MEET NATHAN RATHSAM

Hailing from Sydney, Nathan Rathsam finds himself at the intersection of film and video and music. And that’s how we met: at Liberty Hall, watching Full Flower Moon Band (at least I’m pretty sure—Nathan you can correct me if I’m wrong). He’s the type of guy you’ll just see everywhere, and when you’re with him—no matter where—he’ll run into people he knows. 

Nathan’s worked on many projects, his bread and butter lies in the realm of music videos, with his many names you’d know. dust, Crocodylus, The Belair Lip Bombs, Grxce, Dogworld, The Rions and the list goes on and on. Recently I was lucky enough to assist on a music video with him, and it was so fascinating seeing his creative mind at work.

Nathan and I caught up over a few beers a week ago, hence the existence of this interview. Meeting by Sydenham Station, we legged it to Marrickville Bowlo, right beneath the flightpath of Sydney airport, the most perfect spot for an interview.

We ended up hanging out until hours after pressing stop on the voice memo, even meeting up with Amber (twice—only the first time was accidental), and going to a show at Mixtape Brewing. 

WANDERER: Well, I'm gonna cut to the most important question of the day. What's your name and what do you do?

NATHAN: Um, I am Nathan Rathsam and I do stills and motion. So a bit of photo. Bit of video. Bit of both. My bread and butter is music and commercial. I guess I'm really known for anything that I do that's music, or music adjacent.

Well, you seem to be quite busy.

Yeah. It kind of gets to this very, funny point where—when you do what I do, the way that I do it—you kind of work almost seven days a week, most weeks. Because during the week you are doing pre-production or other commercial stuff. And then on the weekends you are shooting music, either locally or you're traveling. I admit sometimes it gets tough, mainly because you have no time to do laundry. But it’s also like this thing where, I kind of chose to do this. And I acknowledge that there are a lot of people who would love to be in the position that I'm in, and I have to sometimes remind myself of that. So it's somewhere between ‘I am in a very, very privileged position and should say yes to as many things as possible’—but also taking care of myself, so I don't burn out and want to quit.

It's a balance. And you do it because you love it.

Exactly. Yeah.

Not like, oh, fuck my chungus life.

Keep that in! I want fuck my chungus life. Verbatim.

Okay! Hey, I'm in charge. Did you watch music videos as a kid? 

Yeah... I wouldn't say that I was like a Rage kid, growing up. I guess I'd say I interacted with music videos the average amount. Nothing special. I guess this is a little bit off topic, but I didn't grow up wanting to do film and photo, I grew up drawing and painting. I did that all through high school. And maybe at the very end of high school I started playing around with photography—like every 16-year-old boy does. At the end of high school, I think I just got burnt out just doing drawing and painting, and I was kinda like, Okay, I don't know what exactly I want to do, but I know that I want it to be artistic. So I tried out hunkering down on photography... And, when you start out with photography, you start getting people [asking] like, Oh, do you do video? And you're like, I guess I can, yeah, sure. Why not? It can't be that different.

What sort of things would you draw slash paint?

Anything and everything. I was a little bit more of an imitator rather than anything. I would kind of copy things and go like hyperrealism, I wasn't super stylistic. Maybe two years ago I was directing a music video and the setting was this artist studio, so we had to paint some peripheral artworks to dress the space. So, I was in my garage for maybe two weeks just painting. Doing super abstract stuff, I guess recently I've been really into that kinda abstract, blocky kind of painting.

Doing film and photography, I'm kind of looking at things that look real all the time, or like carving some version of real life all the time. So now when I'm interacting with traditional art, I'm a little bit more into stuff that's more impressionistic. What if it was subtracted or added when I'm looking at other mediums that are able to do that. If that makes sense.

That made a little bit of sense.

But we'll listen to this after and be like, what the hell is he talking about

No, that made a little bit of sense. We'll figure that out later.

We'll fix it in post.

So you feel like you found your groove, in what you're doing right now? Is this your thing?

