you can go ahead and
00:41:50
like you said express yourself and create the best way you know how music
00:41:55
yeah definitely it blocks me I mean there's a lot of nights where I'm just
00:42:00
like I'm really motivated I really want to go sit at my desk and work in my
00:42:06
studio and work on that song but I'm tired I fell down earlier or whatever it
00:42:12
was I did this or that I'm tired from just whatever it is I'm not gonna do it
00:42:18
tonight and yeah like last year maybe it was a year before I don't know there was
00:42:23
a period of a good seven months right I just I didn't even pick up my guitar
00:42:28
wow and it like I don't know I think I maybe got a little depressed about it
00:42:34
for a little bit there but then I just shook it off my own kick my own butt and
00:42:39
picked it up and my arms felt so sludgy getting back into it but the more I
00:42:45
play the easier that gets so and I guess that's also that like how you said
00:42:51
exercise can help out I mean that that in a way right that's the way that you're
00:42:55
having to move your shoulders or your hands or your fingers I mean in the
00:42:59
sense that's exercise it's definitely movement right like any kind of movement
00:43:04
helps you know if you're in a similar situation where you're you've got an
00:43:10
ailment of some kind and it's slowing you down you know the best thing you can
00:43:14
probably do for yourself is is get up and move a little bit or even if you
00:43:18
can't get up just move something do something exercise your mind if you can't
00:43:23
exercise your body too what was the fire in you this year to to get you to to
00:43:30
work the way you have it it just you cut that bug and you just couldn't stop
00:43:34
yeah I don't I don't know what what it was I mean I'm getting older I'm gonna
00:43:40
be 46 this year and it's not that old but you know time is not he we're not
00:43:46
here a long time yeah how does it go I'm I'm not a spring chicken anymore yeah
00:43:51
exactly and you know I have I had a lot of ideas recorded over the last 15 years
00:43:58
that I kind of wanted to flush out and work on them so Pray Dogs 3 came out and
00:44:06
February or March and then Pray Dogs have plague 4 came out in the beginning of
00:44:15
May so I was kind of working on them both a little bit simultaneously but yeah I
00:44:21
kind of kind of went quickly and then there's the third album that I'm
00:44:25
working on which is all full real songs with me singing and you know actual
00:44:32
hooks that you can sing along with and and you write your music too then I
00:44:37
would assume yep yep it's all original that's what I can respect yes so again
00:44:43
now you were talking about the albums so you have all of this available you said
00:44:49
on pretty much all the major platforms the YouTube spotify yep everything's
00:44:55
out there or there's more information on my website nater music.com and you can
00:45:03
buy the albums there or read my bio or I think it's about all you can do there
00:45:12
oh there's there are some videos probably out there oh cool so and it sounds
00:45:18
like you had like in in in your life in general you have a good woman by your
00:45:24
side that has helped you help you get through those tough times yes yeah we've
00:45:29
been married 20 23 years so yeah she's stuck by me through thick and thin
00:45:36
sicker and sicker yeah yeah I mean yeah we did the I had the whole cancer thing
00:45:44
in 2016 and but yeah she's she's great that's your rock right there yes yeah
00:45:53
that's a beautiful thing to have too especially so you don't have to fight
00:45:57
that good fight alone and you also have children right you said your son helps
00:46:01
you I don't know if it's just with the music or titles yeah he helps with the
00:46:06
song titles and he helps around the house quite a bit too he's 21 and then my
00:46:13
other son is 27 and my daughter is 29 okay you have three children okay yes
00:46:21
yeah adults three adults and enjoying your life the best you can like this
00:46:29
this is man I'm just like I told you beforehand every time I I get to hear
00:46:37
these stories is that they're all unique in their own way but the things that
00:46:42
you've had to endure you know these things that I myself can take for granted
00:46:48
you know just having all my functionalities working properly and in
00:46:54
things like that and you can really take it for granted until it's stripped from
00:46:57
you or you find yourself in some kind of predicament to where it wasn't what is
00:47:03
what it once was but you really seem to find a better way especially with you
00:47:09
