5 Albums I Can’t Live Without: Nathaniel William Hilts of The Dead South

Name  The Dead South/Nathaniel William Hilts

Best known for  Kind eyes and a beer gut.

Current city  Regina, Saskatchewan Canada

Really want to be in  Tough question as I love traveling to different places. I get asked that question quite a bit. I think I prefer living in an affordable area near kind people who help each other when needed. This also makes traveling much more feasible. Regardless of where I am, I am always checking out spots to eat good food and drink good whiskey. I am also always looking for a good fishing spot.

Excited about  I am very excited to release our new album along with some music videos. We recorded this bad boy in Mexico City (CDMX) and it was such a great experience. The album is called Chains & Stakes [releasing in February] and I think people will enjoy the mix we got going on.

My current music collection has a lot of  My current music collection is an absolute mess of different genres. I just went from listening to Misfits – Tyler Childers – GoGo Penguin. I am and always have been all over the place. I am fortunate enough to enjoy many varieties of music and I don’t seem to get stuck in one vein. The list is quite extensive.

And a little bit of  Punk, country, folk, jazz, classical, grunge, R&B, ‘60s pop, funk, ‘80s, ‘90s, rap, etc.

Preferred format  I prefer the sound of a crackling vinyl over most other forms of listening to music, it’s a sound of its own and I find it comforting. However, streaming is so convenient for doing things around the house, sitting in your vehicle, traveling, listening to music with friends, and being able to switch from this to that at the touch of your fingertips. Streaming is also a great way to find new bands… just make sure you go out and buy the album.

5 Albums I Can’t Live Without:

1

Red Headed Stranger, Willie Nelson

I love this album mostly because of that fact that I can listen to it every day and not get sick of it. The songs are nice and raw. Great writing, fantastic guitar playing, but yet it sounds so simple and true. This album is my alarm clock, I wake up to it every morning.

2

Famous Monsters, Misfits

I understand this choice is controversial for many Misfits fans as there is a clear line between Danzig and Michale Graves. However, this album found me at the right time. I am not partial to either singer as they both sang bangers to me over and over again. This album came into my life when I started leaning more into punk music. I started out listening to Dayglo Abortions, Black Flag, Sex Pistols, Ramones, Dead Kennedys, The Exploited, Circle Jerks, Green Day, The Distillers, etc. However, something about the horror pop really stuck out to me. Dark lyrics with an upbeat tempo that sounded different, songs that I guess I just needed to hear at the time.

3

Bat Out Of Hell, Meat Loaf

This album hits home for me. It’s one album that I listened to probably way too much with my dad growing up. We spent lots of time on the road listening to music, but this album was a constant, still comes on often. It’s funny listening to this album now and really thinking about the lyrics and stories. Lyrics aside, we were really intrigued by the music. Every song is a goddamn trip and we were there for the ride.

4

Man Made Object, GoGo Penguin

I was shown this album at our local hi-fi shop here in Regina, Harry’s Hi-Fi. Once I heard 30 seconds of this album, I knew I had to hear the entire thing. This album came into my life at the perfect time. A time where I needed to focus and a time to expand on some new music and genres. I have probably listened to this album a thousand times while getting work done or driving around when I need to think. I will always have this amazing moment with Harry Sotropa. What a legend.

5

Coral Fang, The Distillers

Brody Dalle was my first ‘famous’ crush. A badass woman with a mohawk and banging songs. That isn’t the reason why I chose this album, but just thought you might want to know that. This album is playing quite often in my house or in my vehicle. This is the kind of punk sound that still sticks with me today, along with Misfits, that I can’t unhear. This album has songs that just stuck with me from Day One, and I don’t see the end in sight of putting this album away. Brody sings with a force that I just wanna listen to. Her voice with the chugging guitar, rolling bass lines and four-on-the-floor drum beats. Makes me wanna pull out my punk vest and do bad shit.

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