Bob Nanna has become a prominent figure in the underground music scene. Armed with a distinctive croon and bouncing, inventive lyrics, Nanna has produced a body of work that continues to influence and inspire scores of songwriters.
Nanna started out in the early 1990s as a drummer/singer in the Chicago-based punk band Friction, and the band became a staple in the Chicago punk scene despite their youth, opening for bands like prominent punk acts like Jawbreaker and Samiam. Nanna eventually moved two hours south to attend the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, where he began playing guitar. There, he formed seminal emo-punk outfit Braid. At first, the band was just an excuse to hang out with friends and make noise, but eventually the new band became serious, putting out two full length records, touring the United States many times over, and eventually landing on Polyvinyl Records.
Braid’s first release on the label was the now-classic Frames and Canvas. It is a wonderfully crafted collection of energetic songs and comes highly recommended. Frames and Canvas brought the band to new levels of success, however, the band soon broke up, burned out by the stress of touring, recording, and living together. Soon after, Nanna and other members of Braid Todd Bell and Damon Atkinson formed Hey Mercedes, who would pick up where Braid left off, signing to indie powerhouse Vagrant Records and touring the world, eventually releasing two full length before disbanding in 2004.
From there, Nanna focused on his solo work (performing as The City on Film), playing in the band Certain People I Know, and participating in various musical projects. As 2010 approached, Braid began regrouping and started to write music, eventually releasing their fourth album, No Coast, in 2014 on Topshelf Records. In recent years, the emo revival has championed Nanna’s work, with Topshelf releasing the new Braid album and Run For Cover Records re-releasing Hey Mercedes records on vinyl. Nanna now also runs a songwriting service called Downwrite, where customers can commission songwriters to write songs.
As a songwriter, Nanna weaves expert storytelling with a strong dynamic instinct, giving his songs an almost roller coaster-like feel. Starts, stops, and rhythmic shifts are commonplace in his body of work, along with inventive hooks. Nothing feels phoned-in or cookie cutter—instead, it feels (and sounds) handcrafted and meticulously put together. There are references to Chicago streets, jazz singers, strong word play, and themes of person progress, introspection, and declarations of creative spirit.
Nanna recently sat down with us to talk about his songwriting process.
SONG ON SONG: Take me through the process of you writing a song.
BOB NANNA: I’m always, ALWAYS taking notes on my phone whenever lyric ideas hit me, or vocal melodies, or just random cool things I hear. I use this great app on my phone called Captio that just sends the notes directly to my email so when I’m home, I can address it. I might have an email that was a note with a lyric idea in it – I’ll then put it into a doc full of ideas. It doesn’t serve as a starting point though. I only really go to this doc when I’m stuck while writing lyrics.
Anyway, I can be easily distracted so I make sure that I have enough time to devote and then I turn off my phone. Depending on what sort of mood I’m in (or I want the song to be in), I’ll just start strumming and see what happens. If I find a part or progression I think is cool, I’ll take a video of myself playing it on my laptop. Then I start working from there. If it all sounds super clinical, I promise it’s not. I’m just a real geek about not wanting to forget anything.
When the music becomes a song, in a basic form, I’ll record the whole thing, listen back and start singing nonsense over it to find some good melodies. Often times actual words come from this part that stay in the song, but for the most part, it’s nonsense. When those melodies are in a good place, I’ll start writing the lyrics. 9 times out of 10 I know what the song will be about so I’ll just start writing to fit the sections. Once that’s done, I’ll go back to the beginning and tweak parts or add/subtract stuff as need be. And lastly, then, I try to play and sing it at the same time. Usually that takes some practice to get right.
SOS: Your early work, the Friction material and the early Braid releases, are spastic and angular. What was the thought process at that time in terms of writing?
NANNA: In Friction, I was playing drums and singing, as opposed to guitar and sing with Braid but both bands were influenced by the same stuff. A heavy dose of DC area bands like Jawbox, Fugazi, Hoover, mixed with the slightly screamier stuff like Julia and Indian Summer, and finished off with the East Bay – Samiam, Jawbreaker, Green Day.
“When the music becomes a song, in a basic form, I’ll record the whole thing, listen back and start singing nonsense over it to find some good melodies.“
SOS: Braid went on to become more melodic and hook-oriented. What drove you in that direction?
NANNA: Perhaps we got better at our instruments, so we didn’t have to rely on crazy time signatures or screaming? At the very least, we became more cohesive and collaborative as a band, whereas those first round of Braid songs were pretty much just Chris or I coming with one line and going from there. Plus we started touring nonstop.
SOS: After Braid, Hey Mercedes was even more polished, fitting in with the Vagrant Records crowd of the early 2000s. What was driving you creatively at that point? Did you feel a pressure to write in a certain style?
NANNA: I didn’t at all. Those first few Hey Mercedes songs could have very well been my contribution to Braid had we stayed a band. We may have felt a little pressure when doing Loses Control but it was all self-imposed. We purposely took a backseat regarding the production of the record and in the end, I wish we came more prepared.
SOS: Your latest Braid record, No Coast, came 16 years after the previous record, Frames and Canvas. How did your writing process change in that time? Had you developed a difference approach for writing a Braid song as opposed to a something for Hey Mercedes or your solo work in The City on Film?
NANNA: Nope, it’s pretty much all the same and depends on what project is foremost in my mind or schedule at the time. I’ll say that if I’m sitting down to write a City On Film song, I’ll be aware that it will be just me playing so I’ll tend toward fuller chords and I’ll be the only one singing.
“Those first few Hey Mercedes songs could have very well been my contribution to Braid had we stayed a band.”
SOS: Through all of this, you were writing and recording with The City on Film. How does that project differ from Braid, Hey Mercedes, or your newest project, Lifted Bells?
NANNA: It’s the only project that’s just me, start to finish. It helps to have a good balance of collaboration and alone time.
SOS: You record music with your wife in Jack and Ace. What are the main differences in recording with your spouse as opposed to your other bandmates?
NANNA: We’re now called More More More! My wife, Lauren, is an amazing songwriter—a great lyricist—I knew it when we were playing together in the band Certain People I Know, before we got together. So I try to be more accompaniment for her. I don’t want it to sound like just another one of my bands.
SOS: As a lyricist, you often incorporate word play as a tool in your writing. Lines such as “twenty-four and you’re not a kid anymore, are you kidding?” or “is the terror tearing through you” add this sense of playfulness and bounce to the songs. What is the value in writing lyrics that have such a playful, almost punny way? Do you make a conscious effort to do so?
NANNA: I feel like it used to be almost a crutch as in, well, the line doesn’t make sense anymore but it sure does sound good. Ha! I’ve gotten better with that now. It’s just naturally how I write. For every 50 lines I send to Captio, maybe two or three make it into songs. The others are just fragments like “adorably durable” or “getting conTENT with the CONtent” – I dunno. Maybe they’ll work somewhere.
SOS: Where are you going as a songwriter?
NANNA: I started this site called Downwrite with Mark Rose and it’s specifically for songwriters. I’ve written over 80 custom songs for people and it’s really helped me work on my skills – recording-wise, too. I also took some jazz guitar lessons last year so it’s nice to have a few cool chords to add to the mix. I just want to keep improving. I’ll never be satisfied and I’m totally cool with that.
Song On Song 