taking action and becoming your own personal health provider yep and that's
00:47:15
and that seemed to really pay off with prescribed self-care there you go take
00:47:21
two of these and call me in the morning yeah so you it's probably well no you
00:47:28
know whether it's accessible or not like say mainstream but I mean speaking of
00:47:33
the cannabis I mean you can find that everywhere you probably could even just
00:47:36
grow it in the house and who knows maybe one day the regulations would change
00:47:41
where you're at I think soon I mean now that we're surrounded by legal time right
00:47:46
yeah we're surrounded by illegal states they're not gonna want to let that tax
00:47:49
money go to Michigan or Illinois or Minnesota so yeah well their sports
00:47:56
teams are gonna get better than us because they have all that tax money so
00:47:59
we got to you know buy the Packers a new stadium let's legalize marijuana
00:48:04
cannabis yeah anything for the sports teams yes that's what they should they
00:48:09
they could get behind that I'm sure the Republicans could get behind that right
00:48:12
right yeah anything for the Packers the cheese heads yeah you know are you a big
00:48:20
sports fan are you careless no I don't I don't watch any sports at all I am more
00:48:28
concerned about when the Foo Fighters are touring or who's got a new album
00:48:31
coming out okay music that's my yep how about like well I know you were talking
00:48:37
about because of your your physical condition that you're not able to play
00:48:42
live anymore do you play here and there or you you're not playing live at all I
00:48:47
was doing the national anthem every year at a like a 5k 10k running race but I
00:48:56
didn't do that this year because just couldn't do it like winter beat me up
00:49:01
this year so and then last year I did do I did do a gig with a band that I
00:49:07
recorded and produced and play I played bass on their album so then I went and
00:49:13
played bass for them live on their CD release show which that you know took me
00:49:18
a lot of work to build up to that to play that show with them and I love it I
00:49:24
miss it the one thing that really I think still kind of irks me in and I
00:49:28
would probably try to put a band together or something if if all the
00:49:34
stages were accessible but you go to these venues and there's either no
00:49:39
stairs or stairs without a railing or yeah just that you just oh you have to
00:49:45
just climb up on the stage you know just just climb up there yeah so that was
00:49:52
another big reason behind me you know stopping my my life thing is there's
00:49:58
just not accessible stages would you play standing up or are you sitting down
00:50:04
I these days I would play standing up still so okay it's probably just easier
00:50:10
to to get around and do what I need to do because getting up from a seated
00:50:16
position is not easy now I'm just forgive me for my ignorance now you said
00:50:23
it's pretty much all of your muscles is that in your neck included like mm-hmm
00:50:29
yes yep all the muscles so even holding your holding your head straight or yeah
00:50:35
yeah after a while like my head my neck gets tired by the end of the day my my
00:50:40
neck muscles are ready for a break wow just sitting sitting at my desk right
00:50:46
now we've been talking for about an hour and my core is quite tired from from
00:50:52
holding me up actually so wow my god and still managing to do what you do and
00:50:59
create all of this new one here something yeah go ahead shoot like crazy
00:51:04
about like winter and like Wisconsin is like she negative 40 right oh god yeah
00:51:11
that's I mean we I don't know what the worst of it this year was but we we've
00:51:16
gotten down to you know negative 50 60 70 I think with the winch it gets nuts
00:51:22
but shivering and being cold like I can feel the muscles like those muscles will
00:51:29
hurt so bad after like if I've been cold for a while so to keep the heat cranked
00:51:34
up and standard blankets all winter long so winter I know some places are more
00:51:41
severe than others in Wisconsin is that's ridiculous not even bearable but
00:51:46
so pretty much you know it puts you on your butt huh yeah literally it's so icy
00:51:52
out too like that's I think that's probably the worst thing about when
00:51:56
winter is going outside when it's snowy and icy and I get this like immense fear
00:52:04
of like falling in that shit I don't know if I could say that I'm sorry yeah
00:52:10
drop drop so yeah like I call outside and it's just everything's covered in this
00:52:16
glare ice and it's grosses me out and freaks me out and yeah and yeah the
