Today we’d like to introduce you to Nate McGowan
Hi Nate, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Dust on a Lampshade started our freshman year at Belmont in 2017. It was a miracle that five jam-band loving dudes of different instruments (Mike “dirty” Eiler on vocals and guitar, Tristan “fingers” Ferner on keys and vocals, Drew “scooby” Kubinski on drums, Nate “big” McGowan on bass, and Max “j-hook” Mendeloff on guitar) were randomly assigned to the same floor. We immediately bonded over our love of the Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers, Little Feat, Phish, and performing improvisational jams ourselves. That bond was strengthened by our collective disdain for Belmont’s rules that prohibited us from playing music at a music school. We had to find creative ways to rehearse including hauling all of our gear across campus to set up in parking garages or to sneak into a building we knew the staff was leaving soon. This “stick it to the man” energy combined with our joy for jamming with each other led to us finding a loophole to bypass Belmont’s requirement to live on campus in order to have our own house to jam in. We built a stage in our basement and hosted many “house shows” where we would have our friends’ bands come showcase their music. Through this time we were constantly sprinkling Grateful Dead covers throughout or setlists and recording a couple “Dead Covers Project” videos for Youtube. After our lead singer and primary songwriter, Mike Eiler, moved away in early 2020, we stopped performing as Dust on a Lampshade. Now, bass, Nate McGowan, and keys, Tristan Ferner, continue to make “Dead Covers Project” videos with a rotating group of friends filling in to round out the Dust Family Band. Those videos usually get some decent traction online with deadheads and have been spotlighted by the Grateful Dead’s Youtube and Instagram pages, as well. We are so busy with jobs and other musical projects that Dust has fallen to an afterthought, but we will always be recording more dead covers and playing maybe a couple shows per year. We love the music and artistic expression through improv jams too much to ever stop!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
As I mentioned in the last response, the obstacle of it being near impossible to rehearse while living at Belmont gave our sound a “stick it to the man” edge that fellow students seemed to resonate with.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Dust’s bassist, Nate McGowan, runs Highway Studios (hence his artist name: Highway Rob) which has a home studio location and mobile recording setup. Highway Studios specializes in live session videos and also offers production, recording, mixing, and mastering. We aim to launch a podcast series, Highway Studios Live from the Drive, soon which will showcase local artists through interviews and videos of their performance either in our studio or with our mobile setup at their creative space. This is completely free for the artists to be showcased and we are looking for more acts to record. So, if you are a Nashville-based artist or group who would be interested, please reach out!
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
We took the risk of a career in the music industry and it’s been extremely difficult. Both Tristan and Nate keep thinking “what if we did what everybody else does and go to school for business or something and get a 9-5 – it would’ve been way easier!” BUT that’s just not in our blood – we have to be involved in music. Tristan is touring as Sara Evan’s keyboard player and Nate has Highway Studios, but they both have other jobs to supplement income and pay the bills. We took the risk of the music industry when we could’ve taken an easier career route because in our bones, we knew we had to.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://highwaystudiosllc.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dust_on_a_lampshade/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DustOnALampshade
- Other: https://linktr.ee/HighwayRob
