Conversations with Nathaniel Sellin

I’m Nathaniel, I’m an audio engineer and studio musician with a long time passion for jazz, classical, and world music.

I run a studio out of my home in Newhall where I work with a wonderful and wide spectrum of artists across their musical journeys.

I grew up playing music in Los Angeles – my parents are both musicians, and my mom is a celtic harpist of some renown. When my siblings and I were quite young she was asked to teach at a world music camp in northern California and she brought us along. This camp, Lark In The Morning, is a wonderland of musical cultures, and us kids were given free rein to encounter and explore everything from Swedish Folk Fiddle to Galician Bagpipes to Hawaiian Hula to Malian Mbira. At Lark, we joined workshops and found our voices in these musical cultures. I myself got deep into Celtic, Balkan, and Greek music. This exposure, paired with a steady classical and jazz education for upright bass, led me to appreciate and play a huge variety of music. While I had all of this musical vocabulary, I wasn’t actually planning on becoming a professional musician.

Instead, I pursued medicine. I worked in emergency medicine through my 20s, got my AA in health science with the plan to apply to nursing school. I was good at medicine and had spent a long time thinking that music wouldn’t be enough to live on despite it being important to my family. See, when my dad was younger he was on track to be a symphony cellist (his teacher’s teacher was Pablo Casals) but instead, he became a financial systems analyst. He felt he needed greater financial security to raise a family. He was, and is, a brilliant musician but he was more cautious in the path he took. I always thought that that model made sense, I mean, I live that path’s benefit so I thought I’d go that way too – I emulated my dad and sought to be an excellent musician in my own right, but also planned for a more secure path.

I had gotten into nursing school and was on the verge of committing. However, the college where I did my nursing prep also had a robust music technology program (shout out Jayson Helgeson). While going through the medical program I stayed involved with music and explored the college’s resources. There was a pilot program for a scholastic internship with a studio in Burbank, The Rattle Room. I got in and absolutely loved it! I found that my musical foundation and facility for technical schema was put to extremely good use. One thing led to another, and my scholastic internship turned into a private apprenticeship under the guidance of engineer and producer Jaron Luksa, which eventually resulted in an engineering position. I got to know the SSL AWS 948 extremely well and while at the Rattle Room I built a portfolio. I applied to CalArts to further my craft. I was accepted and earned a major scholarship, and thus studied with Jake Viator (Stones Throw) and John Baffa (T.V. Tray) and earned a degree in Experimental Pop Production. I’ve since built my own studio and am so happy to bring my musical vocabulary to bear in creating beautiful music with wonderful artists of all ilk.

I only came to music professionally after having tried a very different path. It took years to find the right niche and to decide to take the leap. Sticking with it and taking the risk made all the difference in the world.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There has been a lot of learning to be sure! It definitely took a while and a lot of help to decide that committing to music made sense. A lot of that came out of accepting the risk, and lot has had to do with overcoming imposter syndrome – I don’t think there is a creative person on this planet that doesn’t experience that in at least some capacity – Feeling secure as a creative person with something to contribute to this vast world of marvelous art is sometimes a feat.

One of the things that has helped me with that is to have realized that when I’m in the creative flow state I don’t feel the pressure of imposter syndrome at all, I’m just in the space of the art. When I’m in that moment, I don’t really need to worry about what I could be doing better. Getting better comes as a condition of simply continuing to engage, which is what I’ve done my whole life. So, problem solved?? Maybe!

Being insecure as a creative person has also led me to latch on to some projects that cost me a lot personally. I have misplaced trust in creative partnerships. While these experiences were ultimately catalysts of change for the better, I got burned on the way there. It taught me a lot about trading my wellness for empty promises and that the only real source of validation is oneself. That was a tough lesson, but I’ve built an instinct for finding projects where there’s balance and where everyone has a seat at the table.

I’m really glad for these lessons. They’re why I am where I am now.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I work in a multitude of aspects as a musician. I work as an instrumentalist, mostly for bass, but for other instruments too. I work as a front end, mixing, and mastering engineer. I also teach instrumental and production lessons.

My favorite work is that of production where I help singer/songwriters take songs that they’ve written and create fully realized arrangements. Basically, I help artists take songs from their raw state to master ready.

The artist and I do this by having sessions where we explore a song’s themes and get to know its message intimately.

We develop the song’s core identity such that it becomes manifest by way of instrumentation and arrangement, sound design, harmonic variation, timbral coloration, and capture. All of these aspects occur sort of simultaneously as we hone the song’s intention.

Of course, I also invite collaborators from my extensive musical network into the creative space. I’m lucky to have a wealth of brilliant musicians I can call. I think music is best when shared, and I’ve built my community with that intention.

The goal is to serve the art by making creative exploration as effortless as possible.

I’m proud to be a conduit of skill, network, and equipment, and I’m proud to have built a studio on these principles. I truly love being able to speak to every aspect of what a song wants to become. That, for me, is the joy of music.

How can people work with you, collaborate with you, or support you?
I’m always enthusiastic to meet wonderful artists. Feel free to contact me through my website, or to send a message via Instagram! Listening and spreading the word is the best means of support. I look for opportunity in collaboration.