00:52:26
fear that I feel from that seeing that ice and walking on it is immense but I do
00:52:33
use I have these things I put on my shoes called yak tracks they like just
00:52:38
kind of slip over and they're kind of like this like a spring thing kind of
00:52:43
like not not so much like a cleat but like a kind of like a metal traction or
00:52:48
like I like chains if you put chains on a trucker or something yeah over the
00:52:54
wheels like that's kind of what it is on your on your shoes and that helps me
00:53:00
from falling but it's still scary yeah yeah I could have man that's like facing
00:53:07
the beast every time you step outside yeah it's funny there's this thing that
00:53:14
happens to me too or if I'm trying to get off of a step like I'll step and
00:53:20
then like I don't want to do it and I get inside my own head and and it makes
00:53:25
it like way harder to get off the step and my wife and I call that little
00:53:30
horsing because we saw there's this video of this like little horse like a
00:53:34
little pony trying to get out of a trailer and it's like a four or five
00:53:38
inch drop and he can do it he could do it he's just gotta go a little horse just
00:53:42
you know he has to do it but he doesn't want to do it he's too scared but then
00:53:47
when he does this they go yeah that was really super easy it wasn't all that bad
00:53:52
it's like you got to put you it's just that hope to build up to it right yeah
00:53:57
you don't want to get inside your head in those moments man yeah you can really
00:54:02
talk yourself out of a lot of things oh yeah just from making music or or that's
00:54:07
kind of like you just getting out of your comfort zone you can really talk
00:54:10
yourself out of so much I lie to myself every night I go up the stairs I say
00:54:15
I'm strong I'm healthy and I'm full of energy and like it'll help like I think
00:54:22
if I tell myself that another 10 times maybe I'll believe it yeah fake it
00:54:28
till you make it so I just I exactly as I keep doing that and when I go up the
00:54:32
stairs and at some nights I'll get stuck at the top but I mean we live in a
00:54:37
really old farmhouse so the stairs are old and wooden and they're each one's a
00:54:43
different height different like width so like coming up and down those stairs a
00:54:48
little freaky that's tough too because there's a lot of homes here in Germany
00:54:53
that the two-story homes and then either elderly people or people that aren't
00:54:59
physically able to get up those stairs like that's a process in itself and
00:55:04
you're saying every every night you getting up the stairs when you're ready
00:55:08
to wrap it up and call it a night is a that's a struggle and still fighting the
00:55:13
good fight Nate keep on keep it on yeah there's an old saying you can't stop a
00:55:19
stepper I haven't heard that one but can't stop a nader either yeah that's a
00:55:29
that's a hell of a fight and you got a you definitely got a strong spirit and
00:55:35
willing you I know like you said I mean I could only imagine that every day is in
00:55:39
a win but you know we have we have our highs and our lows but if if you're not
00:55:44
always on that low slope and you do manage to balance out and you just
00:55:50
build off of that and it seems like you're doing a lot better and man it
00:55:53
was it was really inspiring and encouraging it to hear some of the
00:55:58
challenges that I wouldn't have thought that you have to deal with on a daily
00:56:01
basis but outside of that still creating producing doing what you do man that is
00:56:08
just kicking ass in general yeah I really appreciate you you setting time
00:56:16
aside and us hooking up and being able to hear your story is there anything that
00:56:22
you'd like to leave off with I know I took up a lot of your time already
00:56:26
especially you holding up that's been fun hearing how you get down with the
00:56:31
get down get up with the boogie yeah yeah thanks thanks for having me it's
00:56:39
nice to kind of get my story out and I mean if there's other people out there
00:56:43
in my position I think it's good for them to to see someone who's out there
00:56:48
creating and just doing the best that they can even even when you can't like
00:56:54
you just you got to accept those bad days and take them for what they are but
00:56:58
get back on the horse the next day if you can so that's right and one more
00:57:04
time like if people want to get in touch with some of your work you said you
00:57:10
have a website can you can you one more time plug that in yes it's nater music
00:57:15
natr music m u s i c dot com nater music dot com that's what my dad used to
