In February SFJAZZ invited me to attend a Noise Pop performance by Carlos Niño, Jesse Peterson, and Nate Mercereau, with special guest jazz sax legend Idris Ackamoor, at the Joe Henderson lab during Noise Pop 2023 while a freak snow watch/ rain meets wind combo tore up Gough street.
I never expected that experience would lead me to a better understanding of André 3000’s solo record, 17 years in the making. But it did.
Quite a leap too, I know.
But André 3000’s New Blue Sun, his first record without the Outkast title attached, features no lyrics, only wordplay in song titles, and Three Stacks himself, the archetypal hip-hop Emcee, playing the flute.
The record showcases a 48-year-old man working within the context of a group of exceptional musicians who have been making waves in the ambient wing of music for a while now, like Kamasi Washington—who may be seeking shelter from big spectacle projects, just experimenting to recharge those creative sparks.
On this venture, they support 3000, collaborate with him, and embark on a new musical journey together.
But let’s go back to snow watch on Gough Street. These heavyweight musicians at SFJAZZ were creating energy pockets in real-time that worked through ebbs and flows, catching the crowd and even themselves off guard, hypnotizing everyone at the moment.
From this performance, I knew when I saw guitarist Mercereau and percussionist Niño in heavy rotation on this ambient flute album, André 3000 was dead serious about this endeavor.
Mercereau has a patient and detail-oriented ear, as evidenced by the LA-based artist’s release Duets | Golden Gate Bridge, which featured the bridge’s famously eerie humming sounds alongside Nate’s improvised guitar work. It was the world’s first human and bridge duet album. He was oscillating on snow watch night too, eyes closed, feeling the textures on the headstock of his guitar. Switching from a bass-like app to surface washes atop the hour-long improvised set, in sync with what was unseen but definitely heard.
Mercereau, who just released the single “Facing The Sideways Rain,” featuring Washington and Niño, took time out of a very busy schedule to talk with us about working with André 3000 as a new chapter of his career, that Golden Gate Bridge record, his time in Sheila E’s band, and some of the most inspirational records in his life.
48 HILLS I just wanted to say off top a belated congratulations on your Golden Gate Bridge recordings, which brought a lot of attention to the structure, the Bay Area, and ambient music. What was your initial intent with the project, and did you exceed it?
NATE MERCEREAU The original news headlines had a certain spin, that the sound was “driving people crazy,” but once I heard the sound, I felt there was room to reinterpret it as something to be appreciated. My intent was to record with the humming Golden Gate Bridge and reframe the narrative of its wind-powered sound as something to be interacted with in a meaningful, musical, emotional way. I also wanted to open up the idea of what a “duet” could be, as something beyond two people. I went into the recording process knowing that it might not turn out how I imagined it could, but the experience of playing with the bridge did indeed support my initial intention of treating it as a different type of duet partner.
Playing with the bridge was unlike anything else I had ever done. The range of experience was vast. I felt very small physically and sonically compared to the power of the wind and the massive bridge. Once I learned how our sounds were working together, the way the wind was blowing and how the bridge reacted to it, I found many different ways to make music with it, and even anticipate what it might do based on the wind. I had real flashes of what felt like musical communication and intuition… it became a transcendent experience for me. I came to this with no prepared music, only planning to show up fully for the moment and create from there. The musicality of the bridge exceeded my expectations and really felt like playing with a new type of duet partner.
48 HILLS I was lucky to catch you performing with Carlos Niño and Idris Ackamoor at SF Jazz during Noise Pop last February. It was incredible, so free, live in the moment, and playfully wild. If you remember it, can you describe the feeling of the gig? It seems like so much was going on.
NATE MERCEREAU Playing with Idris and Carlos is awesome. We arrive with our collective and individual histories and come together to make new music in the moment, together. Most of the energy we have together is put towards creating newness spontaneously. We bring our whole lives. We each function as composers, improvisers, producers, and songwriters in our own music, and we bring all of that to this group too, which is why we can communicate on the level that we do, and why the music comes out sounding the way it does. I’m looking forward to sharing much more music from our trio.
48 HILLS In reading up on your background, I saw that you played in Sheila E’s band and said she ran it in a similar form as Prince ran his band, like a boot camp. You stated it was a pivotal learning lesson and were grateful for the experience. Can you share an experience from that time period that sticks with you today?
