My Latest New Single, The Evergreens Is Out!
Back in 2014 or so, I was hired by a college student to produce a track that would be used in a documentary short film about a road trip. The student asked that the song be acoustic, have folk inspired elements and present a wanderlust vibe. As some of you already know, I lived in Colorado for eight years and loved it. Colorado is one of the most beautiful spots, in my opinion. The crisp coolness of the air, the trees, the mountains… it remains one of my favorite spots. When we had to move away, it was, honestly, quite painful for me. For a long, long time I had dreams and goals of returning but, since all of my family is basically in Texas and since Texas has TexMex and BBQ, it looks like this is our spot.
Mid-March of 2022, I decided to return to this track and properly finish it. I updated the title to “The Evergreens” as an homage to my time in Colorado. The first version in 2014 was completed in one day and although the student director loved it, I knew the song could be taken to a deeper level. It could be more dynamic and impactful. So I got to work!
We’ll Do It Live!
I went through and spruced things up then hired several live musicians, whom I’ve worked with on previous projects, to take it across the finish line. Here’s who did what:
Marisa Frantz, Violin
Jonny Adams, Electric Guitar
Carolina Diez, Nylon Guitar
Dan G, Bass
Nathan Scott Madsen, Composition, Production, Mixing and Mastering
These folks are amazing and help make anything I do so much better! Marisa, Carolina and Dan are all on Fiverr (as am I). I met Jonny on a Logic Pro X users forum and we’ve been friends ever since. Jonny and I have partnered up on several tracks over the last two years including: Moments Lost in Time, Fixation and Heartbeats.
Let’s get back to The Evergreens. You can hear the original version here. It’s okay but the final version is MUCH more dynamic, contains more melodic content and the production is much better. So I’m quite proud to share with you the new, fully realized version of The Evergreens:
Pretty big difference, huh? Live musicians as well as 7-8 more years experience in composition and production helps! This track is available on all major store fronts (some take longer to update than others) and you can learn more about the release from this page. I’ve got some more music I’m planning on releasing when it’s ready. I really enjoy taking these side quests into longer songs that differ from my day job and freelancing work.
SkateBIRD’s New Level
SkateBIRD will be getting a big update soon and I’ve written a new track for it. I can’t share it just yet but I’m very excited to see how folks react to it. Speaking of SkateBIRD, we were VERY honored to part of the Bundle for Ukraine. It raised over $6M to assist the people under attack. Check out the pic below!
The bundle’s ended now but you can still go to the page to read a bit more about it. I got my own bundle because just LOOK at how many items are in there. 998! It would take forever to get through all of that content. But, much more importantly, it served a wonderful cause. The world’s crazy sometimes and any way we could help is more than worth it. I’m proud we are a part of this!
Once that new level and the song are public, I’ll share it with you all!
Side Quests
On top of my regular work, I’ve taken on quite a bit of side quests. I can’t talk too much about it but I’m doing sound design for a short animated film set in outer space. (Do they have tacos in space?) I’m also working with a repeat client from Australia again as well as doing some work with a long time friend on a very neat project. Each of these is still under wraps so that’s about all I can say.
Other than work, I’m doing a bit more running now. Increased my distance to 5k and am quite pumped about that! I’m also enjoying watching the Dallas Mavericks in the play offs and TRYING (but FAILING) to not eat so many sweets. Curse you sweet tooth!
Until next time, take care of yourself… and each other.
BIO
Nate Madsen is an established composer, sound designer with 16+ years experience and over 1,035 credits. He’s worked in-house at FUNimation Entertainment, NetDevil, Bee Cave Games and is currently a Principal Composer, Sound Designer for SciPlay. He also helps out often with creating sound design, mixing and mastering anime trailers and commercials for FUNimation. Two of his recent side projects have been Great Wolf Lodge’s Magiquest and Glass Bottom Game’s SkateBIRD. He lives in Austin, Texas, loves craft beer and dreams of queso. Be sure to reach out to Nathan with any audio needs you may have!