00:57:24
call me when I was little was nater nater nater baiter yeah dark nater yeah
00:57:32
yeah that's a good one yeah and then all the music's available yeah and all the
00:57:38
streaming services and under Nathaniel Rowland not to be confused with Nathaniel
00:57:44
Rowland there's some murderer guy but oh that's okay that's funny that you have
00:57:50
I wanted to change my artist name after that but I didn't I wonder now speaking
00:57:57
of that you know I wonder if you ever heard of the night stalker that sounds
00:58:04
familiar I've watched a little bit of true crime stuff okay yeah only reason I
00:58:09
say that is because I you said you have a name similar or that sounds just like a
00:58:14
serial killer and in my name my full name happens to be the same name of if you
00:58:19
look up the night stalker Richard Ramirez you can oh fine yeah I think Richard
00:58:25
Ramirez like that yeah okay that sounds familiar it's like okay I mean the name
00:58:30
is so common but that happens and I to this day I cannot shake it I still get
00:58:38
it some people even here in Germany I was surprised I'm like wait in Germany this
00:58:42
guy was doing what he did in in California but there was people that
00:58:47
Richard you know who you're you know who yeah I know all about him trust me I
00:58:53
know I know more about him than I I should even know and that's only because
00:58:57
of yeah the damn name one of my friends is Dean Bundy everyone's always asking
00:59:04
me if he's related to Ted Bundy or Al Bundy yes that was that was when they
00:59:14
were still making some good TV shows that was married with children yeah that's a
00:59:19
good good wholesome show right there maybe not wholesome but it is a funny
00:59:24
show I love that show no it was it was a classic Christina Aguilera I give her all
00:59:30
the props for for kicking so much ass having MS with that last show she was on
00:59:36
that was the name of that did she yes no no no you mean Christina Applegate oh
00:59:41
yeah not Aguilera Applegate yes I get yeah names are similar Christina
00:59:48
Applegate I give her all the props for kicking ass on I don't remember the
00:59:53
name of the show but it was really really good did she you said she had MS dead
00:59:58
something yes multiple sclerosis sclerosis she has she has you know yep
01:00:04
and I think she is not going to act anymore because of that so she's out she's
01:00:11
got like a cane now and I think it's kind of I don't say I don't want to say
01:00:16
it's cool that she has it but it's cool to see when celebrities you know embrace
01:00:21
it they're like this is what I have and just true you if you don't like it you
01:00:26
know like I'm out here with my cane and yeah yeah exactly not trying to hide it
01:00:32
and you know I think I kind of did that even for for a while like like having a
01:00:38
cane is not rock and roll hmm you know like that's what I thought how about
01:00:43
these days now I disagree I totally rock the pimp cane big daddy cane yeah you
01:00:50
know no nader cane I didn't know that because I know she was still making she
01:00:57
was doing the anchor man's and she was still doing like oh yeah that wasn't that
01:01:02
long ago but I guess when it when it starts deteriorating orders or starts
01:01:06
progressing it like you know it you can't stop the train right now the show
01:01:11
she was on is called dead to me and that show is really good if if you are your
01:01:18
viewers or listeners are looking for a good show that's one okay yeah
01:01:22
definitely have to check that one out yeah I really enjoyed this I really
01:01:27
enjoyed this talk Nate before we wrap it up if you can give three it's kind of
01:01:32
hard to wrap it up in the three but if you could pick three top albums of yours
01:01:37
what would they be albums by me or by other say any any musician any band any
01:01:44
solo artists whoever mark lannigan blues funeral is right up there my probably
01:01:50
my number one and then anything by Tom weights is good oh yeah yeah trying to
01:01:59
pick like my favorite would maybe be real gone I think is a good one uh-huh and
01:02:06
then let's so trying to think of a third one who I've been listening to lately
01:02:14
I'm gonna cheat here in the same Aguilera like she's great like I
01:02:19
enough that against her man hard to choose a third one but we were just my
01:02:27
friend was over the other day and he was telling me about the it's one of the
01:02:31
those old zombie movies like the dead dead by dawn and it was like the original
01:02:37
soundtrack from from the 1977 and the band is goblin or the artist is goblin
