Harvey Danger was one of the last of the Buzz Bin bands, in those waning
when major labels were still forces to be reckoned with and MTV
rotation was all it took to cement a song’s status as a
generation-defining hit. Fresh out of college, the band scored its one
major hit with “Flagpole Sitta,” the second track on the band’s debut
record, which, all told cost around $3,000 to record. Through
some combination of unpopular choices, one major flub on the part of
some crew member for 120 minutes and poor choices from above, the band
would never manage to recapture such success, in spite of, quite
arguably, releasing two far stronger records before disbanding for good
in 2009. In the days since, Nelson’s seemingly tried his hands
at everything, playing keyboards for indie darlings The Long Winters,
taking on backup vocal duties for the likes of Nada Surf and Death Cab
for Cutie, taking roles in a number of films and writing for Seattle’s
alt-weekly, The Stranger. Last summer, Nelson even returned to
songwriting, releasing his first solo record, Make Good Choices for the
tiny Seattle label Really Records. Nelson and I met up while he
was in New York to help a friend work on a musical, also using the
opportunity to play an intimate show downstairs at Brooklyn’s Union
Hall, along with his new wife Shenandoah Davis, who accompanied him on
piano as he worked through solo songs and the occasional Harvey Danger
number. We spoke about gauging one’s own accomplishments in the
wake of massive success, occupational diversification and how to take a
backseat to someone else’s creative force.
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