Darren Nast’s songs come at you from several different directions.
Global affairs and a decades-long interest in psychology are themes woven into the songs he’s written in the folk-rock genre for Fresh Intel, his first effort following a 20-year break from music to devote his time and energy to raising his two daughters.
Nast has jumped back into the music scene with both feet with the release of his first single, Fresh, from his Sound Psychology debut album, Fresh Intel, and the launch of his own label, SPSY Records.
Several more releases recorded in his home studio are planned in May, including I Believe in You, which will be from his next album.
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“I’m essentially a balladeer with sounds somewhere between Joni Mitchell and Prince,” said Nast, whose background includes vocal training at the Victoria Conservatory of Music and studies in psychology at the University of Victoria.
He lists Chris de Burgh, Phil Collins and Genesis, Sting, the Beatles. and Canadian legend Bruce Cockburn as musical influences.
“I hope to make listeners think, feel, laugh and dance, and to put Vancouver Island more on the map internationally, as well as positively impact the entire world for generations to come. Some of the songs have a local Vancouver Island flavour. One song, West Coast Trail, is an ode to my love of the Island’s parks. Joan Yates - The Cougar Lady reflects the time I spent growing up in Metchosin.”
Nast has entered into a distribution agreement with an international music streaming distributor, which covers 95 per cent of the worldwide market on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, and YouTube.
That includes tapping into China and India and their exploding population of 2.5 billion streaming music users, where some musicians are reportedly doing quite well because of the sheer number of people streaming new music, Nast explained.
“The music business has changed so much thanks to the internet and new technology,” he said. “You can get your music out there by yourself now, which wasn’t the case before. You can make a living by building a following just through streaming, ”
More information on Nast and Spsy Records is available at soundpsychology.ca, where you can sample songs and purchase Fresh Intel.
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