We guess you can say San Diego musician Nate Hess is living the dream. He created a project titled Bad & The Ugly that allows him to surround himself with like-minded musicians while living the DIY life by building a fan base organically while self-releasing material. You might remember him as drummer/singer for hardcore band, A Shattered Hope, but this time, Hess is combining his influences of dark, acoustic undertones with a hint of Thrice and City and Colour for good measure.
We asked Nate to share a track-by-track commentary of Bad & The Ugly’s current release, Slept In The Pages, exclusively for TDL. Enjoy and follow along below!
“Can’t Shake The Daze”
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This song is about my experience switching lifestyles from playing drums in a loud, heavy band for years to singing and writing songs on a guitar by myself. Music has consumed my life and mind and has since I was a young child and I can’t seem to shake that.
“Slept In The Pages”
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This is one of my personal favorites on the EP. The song is about the observations in daily life and how relationships change over time.
“River Cosmic”
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I wrote this song to express the strong feeling of distance I had been feeling in my life at the age of 25 as well as the importance of looking towards the future.
“My Empty Ghost”
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I tend to write about life experiences and outlooks from my journey through playing music. “My Empty Ghost” is another song expressing all of the feelings/thoughts that run through my head and about conquering doubt. It’s about preservering through the dark times to reach the underlining dreams that shape our inner worlds.
Slept In The Pages is available now here.
