Hey, Friends:
Here are some b-sides from the upcoming Bubblegum Best album: The Visitor. The actual album itself will be out following the New Year. Click the links below and they’ll lead to a media player. Enjoy & tell me if you like any of these “loser” songs. Winners coming soon.
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At my current rate of music making – I make about an album every 2 years. In High School I made about 3 a year. There are many reasons for the change in output. A.) What else are you going to do in High School but cry over girls, and make works bombs? There’s just a hell of a lot more time. B.) Nearly EVERYTHING made it on an album. I wasn’t much of an editor back in the day. So even the crappiest of the crap would be handed to friends and family (and anyone willing to shill out 5 bucks for the thing. Yeah, I used to charge for it. But Cd-rs and burners were a special thing. So the novelty of that alone gave me a net gain of about 15 bucks.)
But some of the crap isn’t quite crap. And some songs were never meant for albums but handed out to friends on B Days, or made for failed web series, or were just out of tone with the rest of my music library (yeah, I know. I’m the only one thinking about it. But it’s a fun fantasy to imagine fans. I have one. He lives in New York. His name is Glenn.)
Okay. So – I have all of these unwanted songs littering my Itunes, so I thought it was time to share. A little at a time. 5 songs at a time to be exact. I feel that anymore would be…overdoing it a bit, and the last thing I want to do is hand out something to you, my fans, (I mean, Glenn. Hi, Glenn) that was self indulgently long winded. Especially when I’m digging down into an endless barrel of b sides (you might call them b sidez. Depends on how cool you are, and how much you played with legos as a kid).
So here’s the first 5. A bsides EP – soon to be LP.
TRACK # 1 – GotTA:
Ok. I’ve always wanted to make a rap album. The problems with doing such are many. I’m white. Very white. I’m pale. And I can’t really make a rap song with out my tongue firmly planted in thy cheek. SO- I end up with some goofy (but lovable?) songs. Anyhow- I’ve got about 5 or 6 rap songs hidden away. Here’s my fave. There will be more to come. Maybe.
TRACK # 2 – Hot tub in Space:
So my friends are in this comedy troupe – Summer of Tears. And a few years ago – they went out and shot a web-pilot for a show called (you guessed it!) HOT TUB IN SPACE. Anyway, they knew I made music, so there was a no pressure situation for me to make a theme song. No pressure because they most likely would never use anything I make, because I’m not Interpol, and my stuff’s a little – let’s just say – DIY. So they heard it. Not sure what they thought. But I know they didn’t use it. So here it is. I was going for a kind of MSTK3000 vibe (thank you, Man or Astro Man for that.) I also thought it would be cool if the last lyric always changed per episode. Episode 1 – “I miss my mom.” Episode 2 – “How do you order pizza in space.” Shrug. Some one hire me to do this! I can make something at least as good as this song 
TRACK # 3 – Christmas in Delano
A few years ago I made a concept album called: “Delano” (you can find it and listen to it on this website) and it was a love album told from a 13 year old’s perspective growing up in a small town. The album was full of cheesy pop songs. A lot of them revolved around the changing of seasons. So I decided I should make a Christmas song. (I always thought the golden ticket would be to make a popular Christmas song. Every December get a big fat check. Buy some cool presents…Just sayin’) Anyway- I made this, and played it for my GF at the time, and she just shook her head. “You can’t put this on the album. It’s just so…so weird.” I couldn’t believe it. I thought I had my X-mas hit on my hands. So it didn’t make the album. And after revisiting the album in retrospect – I realize that she was 100 % correct. This would’ve sounded pretty crazy in the middle of that album. Maybe as crazy as it will sound right now – at the cusp of Summer.
TRACK # 4 – Heaven in your Heart
When I was making music for what was about to become “Trancer” I had 2 types of songs. The kind that made the album (a darker breed. At least for me) and the the kind that sounded like this. I had a choice to either make the album a fun jaunt over the hill and through the woods, or over the mountain and into the forest. I went with the latter, and the little ditties like this hit the cutting room floor. Back in the day, played it for my pal, Jamieson, and he like it quite a bit.
TRACK #5 – Jeremy 3010
For my friend, Jeremy’s 30th birthday, a bunch of his pals were asked (by his soon to be bride. Hurray for you guys!) to make some cool art about the man for a collected gift. So I made him this song. Okay. Here’s the history: Back in 2004 I made a track called Jeremy 2005 that became a minor hit (meaning 6 friends told me they really liked it). So in 2009, it seemed an obvious choice to make a Jeremy 2009 song. BUT because the earlier track was such a hit – there was some personal pressure I put on myself, and I started worrying about how Jeremy 2009 was going to pale in comparison to its platinum brother.
I decided to have some fun with it. Because why make a song, if there’s no fun had in it?
So I set the song in the distant future, and created a crazy scenario about how Jeremy never aged over 30, and fights future predators called “night beasts” with his son. There’s a 1 page comic about it, too, but only Jeremy has it. And the track never became a gold record hit (like Jeremy 2005) ….. until….. NOW (?) !!!
And if you got this far – thanks for reading and listening. More are on the way!! Tell me what you think. 
-Nathan
This is a song I made with my friend Seth a few years ago. Just felt like sharing it today. Seth and I are in the midst of the long distance creation of a new album (2 songs complete. 10 more to go?) — from Minnesota to California. Listening to this song makes me want to put that one on the fast track to completion. Enjoy…
I recorded this one in 2006. It tells the story of a Highschool romance – from it’s beautiful beginning to its inevitable demise. I made this back when I was a PA – I used to borrow CDs from the reality show’s music library to use as samples for the background instruments. So you might recognize a track from a sofa commercial or Real Housewives or something. One day I just might make a sequel. Until than – enjoy the original!
Hey everybody. Here is the latest Bubblegum Best album. Give it a listen, and if you want a physical copy (with a beautiful booklet by artist- Ellen Flaherty) just hang out with me and I will hand it to you.
Enjoy!
Here’s the last album I made. I’m proud of this one. I think it’s pretty fun, a little dark, and definitely all over the place – sound-wise. Have a listen, and enjoy.
My friend Seth and I (under the band – Mimpleton Meets Gimpleton) made this album together in Waverly, MN (2004-2005) – right before I headed out to LA where I’ve been ever since. We had a great time making the album, and it’s one that I’m very proud of.
BTW-it’s a concept album about lovers being separated by a war. And the war is between man and machines known as Metal Devils. Yup….high concept! The album is called – “Even when you’re lonely, you’re not alone.” I hope you like it.
Hey! I recorded these a few years ago but they didn’t end up on any album and I think they’re pretty good songsso I’m putting them here for anyone who wants to listen. They’re both break up songs.
“Walking In” was sorta made in between albums and never fit in with the mood of anything.
and “Hello Summer” is a b side from my 14 year-old in love concept album – DELANO. And it didn’t make it on the album because it didn’t really have the voice of a 14 year-old. It was some other dude, and I felt like the rest of the songs came from a similar character but this one was a little more out there. But I like it better than some of the songs that did make it.
Here are a few ancient songs I made when I was 16 and 17. They’re from my first 3 albums that span from the summer after my sophomore year to the beginning of my senior year at Delano High School. They’re pretty lo-fi (recorded on casette), and I’m only putting up a few of the songs I really love so that I don’t embarrass my internet self.
PS-to set the stage for the time period -
I (or anyone else I knew at the time) didn’t have a CD burner when I made my first album so I had to ship a tape off to a place in Iowa City (my brother was there at the U) to have it burned on to CD. Pretty funny to think about how hard it was back than. Enjoy!