Nate Parrish Expands Punk Music’s Horizons On New Album ‘Make Me A Mountain’
Independent punk singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Nate Parrish is expanding the horizons of the punk genre with Make Me A Mountain, his third full-length studio album.
For this third solo venture, Nate continued to helm writing, vocals and most instruments, but he turned to Josiah Prince (Disciple) for production support, Darren King for mixing and Sam Moses for mastering. With a studio team best known for diverse hard rock production, Make Me A Mountain expands the borders of the sound Parrish previously established on his sleeper hits I’m A Wreck (2020) and Soul Surgery (2022). At the same time, the project is conceptually coherent.
“While this is not a concept album, it definitely has a consistent theme running throughout, and it even has a recurring melody that you’ll hear in several songs, sort of like a movie soundtrack,” Nate Parrish explains. “When I was growing up, my friends used to call my dad ‘Smokey Mountain’ because he was a big guy with long white hair and a white beard.
I wanted to be like him. He was strong, seemingly immovable, reliable and a safe place to hide: everything I think a father should be. Although my dad was rough around the edges and not a regular church attender, he really exemplified the character of Christ
Nate Parrish Expands Punk Music’s Horizons On New Album ‘Make Me A Mountain’
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Having a safe place to return to when the world shakes feels timely on a global level. But even in the months immediately leading up to the record’s release, it took on new meaning for Parrish personally.
He says, “As I was getting everything finalized for the release, I was laid off from my position as Pastor/Creative Director/Worship leader at the church my wife and I had served for the past 9 years. It’s been one of the most painful and confusing times of my life. I find myself listening back to songs like ‘Small’ and realizing that I wrote that song for future Nate. I had an ‘aha’ moment when I posted about this situation, and my friend Joyce Carlsen quoted my lyrics back to me:
“It’s like I’m walking on a tightrope
If I look down, if I let go will I be captured by the sky?
I need a new dream ’cause I can’t sleep
I need Your eyes ’cause I can’t see why I still need to try (need to try).”
These songs are laying the foundation for a new dream, for whatever lies ahead. And they’re doing so with more verve and eclecticism than ever before: the artist’s list of musical elements encompasses hip-hop, strings, robotic synthesized voices, piano and spoken word. Listeners can expect all the crackling, electric punk realness they’ve come to expect from Nate Parrish, but with an even wider breadth of sonic palette. To complete the experience, Parrish pulls in pop punk legend Jason Dunn (Hawk Nelson) for a feature on “Under the Weather” and Josh Kemble (Dogwood) for “Pendulum People.”
The album releases as the single “That’s Just Life” enters CMW’s Christian Rock Charts strong, proving a strong follow-up to the top-5 charting success “Small” achieved. Nate Parrish also just wrapped a stint in Germany, closing several full-band shows as Nate Parrish and The Wreck at a sold-out Loud and Proud Festival.
Even as his audience and influence grows, his do-it-yourself musical pluck and commitment to speaking truth to power remain — rooted deep in an eternal hope that a song is always more than just a melody and some lyrics.
“It sounds very School of Rock, but I truly believe in my bones that one great show, one great song, one beautiful piece of art can build bridges where nothing else can,” Nate Parrish concludes. “I can’t remember what I had for breakfast, but I remember when I first heard my favorite band. I remember my first concert. Creating is all I’ve ever wanted to do, it’s risky, it’s difficult, it requires vulnerability, it’s not lucrative, but it’s who I am. It’s why I’m here.”
