About Nate Campany
Nate Campany is a pop songwriter and indie musician who lives in Brooklyn, NY. Signed to Warner Chappell and Topline Music since 2006, Nate has written for top artists including Backstreet Boys, The Click Five, Teddy Geiger, Tyler Hilton, Morningwood, and The Afters. He has also written for Norwegian Idol winner Kjarten and Swedish Idol finalist Mans Zelmerlow, continuing a love affair with Scandinavian pop music.
Nate grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, the eccentric neighborhood made famous by underground comic artist Harvey Pekar in American Splendor. Born to a teacher and a firefighter, Nate and his sister Emily studied classical piano and gave recitals in nursing homes. "I was a dorky as they come, and I was completely mediocre at my piano lessons" he recalls. "But I've always had an infatuation with pop music." After going to college in Boston, Nate balanced his time between working for indie mecca Newbury Comics and practicing his songwriting craft around the clock. When The Click Five accepted a song he wrote for their debut pop record Greetings from Imrie House, he saw his moment. "It was a combination of knowing my song was good and feeling extremely lucky," he says. He cashed his first royalty check for "Say Goodnight" and moved to Brooklyn, New York, with a notebook of new songs.
Soon after Nate came to New York, pop impresario Billy Mann met with him in a coffee shop to express his interest in working together. "Nate is a force to be reckoned with," says Mann. "He manages to successfully balance his artistic credibility in the indie world while unapologetically being a lover and creator of pop records." After inking a songwriting deal, Nate married actor, muse, and best friend Jennifer Dees in late 2006. He took a five-week songwriting pilgrimage to Norway, Sweden, Germany, and England in early 2007. Among other influences on his work, Nate cites Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, Max Martin, Elliott Smith, and David Bazan.
"I'm trying to make pop music smart again," Nate says. His solo career as an indie singer-songwriter is "nothing fancy" yet he often plays sold-out shows in shadowy corners of New York City. "I like playing songs written for my voice and emotion," he says. "It's a lot more personal." He expects to release an untitled full-length album in the coming months, followed by a double-length concept album titled Civil War. When he isn't writing pop songs, he's working on his solo records. "There's an artist's vein that needs to be tapped in order to keep my songwriting fresh," Nate says. "I'm doing it because I love it. It's fun and it's good for me."