(Nathan found this question very funny) I would say yes and no. I think that there's always something more to learn... I feel like I am both the best I've ever been and still got a long way to go. Which is good, because it means that I want to keep on improving. Like my workflow that I'm kind of like, okay, I can definitely do this a little bit better. Or even just time management and habit things. Like, Okay, maybe don't put stuff off for so long. There's a couple things like, if I do X, Y, and Z it could make my life 20% better and 20% is a big percent. But, you know, for the most part I'm pretty happy with what I'm doing and how I'm doing it, and the process of it all. As I said, there are still a lot of things to learn... A long way to go. I don't think that there'll be a point for a very, very, very long time where I'm like, okay, I've made it, I'm good. Hahaha. But I think that's okay because it just means that I just keep on wanting to push myself to do things 5% better, 10% better, whatever.

You're pretty good at being interviewed. Have you done this before?

No, not at all.

Do you prefer Rick or Morty?

Oh. Um, before or after the Justin Roiland controversy?

Uh, before…

Morty.

Okay. Yeah. You relate to him

Yeah. I'm little and I wear yellow shirts. And I have a high squeaky voice. 

What was your first paid slash professional role doing what you do now?

I think almost everyone who's done photography  had an era where they were doing birthday parties and events. And it was definitely that.

Yeah. I mean, great place to start, I reckon. What reality TV show would you go on if you had to?

There's a Netflix only cooking show called Crazy Delicious. The premise is so silly. It puts a creative spin on dishes and they turn the entire studio into like a garden and you have to forage for the ingredients before you cook. It's so stupid. But I watched the entire series with my best friend and her auntie at her auntie's place. And it's so funny, it's so rogue. Whenever I try to show someone else the show, they're like, what the hell is this? So I'll go on either that or Nailed It.

(At this point in the interview, Nathan and I had finished up our beer at the Marrickville Bowlo and decided to take off to Hawkes Beer and Leisure Centre. For more beer.)

Since you started doing party photos, what's been your most meaningful project?

I mean, there's a few really cool milestones. One of them would definitely be shooting dust at the Hordern—doing that Hordern Live video—like that was just kind of crazy.It’s the biggest venue that I've ever been to, even up until now, doing a Multicam video for some of my best friends while they support Interpol and Bloc Party. Other than that, there's a couple of things that have kind of gotten me a lot of attention. The dust New High video that Nikola [Jokanovic] and I did together—when people ask for a music video from me, they always say we love what you did in New High. And then the other one [happened] earlier this year—the video for Mkae Snese by GAZAL, who's a Sydney artist. That's still my most viewed and most interacted with post on my Instagram. When I think of like, what's my best looking video? It's that one. But I think that it's gotta be those three. OR you know, hanging out with [The Belair] Lip Bombs when they opened for Pixies. at Liberty Hall.

What about your recent one with Crocodylus? That looks cool.

So that shooting day was so good. I had a really good team that I trust a lot. So yeah, shout out Sinead Campion. We direct a lot of stuff together, and whenever we shoot together, it's always a really, really good time.

We follow each other on Instagram.

I love Sinead. I think the first time I heard that song Limbo was at Rad Presents in Adelaide at the Cranker, back when I first started to see Croc live, and I thought the song was really, really cool. And I had this bit where I'd always reply to the Crocodylus story and go ‘leak limbo’. And then, a couple months ago Mikel [Salvador] messaged me like, ‘Hey, do you want to do a video for Limbo?’ I'm like—

You could not say no to that.

It was really funny. So I had a call with the Croc guys, just sussing the vibes of like, the broad idea for the video. Well, like any call that I do with any band, I always go, do you guys have any ideas? Are there any visuals that you've attached to this song in your head? And they were kind of like, ‘oh yeah, we're kind of thinking this’

(SERVER:) Here's your spring rolls...

Thank you so much!

Thank you so much. They didn't really seem set on any of those ideas, so I was like, ‘Okay, can I pitch you this idea of, kind of like this office worker experiencing this work day over and over and over again. I think it works really, really well with Limbo’. And then Nick [Meadows] popped up and was like, ‘Oh, actually we've been wanting to get this guy in a Crocodylus video for a while’. Do you know, like Tiriel Mora—like Dennis Denuto from the Castle? I'm like, oh, no way. And so Nick hooked it up. His mum works in film and knows Tiri's agents.

So they were happy with the treatment and the pitch. I was like, okay, sweet. I can flesh out the shot list, I can get a schedule over, and see if he's happy to do it. And there was a couple months of delay just because it was hard nailing down everyone's schedule. But yeah, he was just happy to do it because he fucked with the concept.

Yeah, I mean, if I was him, I'd do that.

