Posted at 7:00 a.m.
Today the planet is entitled to a new excerpt from OneRepublic, which will appear in the film Top Gun: Maverick. Title I Ain’t Worried, the song was co-produced and mixed in a studio in Laval. That of John Nathaniel.
In Quebec, the son of Argentinian parents is behind several radio hits by Marc Dupré, Marie-Mai, Alexe Gaudreault, as well as Brandon Mig, with whom he made the song Best I’ll Never Haveone of the most listened to on FM waves in Quebec in 2018.
John Nathaniel also collaborated with Anthony Kavanagh. He does production, mixing, writing and vocal harmonies. He is particularly close to the group OneRepublic, which allowed him to work with Kygo and Gwen Stefani.
“I’m not used to doing interviews,” John Nathaniel tells us straight away. You’ll see that I’m more comfortable in my studio. »
Others than him would be less humble with such an impressive career. In fact, it was a music rights manager who offered to spotlight the work of John Nathaniel, who won SOCAN’s Songwriter of the Year award in 2017.
John Nathaniel’s overseas career took off in 2015 when he co-wrote the song The Way It Goes of Keaton Simons (step-son of actor Eric Roberts). Actor David Duchovny shared his appreciation on Twitter. Billboard also praised it.
“Keaton even came here to Laval,” says John Nathaniel, whose career has been managed by his partner of more than 15 years, Mariane Cossette-Bacon.
“It’s thanks to Mariane that I work in the United States,” he says. She always has ideas out of the box. »
From Keaton Simons to OneRepublic
It was also Mariane Cossette-Bacon who made a presentation to the Keaton Simons team, and it was the Californian singer’s collaboration with John Nathaniel on The Way It Goes which caught the eye of OneRepublic member Brent Kutzle. The latter was then working with Switchfoot, a group that John Nathaniel had listened to a lot in his early twenties.
In addition, John Nathaniel mixed, produced or co-wrote most of the songs on the One Republic album. humanreleased in August 2021. The song Run even accumulates nearly 290 million plays on Spotify.
He also collaborated with Ria Mae and singer Madison Beer for his song Room for You, from the movie Clifford The Big Red Dog.
Live with Jimmy Kimmel
John Nathaniel is a rather shy introvert. But once in his studio, he is like a kid in a candy store when he shows us his analog 1176LN compressor and preamplifier, or his first blue Fender Stratocaster.
John Nathaniel confirms that he is much more comfortable in a studio than on a stage under the spotlight.
The spotlight is not my thing. And I like to go from one new song to another.
John Nathaniel
During the pandemic, he was nevertheless able to accompany – from his studio in Laval – OneRepublic during a live virtual performance for Jimmy Kimmel’s American late-night show. They performed the song Wild Life.
surpass oneself
Several times during our interview, John Nathaniel will tell us that he admires director Denis Villeneuve. He also admires film music composers Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer. The latter also co-signed the film’s soundtrack. Top Gun: Maverick which hits theaters on May 24. For John Nathaniel, it is an honor to see his name in the musical credits of the film’s credits. “The sequel to a cult film”, he reminds the youngest.
These days, John Nathaniel works with the Chinese star Li Yifeng, the Canadian singer Shawn Hook and the group The Future X, behind whom hides Simon Fuller, who was the impresario of S Club 7 and the Spice Girls!
Last week, John Nathaniel also started classical music lessons.
In his biography, Quency Jones says that you always have to learn new things.
John Nathaniel
The composer and director also admires a Max Martin, who still remains relevant after more than 25 years of career. He underlines how many people work in the shadow of pop hits and how much music is a language.
“You can tell a story with music,” he explains. And you can tell a story with the mix by telling people what to listen to: vocals, drums…”
“Melodies are universal,” he concludes.