For Bob Nanna, it is all about his music and his fans. There isn't much in the music industry that Bob Nanna, lead singer and guitarist of The City on Film and former lead singer of Hey Mercedes and Braid, hasn't tried. He's toured the country, released numerous albums and now has stepped aside from the loud angry days of Braid, and the calmer rock days of Hey Mercedes, to pursue his solo acoustic project.
The City on Film started awhile ago in Nanna's home. It was something to keep him occupied when he wasn't playing with his bands. He wrote songs that wouldn't fit in with Braid's music and recorded them when he was home. It wasn't until Hey Mercedes broke up in 2005 that he decided to make this his central focus.
So in June 2005 Nanna released The City on Film's debut album, "In Formal Introduction." The album is laden with rich vocals, strong guitar and even stronger lyrics. It is a softer version of Hey Mercedes and Braid and perhaps a more personal release for Nanna. When asked about the other bands he said that he won't be touring with them for awhile anyway, he wants to expand his music, and not be confined to those songs.
Nanna seems to always have something going. Braid started out as a side project when he was focusing on his band Friction. When Friction broke up, Braid took center stage. Braid released numerous CDs including "The Age of Octeen," "Movie Music Volume I" (and II), and "Frankie Welfare Boy Age Five."
After Braid he began his work on Hey Mercedes. They released "Everynight Fire Works" in 2001 and "Loses Control" in 2003. In the summer of 2004 Braid did a reunion tour. In 2005, after 367 shows in a little over four years, Hey Mercedes broke up and Nanna started to focus on The City on Film. And that's where he is now.
In everything he's done, he's grown cynical of the music industry. He says that especially the business side of music is not what it once was.
"It's all together really hard and really easy. Being a music major doesn't really help being a musician," Nanna said in a phone interview.
When Braid began it was all about touring and people came out to support the underground musicians. He said it was a much more homegrown sort of celebrity, where people would get excited about upcoming shows because the people really cared about it. Then comes the cynical part, big companies worked their way into the music scene making it more difficult for the independent musicians to make it big by themselves, Nanna explains. Despite all of that he says - that the industry is a lot of fun - a challenge and that the fans are what make it worthwhile.
He recently booked a tour in England using Myspace.com and other online resources. He said that this has helped smaller musicians a lot. In the United States, however, he still loves to tour. Many of his shows now are based in the Midwest and on the west coast. Of his favorite places to play, Chicago and New York City make the list.
During the hurricanes this year, Nanna was touring in the south and had a tumultuous drive trying to get away from them. While he and everyone with him were safe, he said that's what touring is all about, the adventures.
"You don't experience things like that in a normal job," Nanna said. "I don't want to stop. I've been doing this for 15 years, it doesn't get old."
Nanna isn't concerned with the fame. His happiness relies far more on being able to play music. Having faith in what you're doing is an important aspect in this business, he said.
"I never made it big, but I'm happy," Nanna said.
Perhaps one day Nanna will make it big, but in the meantime he's content playing for a group of dedicated fans both old and new.
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