It took Nate Sib years to pull his finger out and start releasing music. When he did, he became a frontrunner in electronic’s next big wave.
“When I was younger, I always knew I wanted to be an artist. I just didn’t know what was going to happen yet,” Nate tells us from Los Angeles over a shaky line while he wanders the street. “I never really took it seriously until about two years ago. I got [music software] Ableton, and then just started getting super inspired and releasing music finally. It’s been paying off.”
Born and raised in LA, and despite growing up playing piano and singing (and impressing his mum and her friends with his skills in both) and messing about with production on Logic Pro on his laptop at the tail end of his teen years, it wasn’t until his best friend moved in with him that he got the kick up the arse he needed to start doing music properly.
His best pal is none other than 2hollis, the elven blonde rapper whose cult following promises to take him out of the underground sharpish, ICYMI.
“He inspired me a ton because he moved into my house after dropping out of college to pursue music full-time,” Nate explains. “I remember I came home, and he was like, making a beat of some sort, and he’s like, bro, you should hop on this. And then I hopped on it, and it was the first song we made together. I remember he was so hyped on it, and I was hyped on it, and it was in that moment, something sparked where I was like, dude, what am I doing? I should release music. Seeing him doing his thing and how unique he was, being around that was such a blessing. It was super inspiring.”
Their partnership has literally taken them around the globe, with Nate recently opening for 2hollis on the ‘boylife’ world tour, an experience Nate describes as surreal, but as Nate’s discography expands, he’s carving a niche of his own.
Clearly pulling from left-field electronic’s recent history (think the PC Music roster, SOPHIE, 100 gecs, and Drain Gang) and slapping impressive R&B tinged vocals on top of it with glossy pop production, Nate’s slick approach to dance music and all-American boy image mean he comes across as hyperpop’s answer to Justin Bieber.
“I’ve always been super pop-inspired,” he says. “As a kid, I grew up listening to Skrillex and deadmaus and a bunch of pop artists, but I never really made music like that until recently.”
In 2023, Nate released his first track; once that fire was lit, there was no stopping him, and the momentum never slowed. With the work ethic of the biggest and best, Nate works fast, dropping three singles this year alone, and is already onto his second EP ‘for us’, which he only started working on a few months ago.
Aside from his work with 2hollis, Nate’s main collaborator is the Korean producer kimj (known for his work with digicore poster boys glaive and Ericdoa), present on the ‘for us’ EP, too. Together, they’ve cultivated a sound that moves beyond the emo rap that defined hyperpop’s final wave, and pushes into a new territory that borrows from 2010s recession pop as much as it does an A. G. Cook production.
“I’m excited for the song ‘secret’ on there. It starts off very mellow, and then it leads into a crazy distorted ending; it’s almost like a symphony of distortion. And then, ‘typical’ is such a good song. It’s just straight bass, no drums; I’d say that’s like a SOPHIE-inspired song. It means a lot to me. ‘only1’ on there is a really good one. Me and kimj made it in Tokyo when I was on tour for a second. We had a few days off, and we just banged it out. It’s a mixture of, like, Jack Ü, Skrillex and Justin Bieber; it just hits. I’m so excited.”
He notes that this EP signals a shift in his life, the ending of his time finding his feet. Next month, he’ll embark on his first solo headlining tour, the hometown show for which sold out in 60 seconds, and then he’s locking in for his first full-length.
“I’m kind of in album mode right now,” he confirms. “I feel like this EP is the ending of a chapter of my life.I’d say it’s the end of an era of making this music in my studio and just kind of having fun with it. But now, after this EP, it’ll get a little more serious. I’m working on an album, and I’m really putting in a whole team and blood sweat and tears behind it. I’m just excited for it to grow and for my fans to just see it grow.”
Nate Sib’s EP ‘for us’ is out now.
Leave a Reply