Naytronix

The solo alias for producer, multi-instrumentalist, and <a href="spotify:artist:0asVlqTLu3TimnYVyY5Jxi">tUnE-yArDs</a> bassist Nate Brenner, Naytronix's experimental electronic pop navigates danceable beats, dreamy ambience, and whimsical compositional elements. After Brenner debuted the project with a self-titled EP in 2012, his third Naytronix album, 2019's Air, adopted a darker, more muscular synth pop complexion. It was co-produced by <a href="spotify:artist:0asVlqTLu3TimnYVyY5Jxi">tUnE-yArDs</a>' <a href="spotify:artist:0F6njK2daRnpEgh73K5XbF">Merrill Garbus</a>, who also co-produced 2021's Other Possibilities.

A native of Bloomington, Indiana, Brenner studied jazz bass at Ohio's Oberlin Conservatory before joining <a href="spotify:artist:0F6njK2daRnpEgh73K5XbF">Garbus</a>' <a href="spotify:artist:0asVlqTLu3TimnYVyY5Jxi">tUnE-yArDs</a> in time to record the project's second album, 2011's W H O K I L L. He contributed bass, percussion, and backing vocals as well as horn arrangements. In May 2012, Brenner released the four-track debut EP Naytronix, which included a cover of <a href="spotify:artist:4qwGe91Bz9K2T8jXTZ815W">Janet Jackson</a>'s "What Have You Done for Me Lately." He followed that two months later with the full-length Dirty Glow. <a href="spotify:artist:0F6njK2daRnpEgh73K5XbF">Garbus</a>, a horn section, and a few other instrumentalists pitched in while Brenner performed the bulk of the music. Like the EP, the album was issued on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Plug+Research%22">Plug Research</a> label.

Continuing on as a member of <a href="spotify:artist:0asVlqTLu3TimnYVyY5Jxi">tUnE-yArDs</a>, Brenner returned in 2015 with the Naytronix full-length Mister Divine, issued on <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22City+Slang%22">City Slang</a>. Harvested from hours of material written while on the road with <a href="spotify:artist:0asVlqTLu3TimnYVyY5Jxi">tUnE-yArDs</a> and Naytronix, it was recorded at New, Improved Recording in his adopted base of Oakland, California, with guitarist Mark Allen-Piccolo and percussionist <a href="spotify:artist:3zUCHzvbTmCOZoY750yHPB">Robert Lopez</a>.

After contributing to the score of Boots Riley's 2018 film Sorry to Bother You as a member of <a href="spotify:artist:0asVlqTLu3TimnYVyY5Jxi">tUnE-yArDs</a>, Brenner returned with his third Naytronix album, Air (<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22BotCave+Records%22">BotCave Records</a>/<a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Singing+Light+Music%22">Singing Light Music</a>), in 2019. It featured contributions from, among others, <a href="spotify:artist:0F6njK2daRnpEgh73K5XbF">Garbus</a> (vocals, co-production), Ross Peacock (synths, co-production), Hamir Atwal (drums), and <a href="spotify:artist:2mirb9SKAm6IUHtPwreoqN">Madeline Kenney</a> (vocals). <a href="spotify:artist:0F6njK2daRnpEgh73K5XbF">Garbus</a> and Peacock returned to work with Brenner on 2021's Other Possibilities. It marked Naytronix's first release for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Overseas+Artists+Recordings%22">Overseas Artists Recordings</a>. ~ Marcy Donelson, Rovi