And it was genuinely just the easiest day. We wrapped almost like 45 minutes early. That's thanks to a really, really good team and just like being on top of everything. It was Sinead and Ellen [Harvey]. I had Ellen assistant direct and she kept us on schedule.

If you had to choose a different hairstyle, what would you go with?

Oh, I wish I had the head shape to just go like a crew cut because, I've had medium-ish hair for a while, and sometimes I'm like, I don't want to deal with this. But I don't have a good head shape, unfortunately.

Describe your head shape in three words.

Pointy.

You are from Newcastle, aren't you?

No. I'm from Sydney. I grew up in the Shire.

I don't know where I had this misconception that you were from Newcastle. I'm sorry.

I mean, that's fair. 'cause like I just know a lot of people from Newcastle, and doing dust stuff and like all that. Very fair question. A lot of people who don't know I'm from Sydney, or just don't know what city I live in.

What's your favourite spot to go in Sydney? Or for beer or a hangout?

I really like Vic on the Park. Whenever I go there, I seem to have a good time.I think it's the memories attached to it more than anything. The space itself is… you know, it's Vic on the Park, It is what it is. I always go there, see a good gig, and the food there is surprisingly good as well.

You have a Sydney hidden gem?

Hmmmm... (Nathan thinks for a very long time and our Braised eggplant arrives) so... Two places. I wouldn't say it’s a hidden gem, it’s kind of had its moment of virality. But I went to Valentina's for the first time in Marrickville. It's this breakfast diner kind of vibe. And the menu had like eight items—if that—and I love a small menu. And also a while ago I went to the ONA Cafe in Marrickville. It's so crazy fancy.You sit down and you're at this u-shaped bar, and you look at the coffee menu and all they do is lattes and flat whites for your milk coffee. And then they do espressos and you choose the bean blend that you want. It's all like an espresso tasting menu and the food there is really, really good. And the vibes are really, really good. And then other than that, the sauna at Hawke's Beer and Leisure Centre.

We just went in there and it was hot. hahaha. If you were to give advice to someone who wants to do what you do, where do you start? 

Generally I would say the things that are most important—like things that I observe from people who I think are doing really well in this industry and people who I look up to—is one: people who have the ability to to just make things. Not think about it too much, just pump something out—even if it's not perfect—learn from it, and then move on to the next project. 

Two: surround yourself with people who are better than you. Who are more advanced in whatever industry that you are in—photography, videography, music, whatever. If you surround yourself with people who are much better than you then you are going to learn from them, even if passively, even if you're not asking them questions, just being around.I find so much value in being around people who you admire. Not to like, be around people with an agenda, but like, just being around people you wanna learn from. I think that improves you in a way that you can’t do on your own.

You talk about people who inspire you and the way they do things. Do you have anyone you can name who is an inspiration to you?

I've started doing stuff with this Sydney directing & shooting duo, AWWW Studio (@aw___studio). So in Sydney, they're kind of on top of the scene that I'm in. Even being there and seeing how they direct stuff—It's two guys, Matt and Aaron, and my friend Yewande who now produces for them as well. Just seeing how Matt directs andAaron finds frames, it's so cool. I really admire and appreciate what they do. Also Nikola [Jokanovic], I think no one else is doing it how Nikola's doing it, and I think that's really, really cool. And outside my immediate scene, directors like Petra Collins. Oh, what's Tyler The Creator's cinematographer's name? Luis Perez.

I really appreciate people who are doing a very, very refined version of their own thing. I think that no one is immune to trends, but I think that in this age of social media and everything, there's one style of videography and cinematography that's really taken over, so everyone's following a trend because, it's like, oh, I've seen this other video that gets like a trillion views, so I'm gonna do that. And I'm not immune to that. I one hundred percent acknowledge that, but I really like the people who are doing their own thing and who are doing their own thing so well that no one can ignore it even though it's not following a trend. I have a little bit of an individuality complex with my work, where I've been really thinking about lately is like, does my look look like everyone else's? 

I guess [I’ve been] hounding in on doing my own thing, but still taking inspiration. The amount of times that I've gone like, I want this video to kind of look like a Petra Collins thing—knowing how to reference stuff and put my own flavour on it. I guess like, inherently it's very, very hard to copy something one-for-one unless you're trying to copy something one-for-one. I don't know. I just ranted for a bit, so good luck summarising that into something!

Thank youuuuu!!!