Dan the Automator | |
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 Dan the Automator in 2017 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Daniel M. Nakamura |
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| Born | August 29, 1966 San Francisco, California, U.S. [2] |
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| Years active | 1986–present |
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| Website | dantheautomator |
Daniel M. Nakamura (born August 29, 1966), better known by his stage name Dan the Automator, is an American record producer. He is the founder of the publishing company Sharkman Music [5] and the record label 75 Ark. [6]
Daniel M. Nakamura [7] was born in San Francisco, California, in 1966. [2] His parents spent time in Japanese internment camps as children. [8] His father worked for the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency and his mother taught at City College of San Francisco. [2] As a child, he learned to play violin. [9] While in high school, he became immersed in hip hop culture. [2] He graduated from San Francisco State University. [10]
Nakamura started his career as a DJ when he was a teenager. [7] After seeing the younger DJs DJ Qbert and Mix Master Mike performing live, he decided to focus on producing tracks. [2] He first gained attention for his work on Kool Keith's 1996 album Dr. Octagonecologyst . [11] His debut EP, Music to Be Murdered By, was released in 1989. [12] He released his debut album A Much Better Tomorrow in 2000, [7] an expansion of his 1996 EP A Better Tomorrow. Keith featured extensively across both versions.
He composed the score for the 2019 comedy film Booksmart , [13] with the soundtrack album released that same year. [14]
In 1999, Nakamura and Prince Paul formed the collaborative project Handsome Boy Modeling School, assuming the alter egos Nathaniel Merriweather and Chest Rockwell, respectively. [15] Their debut album So... How's Your Girl? featured numerous guest musicians, including Róisín Murphy, DJ Shadow, and Del the Funky Homosapien. They released a second album, White People , in November 2004, with collaborators including RZA, Cat Power, and Mike Patton. [16] Nakamura used the Nathaniel Merriweather pseudonym for his Lovage project with Patton and Jennifer Charles. After Paul briefly left the duo over a business dispute, [17] Handsome Boy Modelling School have since played further shows and spoken of a forthcoming third album. [18]
In 2000, Nakamura joined Del the Funky Homosapien and Kid Koala to form Deltron 3030. [19] They released their eponymous debut album the same year, featuring guest appearances by Sean Lennon and Damon Albarn. In 2001 he produced the debut album of Albarn's "animated" band Gorillaz, [7] appearing as a member of the band, alongside Del the Funky Homosapien. Both later appeared on the second Deltron 3030 record, Event 2, released in September 2013. [20] The album also featured appearances by Jamie Cullum, Emily Wells and Zack De La Rocha, with interludes performed by actors David Cross, Amber Tamblyn and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Nakamura is one half of Got a Girl, along with actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead. [21] The duo's debut album, I Love You but I Must Drive Off This Cliff Now , was released in 2014. [22] In September 2015, they embarked on a four-city tour of Seattle, San Francisco, New York City, and Los Angeles, where they played their entire album live, including a cover of Handsome Boy Modeling School's "I've Been Thinking". [23] [24]
In 2023, Handsome Boy Modeling School released a limited release LP of 7 new songs in collaboration with Fords Gin. [25]
In 2025, Nakamura was announced as one of the remixers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup theme, representing the San Francisco Bay Area. [26]
lead single "Octagon Octagon" is an awesome dose of the same kind of surreal, psychedelic rap they were doing in the '90s
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