MUSICAL BACKGROUND
After spending time in both London and LA at the Lee Strasbourg studios, Russell, much to the sadness of his peers and mentors, felt he was never going to make the transition from child star to adult actor. He was just 17, and as his passion for music had continued to deepen, he decided to rent a room in his dad’s factory to create and rehearse with a newly formed band. They spent several years gigging on the London circuit, during which time a family friend introduced Russell to Andrew Green at ByVirtue Music Management. Working with a producer there, he was eventually offered a 4 track EP deal with Telstar Records and his cover of ‘Eleanor Rigby’, received positive critical acclaim.
He was then introduced to Hit and Run Music Publishing, owned by veteran music manager Tony Smith (Genesis) and Phil Collins, and was offered a publishing deal writing for existing artists. It was here that he met and wrote with Steve ‘Tha 4Orce’ Ellington, Geoffrey Williams and Femi Williams (from the Young Disciples) and Johnny Dollar who has written/produced for Massive Attack, Sugababes, Gabrielle, Neneh Cherry and Mutya Buena. During this period he parted company with Andrew Green and teamed up with a new manager, Brian Reza. One of his co-writes “I Feel You” was selected to be included in the All Saints album, “Saints and Sinners”, which went on to become a Platinum best-seller.
Russell formed a real musical affinity with studio engineer and producer Steve ‘Tha 4Orce’ Ellington and they decided to form a new band, which was called, NASH. Russell, drawing on his acting experiences was the perfect front-man, totally at ease in front a few or thousands. Singing, producing, playing guitar, he was also the principal song-writer. There was tremendous alchemy between them, resulting in a unique fusion, bursting with soul, vibrant beats and richly layered orchestration and arrangements. The six piece group also included, Peter Cherry on bass, Tim Baxter on keys, Don Bannister on live drums and Izzi Dunn on the cello. They secured a deal with Polydor/Go Beat Records and although NASH initially found it hard to breakthrough in the UK, they sold 40,000 copies of their highly acclaimed album ‘The Chancer’ around the world, charting in Australia & Asia with both album and their single ‘100 Million Ways. The bands heart-felt deliverance was bursting with energy and was full of delightful twists resulting in a growing fan base and increasingly successful performances & tours both on home turf and internationally.
WHAT THE CRITICS HAD TO SAY:
“Less acid jazz than Jay Kay, more soulful than Kravitz, this London duo’s debut is as convincing an attempt to reclaim the charts for ‘proper’ music as will be released this year” GQ magazine
“Nash is good for you, like music used to be” Front magazine
“Classy, British hip-hop soul” The Times
“A truly tremendous example of British soul at its best” Touch magazine
“Thank God that someone’s still got the balls to make music like this…..a great new talent” Worldpop
“A truly tremendous example of British soul at its best” - Touch magazine “One of the most inventive and exciting artist launches of this year” The Tip Sheet
“The quintet purvey a weather beaten smorgasbord of old-skool jazz, soul and R@B, with exuberant front-man Russell Nash’s chameleon voice capable of evoking Al Green one minute, Stevie Wonder the next” London Metro
“Nash’s fluid voice is consistently a thing of beauty” The Guardian
“A winning debut” The Observer
“Russell Nash’s voice has the saccharin shrill of the best Motown movers and husky urban know-how of the finest contemporary shakers” The London Evening Standard
