* En anglais uniquement
The solo alias for producer, multi-instrumentalist, and
tUnE-yArDs 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
tUnE-yArDs'
Merrill Garbus, who also co-produced 2021's
Other Possibilities.
A native of Bloomington, Indiana,
Brenner studied jazz bass at Ohio's Oberlin Conservatory before joining
Garbus'
tUnE-yArDs 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
Janet Jackson's "What Have You Done for Me Lately." He followed that two months later with the full-length
Dirty Glow.
Garbus, 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 Plug Research label.
Continuing on as a member of
tUnE-yArDs,
Brenner returned in 2015 with the
Naytronix full-length
Mister Divine, issued on City Slang. Harvested from hours of material written while on the road with
tUnE-yArDs and
Naytronix, it was recorded at New, Improved Recording in his adopted base of Oakland, California, with guitarist Mark Allen-Piccolo and percussionist
Robert Lopez.
After contributing to the score of
Boots Riley's 2018 film
Sorry to Bother You as a member of
tUnE-yArDs,
Brenner returned with his third
Naytronix album,
Air (BotCave Records/Singing Light Music), in 2019. It featured contributions from, among others,
Garbus (vocals, co-production), Ross Peacock (synths, co-production),
Hamir Atwal (drums), and
Madeline Kenney (vocals).
Garbus and Peacock returned to work with
Brenner on 2021's
Other Possibilities. It marked
Naytronix's first release for Overseas Artists Recordings. ~ Marcy Donelson