01:02:43
like we'll call that one my top number three for today it's like this eerie
01:02:48
you have to do some show synthesizer kind of music it's great it check that
01:02:53
one out zombie zio mbi is the album that I was goblin okay got it I have some
01:03:00
homework to do yeah yep and then the artist is goblin that's a that's a cool
01:03:05
weird one let's throw that one out there or anything by Mike Patton he's he's
01:03:09
good he's a lead singer of faith no more mr. bungal
01:03:13
phantom moss he actually I think this band phantom moss inspired me to do the
01:03:18
the peri dogs have plague albums because all of their songs were like 22 seconds
01:03:23
long and it was just screaming and guitars and drums and just this awesome
01:03:28
noise so that was inspiration and so I think that was that was it was saying to
01:03:35
me it's it's okay to release really weird songs that are short and don't have a
01:03:40
chorus or a verse it's okay whatever's in you just let it out that's right that's
01:03:48
what I'm talking about Nate thank you so much for your time and you have a great
01:03:54
rest of the day and I look forward to checking out your work thanks Richard
01:03:58
it's blast to be on
01:04:01
simply put you can't stop a stepper and even with the cane he's still stepping
01:04:10
on he's still rocking on there's no stopping the show for all the pain all
01:04:16
the discomfort the fatigue the agony that he has to deal with on a daily basis
01:04:22
even the conversation alone like like he mentioned his core was hurting his neck
01:04:27
muscles that was challenging alone now imagine him working himself up to getting
01:04:35
his studio and start recording the star creating music the kind of love that he
01:04:39
must have that desire that passion in him that he must have that he's willing to
01:04:45
go through all of the discomfort he's willing to battle through it he's
01:04:50
willing to push through it so he could play his instruments so he could create
01:04:54
so he can produce so he can do something that he loves so he can make
01:04:59
music when I heard that I was really blown back I was inspired I was thinking
01:05:05
about that even after the conversation and that's what these conversations do
01:05:09
for me it gives me a time to where I can reflect on my own life my own actions
01:05:14
things that I may take for granted things that I might overlook until I see it
01:05:20
from a different lens those that have handicaps those that have illnesses and
01:05:25
sicknesses that they're battling with them they're still living their life
01:05:30
they're still making the best out of their situation and Nate's one of those
01:05:34
people is crazy how many instruments he could play and it's inspiring I told him
01:05:40
more than a few times because it is I'm not just saying it to blow smoke up in
01:05:44
the air but the attitude that he still had that easy-going attitude he has a
01:05:50
good woman by his side and that can make a huge difference for someone when you
01:05:54
have support and they found their alternatives through occupanture taking
01:06:00
visits to the spa the hot springs a little bit of cannabis on the side
01:06:05
things that are helping him things that are doing good for you the music of
01:06:11
course that's one thing that's his love like he said that's what he's built for
01:06:15
but also all these other things that he's added to his life to help him
01:06:21
continue to be able to live his life the best that he possibly can to enjoy his
01:06:27
life and then not just shell up and say effort I'm done I've been dealt a bad
01:06:32
hand and I don't give a mmm his attitude is completely different his attitude is
01:06:37
I'm gonna make the best of it I'm gonna rock on right now I can dig it and he's
01:06:45
got some good music he continues to create he works with other artists you
01:06:51
can check him out on his website he has videos he has projects that he's working
01:06:56
on people that he's worked with live shows I think he even has live shows
01:07:00
that he's been a part of all of it on his website which is nader music.com
01:07:06
n-a-t-e-r music.com all that information will be in the description box so if
01:07:15
you're in the rock if you're in the blues if you're in the something funky
01:07:19
something groovy be sure to check them out and as a matter of fact he released
01:07:24
a new album this Friday which was just a couple of days ago June 30th in the name
01:07:29
of the album is bad part of town this man wears many hats he produces he
01:07:36
mixes he masters he writes his own music and I can't even off the top of my head
01:07:41
