Arthur Nasson
I started playing piano at a young age maybe 4 or 5.
Picking out melodies by ear for some reason has always been easy
and natural to me. I have the ability to hear music,
remember it and play it back in my head in great detail then translate that to instruments.
Given the cultural climate I grew up in and the fact that no one else I knew mentioned anything remotely like this kind of experience,
I thought it best to keep it to myself.
After years of solid interest,my parents gave me a shot at piano lessons.
My teacher was the oldest living graduate of the Boston Conservatory,
who was trying to impart the "Conservatory" kind of approach to a kid who wanted to play Boogie-Woogie,Rock and Roll,Harlem Stride,Jazz,and the like,
much more than classical music.
It went less than well.
I felt alienated from something that I truly enjoyed and didn't understand why,
and while I love classical music I still associate it at times with those feelings as well as the bizarre and pungent "Old Person" smell of my Teachers apartment.
I have come to realize that like most things in life,
this terrible seeming experience,
was actually a strange and wonderful gift.
I wasn't cut out for the conservatory approach,
and the road this put me on was the best approach for me.
So, Bruised but unshaken by the experience of lessons,
I continued to play by ear devouring any kind of music I could and attempting
to play it in my own way.
What began to evolve at this time was the creation of my own melodies and harmonies.
My stultefying soroundings,
I would color in ,with my imagination and an overflowing array of music.
Yes I was the kid in school who was bored out of his mind looking out the window
imagining something else.
When summer would come along I didn't go to camp,I worked,
hung out with friends,
and had time to focus on music.
There were summers I spent exploring Rock,Pop,
Classical,Experimental,Soul,Boogie- Woogie,Jazz Harmony,Blues,
at this point on,Piano,Guitar,Drums,Bass,and Vocals.
One particular summer I tried to learn all of the songs,
instrumental parts,vocal harmonies and arrangements on the Beatle's White Album,
all the while working on my own writing and creation of music.
I turned pro as an early teen,playing High School and
College Dances in crappy bands.
When I went to New York to go to College things took off creatively and I began to
explore all kinds of music and form original bands that played what I was writing.
After college I started making demo's in small studio's in Cambridge,Boston,and New York. These caught the attention of many in the industry and as the record business was crumbling and headed toward it's hilariously self inflicted demise,
I would interact with an endless parade of erstwhile,"Geniuses",
who ran the record industry.
Being neither a "Gangsta Rapper" "Purveyor of Grunge" or
clone of any other cultural cliche of the moment,
caused tremendous confusion among the aforementioned,
now non-plussed,"Geniuses".
Not becoming a cog in the corporate music world,
was something that seemed negative
but turned out to be the greatest gift imaginable.
As the digital revolution was taking hold,labels
went into economic free fall,
soon recording artists established or not,
realized dealing with the label system
was like networking on the Titanic.
For the first time in history Recording Artists
did not have to go "Hat In Hand"
asking permission to release work,
only to be robbed and exploited if they got the chance.
I started to release my recordings on my own,
pounding the pavement, trying to get people to listen.
While some were dismissive and pointlessly cruel,
most people Loved the music,
the responses were amazing,
and to my surprise people wanted to
champion this and tell other people about it.
The memories of all the hard years,rejection,
poverty and struggle
were fading as
The press and radio snowballed,
not only in the US but also in England,
MTV contacted me to license entire albums,
NPR did an interview,along with
major magazines,newspapers,and radio stations,
all heaping fantastic,
extraordinary praise on my music.
I get to write my own script,musically
and bring it directly to the world.
This is all a dream come true and
It just keeps on Rolling..
Thank You
Arthur