Meet Nathan Brown | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nathan Brown and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nathan, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I am originally from Los Angeles, CA but moved to Nashville when I was 12. Growing up partially in LA, I was surrounded by culture, diversity, graffiti, murals, skateboarding and the world of food.
So when we moved to Nashville, it was a major culture shock, which led me to wanting those things I had in LA, to be in Nashville. That need for things that reminded me of LA, fueled the next few decades of my life & careers.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I primarily paint large scale public murals, in geometric gradient shapes and colors. Although it is a pretty broad style of art that I do, I definitely have a signature style, that most people seem to recognize quickly. I am really proud of taking the leap from day job to full time mural artist, it took me a few careers and until I was 38 to figure that out.

So when we moved to Nashville, it was a major culture shock, which led me to wanting those things I had in LA, to be in Nashville. After the 1st year in Nashville, I fully went into skateboarding and shortly thereafter, got into graffiti. Through skateboarding, I was introduced to a super diverse crew of kids from every background and through all of them, I was able to meet a lot of artists, photographers and filmers. I managed to make a “career” for a few years from skateboarding and a lot of my other skate friends moved onto working for ad agencies, brands and entertainment companies. When my skate career was slowing down, I had to figure out what to do next, so I started going to college and within the first semester, I got really into djing and started playing at the college radio show, playing at parties and then into clubs. A few record labels were sending me records to play out, in exchange for spreading the word about the new release and one asked me if I wanted to host a listening party for a new release and right there is where I started my career in street marketing / grass roots /guerrilla marketing. I learned so many lessons building a street marketing agency from scratch, with no college education. I learned that after working with a few big brands, instead of being intimidated by these big companies, I realized that they wouldn’t have called me, if they didn’t need me. That was huge to me!
After working with quite a few of the major record labels, I started working with Live Nation, promoting and marketing upwards of 500 shows a year in Atlanta, Nashville, Birmingham and other areas in the south. I started producing festivals but after a few years, I was ready to dive back into art and within a few months, I had one opportunity from a client needing a mural painted and that was it from there, I became a full time mural artist.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Restaurants:

Rolf & Daughters
Folk
Mas tacos
Hattie B’s

Bars:

Bar Sov
Rosemary Beauty Queen
Roberts Western World
Santa’s Pub

Neighborhoods /places:

12 South
Hillsboro Village
Broadway
Weho
Midtown
Centennial Park

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to dedicate this to my Mother, Tammy.

Website: https://www.19ss.net

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nathanbrown77/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanbrown77/

Twitter: nope

Image Credits
All photos: Nathan Brown Except main photo: Samson Hatae