"The music I make isn’t for everyone, but some people haven’t even respected or given a chance."
2017 Belmont University graduate, Price Nagler, sat down with me over Zoom to discuss his career as a songwriter, artist, and engineer. While getting a degree in Music Business, his passion lies in creating and releasing his music. When I asked if he had a team behind him, Price told me that he did all the production himself, as well as played all of the instruments. The pandemic didn't slow him down with release day, either. "Transient Bliss" had a turnaround time of three days: tracking the first day, then vocals, then uploaded to Distrokid. All the album work was done by him, production, and promotion.
At Belmont University, Price mentioned that he felt a disconnect between him and the other students. Price's music just didn't fit into the stereotypes of what people think music is today. Price's inspiration for his sound comes from old rock. He likes the imperfections instrumentation-wise and production-wise with bands like Led Zepplin and The Beatles. That was real music. Today, music is too syncopated and "perfect." With his degree, he didn't want to be the "enemy" in the music industry and wants to help others get to where they want to go.
Price Nagler works in ProTools because it is the most natural software for him and he knows it best. His latest release, "Transient Bliss," encompasses elements of classic rock and can be categorized as "Shoegaze." (Shoegaze is a genre of music from the late 80s-90s and is about pure sound rather than visual performance. Shoegaze has loud riffs and waves of distortion.) Instead of tracking drums organically, he just used the electronic drum kit that is usually used with ProTools. Price also told me, "That's why rock music is dying because it's so expensive to track different kinds of instruments like drums." "Transient Bliss," isn't quantized, is pure and raw music.
"Transient Bliss" has done better in some ways than his other single, "Tangled in Chains." Transient in Bliss has gotten more in the right people, it's not about numbers, it’s about the right five people who are excited and will share it with their friends. Price has shared his singles with Facebook groups and has gotten great feedback on Transient Bliss. He intentionally made Transient Bliss sound like a demo, style-wise, and production-wise. What he doesn’t sacrifice is core melody writing and the interlocking of musical parts.
“I like that place, you can find old demos from Smashing Pumpkins, and they're magical to me. That's what I'm chasing. That's the idea I'm after”
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