Daniel M. Nakamura (born December 20, 1966), better known by his stage name Dan the Automator, is an American music producer from
San Francisco, California. He is the founder of the publishing company Sharkman Music[5] and the record label
75 Ark.[6]
Nakamura started his career as a DJ when he was a teenager.[7] After seeing the younger DJs
DJ Qbert and
Mix Master Mike performing live, he decided to focus on producing tracks.[2] He first gained attention for his work on
Kool Keith's 1996 album Dr. Octagonecologyst.[11] His debut EP, Music to Be Murdered By, was released in 1989.[12] He released his debut album A Much Better Tomorrow in 2000,[7] an expansion of his 1996 EP A Better Tomorrow. Keith featured extensively across both versions.
He composed the score for the 2019 comedy film Booksmart,[13] with the soundtrack album released that same year.[14]
Collaborations
In 1999, Nakamura and
Prince Paul formed the collaborative project
Handsome Boy Modeling School, assuming the alter egos Nathaniel Merriweather and Chest Rockwell, respectively.[15] Their debut album So... How's Your Girl? featured numerous guest musicians, including
Róisín Murphy,
DJ Shadow, and
Del the Funky Homosapien. They released a second album, White People, in November 2004, with collaborators including
RZA,
Cat Power, and
Mike Patton.[16] Nakamura used the Nathaniel Merriweather pseudonym for his
Lovage project with Patton and
Jennifer Charles. After Paul briefly left the duo over a business dispute,[17] Handsome Boy Modelling School have since played further shows and spoken of a forthcoming third album.[18]
Nakamura is one half of
Got a Girl, along with actress
Mary Elizabeth Winstead.[21] The duo's debut album, I Love You but I Must Drive Off This Cliff Now, was released in 2014.[22] In September 2015, they embarked on a four-city tour of Seattle, San Francisco, New York City, and Los Angeles, where they played their entire album live, including a cover of Handsome Boy Modeling School's "I've Been Thinking".[23][24]
In 2023, Handsome Boy Modeling School released a limited release LP of 7 new songs in collaboration with Fords Gin.[25]
^Sacher, Andrew (February 20, 2018).
"Dr. Octagon playing NYC release show for first LP in two decades". Brooklyn Vegan. Retrieved August 17, 2023. lead single "Octagon Octagon" is an awesome dose of the same kind of surreal, psychedelic rap they were doing in the '90s