Today, GRAMMY-winning multi-instrumentalist Nate Mercereau, currently on André 3000’s New Blue Sun tour, released the second single from his forthcoming album Excellent Traveler (out October 11 on Third Man Records). "For The Highest Quality Listener Testing The Limits" is a fresh, adventurous single featuring samples from the living legend Luis Pérez Ixoneztli and frequent collaborator Carlos Niño. Accompanying the single is a mini-documentary in which Mercereau provides fascinating insight into his recording process and credits Herbie Hancock for the inspiration and motivation behind Excellent Traveler.
Listen to “For The Highest Quality Listener Testing The Limits” here.
Watch the mini-documentary here.
With elements like Carlos Niño’s gong and Luis Pérez Ixoneztli’s pan flute, juxtaposed with other sounds and rearranged into a boundary-pushing track, the single, as its title suggests, invites listeners to explore the outer limits of sound. “This piece of music, and all the music I make, gives listeners the credit of handling and receiving anything,” says Mercereau about the second single. “I imagine the most imaginative, radical, open, searching listener, and make music for their endlessly creative mind and spirit, which is really my own mind and spirit. Creating is listening. Sharing new possible realities, never dampening, only sharpening and expanding expression.”
He continues, “This one contains samples of Luis Pérez Ixoneztli and Carlos Niño. I was really into Luis's album Ipan In Xiktli Metztli, México Mágico Cósmico, El Ombligo de la Luna at the time, and Carlos introduced us and invited us over to his studio to record together. I picked up Luis and several boxes full of his unique instruments, and we drove to Topanga. I asked Luis about many things—his music, his work with Jon Anderson, and playing music during incredible surgeries in the jungle. These aren’t my stories to tell here, but what Luis and I spoke about that day made it into the music. We created together in Carlos's home studio for about 30 minutes. I brought the files home (and some new instruments from Luis), and later that evening, I put together For The Highest Quality Listener Testing The Limits.”
In the mini-documentary, Mercereau sets up a version of the Excellent Traveler recording equipment in his backyard and discusses the origins and intentions of the music with director Joshua Whiteman. “Playing life, a way to interact, anything that makes sound is available as a possible new instrument, infinite possibility, a sonic diary, an entry into the world of solo guitar albums,” shares Mercereau.
As a creative artist at the forefront of modern sonic expression, Mercereau used a unique approach to create music with guitar-controlled samples of special sounds—from the hangers backstage at National Sawdust to studio sessions with artists like André 3000, Shabaka Hutchings, Kamasi Washington, and others, and even his concerts at home with his 3-year-old daughter, Juniper. With Excellent Traveler, Mercereau invites listeners to dive into immersive, multidimensional soundscapes and explore infinite palaces of possibility.
The forthcoming LP is Mercereau’s version of a solo guitar album, following the release of his critically acclaimed records Joy Techniques and SUNDAYS. As detailed in the album notes by Carlos Niño, this exquisite album of spontaneous solo composition, nuanced improvisation, and exploratory world creation features living legends Laraaji, Luis Pérez Ixoneztli, Idris Ackamoor, André 3000, and frequent collaborators Carlos Niño and Surya Botofasina. Kamasi Washington, Shabaka Hutchings, Cavana Lee, V.C.R., Anaiah Rasheed Muhammad, Dwight Trible, Andres Renteria, and Aaron Shaw all intersect in Mercereau's psychedelic quests and adventures as well.
"I feel like I, and we, contain the vastness of all infinite potential, and in that potential, my imagination and feelings about it go beyond words, and it's all in the music!" Mercereau continues. "My greatest inspirations in life and music come from feeling a sense of infinite possibility, because I truly believe that’s what is available in life on Planet Earth and beyond. I focus on opening myself up to this freedom as much as I can, and it’s something I maintain awareness of and cultivate in all aspects of my life and creativity. Freedom is very important—I offer it to myself and to others around me. I feel very alive and tuned in when experiencing, hearing, seeing, and doing things that remind me that anything can happen.”
Known for his writing and production credits on records by household names such as Jay-Z, John Legend, and Leon Bridges, Nate Mercereau is currently gaining buzz for his contributions to André 3000’s album New Blue Sun. At the vanguard of electroacoustic compositions, he seized the opportunity to record duets with the Golden Gate Bridge in 2021 after reading an article about San Francisco residents complaining about the landmark’s eerie hum—see the NPR piece here.
