2018 September COLONY Magazine

COLONY PEOPLE
Welcome back, Conrad
Photos by Pat Pemberton
AHS grad Nate Conrad Enters 13th Year Leading His Old Band
Nate Conrad was preparing to fly to Europe
where he would perform for the
third time since entering college when
the call came to go back home.
“Four or five people from Atascadero called
me and said, ‘When are you going to get
your teaching credential?’” said Conrad, who
was studying at California State University,
East Bay at the time. “Because the job just
opened up.”
The Job: director of the high school band.
Seven years earlier, Conrad had performed
with that band as a student. Suddenly, he
had an opportunity to return to Atascadero
as an educator.
Remember that 70s sitcom “Welcome
Back, Kotter?”
Like that, but without a laugh track.
Now, 12 years after his return, Conrad is still
leading that band, which will experience a significant
change this year when it skips marching
competitions to focus on musicianship and
local events.
“This is pretty awesome,” he said, sitting in
a temporary instrument storage space while
the band room undergoes renovation. “And
I’m really happy doing what I’m doing where
I’m doing it.”
Conrad moved to Atascadero at the age of
four with a family of musicians.
“We were always singing and making music
in the house growing up,” he said.
His father, an Episcopal priest, enjoyed classical
music and hymns, so that dominated —
but didn’t necessarily dictate Conrad’s earliest
music selections.
“I got the first Weezer album and the first
Green Day album,” he said.
But during his sophomore year, his parents
bought him some music for Christmas —
Count Basie and J.J. Johnson — and he was
hooked on jazz.
“It probably took me twice as long to do
my homework as any other student,” he said.
“Because I had those CDs on all the time, and
I would space out and listen to music.”
Conrad began playing trombone one day
simply because the other available instruments
— a trumpet and a clarinet — were in worse
condition.
“In a typical musician way, I love that it’s
impossibly hard to play,” he said of the trombone.
“My youngest brother is a professional
saxophone player, and every time I see him
play, I’m like, man — that’s such a smarter
way to go.”
After high school, Conrad started his studies
at Cuesta College, had a brief stop at Cal Poly,
then headed to Hayward, where he found more
opportunities to perform and compose. He
would have continued to perform in the Bay
Area had he not returned to that familiar place.
By Pat Pemberton
“It was familiar in a really good sense,”
he said. “The weird part was talking to
the teachers.”
A few of the teachers he’d distanced himself
from as a student suddenly appeared
much differently once he got to know them
as colleagues.
“It turns out they were phenomenal people,”
he said with a laugh.
While competing has long been an element
of the marching band, this year, Conrad and
the administration decided to back off from
competition.
For one thing, Conrad said, the school always
had to travel long distances to compete
against much bigger schools. And competing
on the road, he added, just isn’t as rewarding
as performing at community events or home
football games.
“When the stands are full, it’s close to
2,000 people,” he said. “So over the course of
five home games, we’re playing for close to
10,000 people.”
By skipping competitions, he said, he can focus
on making students better musicians, which
will ultimately help those who want to pursue
music further.
And serious musicians will want to play serious
music, which is why this year’s catalog
includes several Steely Dan numbers.
“A lot of them don’t know Steely Dan,” Conrad
said. “But by the end of the year, they’re
going to be checking out Steely Dan and other
bands from that era and similar styles, so
that’s a win.”
16 | colonymagazine.com COLONY Magazine, September 2018