Grammy Award-winning composer, entrepreneur, and violist of The Attacca Quartet, Nathan Schram’s sophomore release, Nearsided, is arriving this week on July 29th, 2022 via Better Company Records. Nearsided features eight original compositions by Schram and collaborations with David Crosby, Becca Stevens, Antonio Sánchez, Justin Stanton (Snarky Puppy), and Shahzad Ismaily.
Nearsided is, as Schram puts it, a “testimony to the powers of exploration”.
He adds:
While I lamented what the pandemic was doing to my industry, I was internally optimistic with the opportunity to spend my time learning new instruments, production techniques, and artistic perspectives. This album is a product of me realizing that I didn’t have to be held back by anything any more. If I wanted to make music on synthesizers, I would. If I wanted to sample and chop vocal samples from my wife, Becca Stevens, I would. If I wanted to write a nearly unplayable string quartet with an equally unwieldy electronic drum track, I did.
Schram was particularly frustrated that modern Production ideas and approaches weren’t being used more in the current world of classical music, so he took the opportunity to correct that. Schram produced nearly every sound and performance on Nearsided but had a number of collaborators, including drummer Antonio Sanchez bringing his talents to “Portalegre” and Shahzad Ismaily contributing Moog and further treatments to “Pathetique.” Meanwhile, the closing piece, “Where We Are Not,” is based on a theme from Rock and Roll legend David Crosby.