spit out all of the instruments that he plays but he spoke about it during our
01:07:46
conversation and it's just crazy to me talk about somebody who won't let
01:07:51
anything stop him from doing what he loves from creating that's really really
01:07:59
encouraging to me it was an honor to have him on it was it was really a
01:08:05
pleasure to listen to him to chop it up with him to hear him talk about the
01:08:10
ups to downs of course but that refreshing spirit that he has that
01:08:15
that good old rock and roll spirit I guess that he has in him how he's not
01:08:21
letting anything no matter the condition every day is not a win but he's still
01:08:27
working he's still he's still doing what he loves despite that and that's really
01:08:32
what the show is about it's about people they haven't threw in the town I mean
01:08:38
even if life is beat them up if it's burn them if it's bit them and chewed on
01:08:42
them and spit them out they came back bounce back and they use that for one
01:08:48
hell of a comeback Nate without a doubt you are a giant amongst us I was
01:08:56
reminded of an old quote if anybody's ever seen a movie blow there was a scene
01:09:01
where young is I think they're sitting at a restaurant and he's talking with his
01:09:06
father and his father tells him sometimes you're flesh and sometimes you're
01:09:11
bust and when you're up it's never as good as it seems and when you're down
01:09:16
you never think you'll be up again but life goes on what we choose to do with
01:09:22
it our life every day makes all the difference thank you for tuning in thank
01:09:29
you for being a part of this experience it's been my honor it's been a pleasure
01:09:34
so thank you again to all the listeners far and wide from all corners of the
01:09:41
earth all corners of the globe that have tuned in that have listened and again
01:09:45
thank you to all the guests from the beginning to now that have took time and
01:09:51
shared a piece of their life with the rest of us you are appreciated I do look
01:09:58
forward to connecting and meeting more people with interesting stories with
01:10:04
great takes on life and that have had their bouts that have had their
01:10:09
struggles but that have made a way in a little update because I am not even
01:10:17
thinking about what I'm going to work on my own website and eventually have
01:10:23
that up and running to where the episodes can be found there a blog post or
01:10:28
information on past guests and things that they're doing and projects that
01:10:33
they're involved in and to have that little house set up for giants amongst
01:10:38
us so eventually that's going to be the jam a nice proper house built a website
01:10:44
for giants amongst us I did open up the Instagram account and but for right now
01:10:50
I'm kind of just refocusing my energy my efforts into something else trying to
01:10:56
get backgrounded not and not to be so scattered brain about everything but to
01:11:01
work towards to build and to help create a quality experience for the show for
01:11:09
the listeners and for everybody that I have the opportunity with being able to
01:11:13
speak with in a rollout to carpet so that they can speak their peace and
01:11:18
share their story for me it's more important that it's quality over
01:11:23
quantity and it has to mean something and it has to be genuine so there's no
01:11:28
funk to be faked so basically I'm just reshifting refocusing the energy
01:11:35
towards creating the best environment for this podcast for the show for the
01:11:42
guests and people that I have the opportunity to speak with so that's
01:11:46
what I'm focused on and that's what I strive to do it's still a work in
01:11:50
progress so the human experience in all shapes forms dances shapes and wiggles so
01:11:57
thank you again to everybody that has tuned in I always enjoy hearing back
01:12:02
from you your thoughts your opinions things that you've heard from past
01:12:07
guests or topics that have been covered and it spoke to you in a certain way if
01:12:13
you all find value in the show you can rate it you can review it you can share
01:12:17
with the friend we're gonna still continue to build this thing organically
01:12:22
and also if you would like to be a part of the show and share your story or even
01:12:30
a story of someone in your life that has impacted you in a positive way you could
01:12:35
always reach out to me via email I'd be happy to connect until next time and very
01:12:41
soon peace
01:12:47
Do-do-do-up, do-do-up, do-do-up, do-do-do-up, do-do-up
01:12:54
Looking for a sign to know I'm on the right road
01:13:01
And seen no signs since Jericho