NATE MERCEREAU I’m very grateful for my time with Sheila E. and the band. Sheila ran the band in a way that allowed us to all really work on our craft, and have it on display in the context of her high performance shows.
One memory that I cherish is when we played a show with George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic in Enghien-les-Bains, France in 2012. The stage was floating in the middle of the lake, and we took a small boat ride together (myself, Sheila, and part of our band with George), which was a wonderful memory within the memory. We played first, and then George invited us up to join his band for “Night Of The Thumpasorus Peoples”—playing that riff with Sheila while standing across from [Parliament-Funkadelic lead guitarist] Michael Hampton was a major highlight for me.
48 HILLS When I was looking at the album credits for the new André 3000 album and saw your name and Carlos’ on there too, I immediately knew this was a serious pursuit for the former member of Outkast. Can you explain how it felt to just jam with André 3000 at first? And then what made you think there was something else to these jam sessions?
NATE MERCEREAU I don’t refer to what I, or they do, as jamming. It’s improvising with the intention of composing in the moment. Bringing our whole life experiences to the creation, together. Spontaneous composition, deep listening, immersive emoting, exploration.
We showed up for each other with lots of good feelings, but the words that feel strongest for me in regard to this are curiosity, openness and willingness. I knew from my understanding of André’s music with Outkast that I was meeting someone who is truly creative in a big and wide sense of that word. Carlos invited me into the recording situations—my relationship with him is such that we have major trust and love for each other and what we do, and what we bring energetically, so I knew even before arriving at our first group meeting that things were operating on all-encompassing levels of creativity.
Meeting André in person and then making music together only further affirmed these feelings… and also opened doors of exploration and discovery that we could have only found together. I went deep on my midi-guitar-sampler setup during the New Blue Sun process, so much so that it’s become a cornerstone of some of my current music. Us all getting together and opening up to each other’s creativity made space for that to happen.
48 HILLS Could you list some albums that have inspired your work and briefly explain why? Nate, I really appreciate your taking the time to do this, especially during the holiday season. Thanks so much.
NATE MERCEREAU Right now, I’m mostly inspired by and interested in the energy of experiences in my life, and being open to the many ways I could express them, either through my own personal creations or collaborating with others who are on a similar wave of exploration for themselves. I’m inspired by being as open as possible with myself and others I am with, showing up with my full presence and history, and interacting with their full presence.
I’m totally interested in the music that can happen through willingness, openness, deep listening, sharing, support, passion, presence, searching … that’s where I’m coming from. It has a lot to do with intention toward creativity and what I bring to it, which is everything. Of course other music is a part of my life too, so other people’s sounds that I’ve been moved by have been meaningful to me. A through-line in all of it is that I like to be reminded that anything is possible.
Here are some albums I love that have elements of this.
André 3000, New Blue Sun
I have to start with this, even though I am on the album, I am also inspired by it, and this album fully exemplifies what I’ve been referring to. I majorly respect André, Carlos, Surya, and Deantoni, and every musician on the album, Jesse Peterson, Mia Doi Todd, V.C.R., Diego Gaeta, and Matthewdavid, to share this type of expression. It’s unique. It inspires me because this album is willing to share the process of exploration, curiosity and discovery. The presence is palpable…
Yes, Close To The Edge
This band is legendary, yet still under appreciated. They have different energy, especially in this era of 1972-1974. I could just as easily have listed two of their other albums from this period, Tales From Topographic Oceans and Relayer, but Close To The Edge is the album that I connected with first when I was just getting into music. The music on this album reminds me that anything is possible, and that a group of people with a goal in mind who are fully expressing themselves can make amazing things. Special band.
Paul Horn, Inside The Great Pyramid
A predecessor to the type of album I made with the Golden Gate Bridge, Paul Horn exalted the recording space into the story and sound of the album—its meaning and unique qualities. I love this record and many of his others, it gets a lot of play in my house.
Igor Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring
This is a piece of music that many have come to over time, and for me I keep coming back to it because, among many things, it contains so much energy, and somehow has an unedited and immediate feel. When I listen to this I feel like I am really witnessing and experiencing something close to whatever “source” energy could be, at least for Igor Stravinsky. This piece contains such a massive range and scope of emotion and experience that I revisit it at least once a year and find it fresh each time.
A couple of other albums I would like to mention are Robert Fripp’s Let The Power Fall and Yusef Lateef’s Yusef Lateef’s Little Symphony.
