Duncan Nielsen has sported the moniker ‘DONCAT’ since 2013.
Nielsen’s approach to songs has been inward-facing from the beginning. As a teenager he spent so much of his time channeling classic rock and folk, both at his parents home in the country on campus, that by the end of junior-high he recalls not having many friends. He had slowly become the token kid-with-a-guitar, loved by all but known by none. At a birthday party he gifted Led Zeppelin I and was ostracized. This compounded a feeling of solitude that manifested deeply through high-school as he continued to write songs and frequently skipped school altogether to surf alone.
Themes of elemental fascination glue together debut LP ‘Don Gato.’ Nielsen spent summers as a kid between the California oceans and the Eastern Sierra desert; he recalls it as a constant state of ethereal daydream - shooting rifles, making bows and arrows from willow branches, riding horses, catching fish, finding obsidian, and surfing. These experiences forged his connection with the natural. Iconic track Steal Away is a moody memoir of Nielsen’s youth as he yearns for these sanctuaries of solitude and rebirth from the boring comfort of home life. Phrases like “So many years in the shadow/ of a mountain called El Toro” and “Polaris/ shine on through/ and I’ll follow you” boast the fervent naturalism at the core of his songwriting.
While he’s not writing and performing his own music he tours nationally with San Francisco based Geographer as a guitarist, keyboard player and backup vocalist. DONCAT is currently putting finishing touches on his follow up LP ‘Easy Cowboy’ due out Summer 2016. Expect to see west coast tour dates to come along with it.
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Nielsen’s approach to songs has been inward-facing from the beginning. As a teenager he spent so much of his time channeling classic rock and folk, both at his parents home in the country on campus, that by the end of junior-high he recalls not having many friends. He had slowly become the token kid-with-a-guitar, loved by all but known by none. At a birthday party he gifted Led Zeppelin I and was ostracized. This compounded a feeling of solitude that manifested deeply through high-school as he continued to write songs and frequently skipped school altogether to surf alone.
Themes of elemental fascination glue together debut LP ‘Don Gato.’ Nielsen spent summers as a kid between the California oceans and the Eastern Sierra desert; he recalls it as a constant state of ethereal daydream - shooting rifles, making bows and arrows from willow branches, riding horses, catching fish, finding obsidian, and surfing. These experiences forged his connection with the natural. Iconic track Steal Away is a moody memoir of Nielsen’s youth as he yearns for these sanctuaries of solitude and rebirth from the boring comfort of home life. Phrases like “So many years in the shadow/ of a mountain called El Toro” and “Polaris/ shine on through/ and I’ll follow you” boast the fervent naturalism at the core of his songwriting.
While he’s not writing and performing his own music he tours nationally with San Francisco based Geographer as a guitarist, keyboard player and backup vocalist. DONCAT is currently putting finishing touches on his follow up LP ‘Easy Cowboy’ due out Summer 2016. Expect to see west coast tour dates to come along with it.
Duncan Nielsen has sported the moniker ‘DONCAT’ since 2013.
Nielsen’s approach to songs has been inward-facing from the beginning. As a teenager he spent so much of his time channeling classic rock and folk, both at his parents home in the country on campus, that by the end of junior-high he recalls not having many friends. He had slowly become the token kid-with-a-guitar, loved by all but known by none. At a birthday party he gifted Led Zeppelin I and was ostracized. This compounded a feeling of solitude that manifested deeply through high-school as he continued to write songs and frequently skipped school altogether to surf alone.
Themes of elemental fascination glue together debut LP ‘Don Gato.’ Nielsen spent summers as a kid between the California oceans and the Eastern Sierra desert; he recalls it as a constant state of ethereal daydream - shooting rifles, making bows and arrows from willow branches, riding horses, catching fish, finding obsidian, and surfing. These experiences forged his connection with the natural. Iconic track Steal Away is a moody memoir of Nielsen’s youth as he yearns for these sanctuaries of solitude and rebirth from the boring comfort of home life. Phrases like “So many years in the shadow/ of a mountain called El Toro” and “Polaris/ shine on through/ and I’ll follow you” boast the fervent naturalism at the core of his songwriting.
While he’s not writing and performing his own music he tours nationally with San Francisco based Geographer as a guitarist, keyboard player and backup vocalist. DONCAT is currently putting finishing touches on his follow up LP ‘Easy Cowboy’ due out Summer 2016. Expect to see west coast tour dates to come along with it.
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Nielsen’s approach to songs has been inward-facing from the beginning. As a teenager he spent so much of his time channeling classic rock and folk, both at his parents home in the country on campus, that by the end of junior-high he recalls not having many friends. He had slowly become the token kid-with-a-guitar, loved by all but known by none. At a birthday party he gifted Led Zeppelin I and was ostracized. This compounded a feeling of solitude that manifested deeply through high-school as he continued to write songs and frequently skipped school altogether to surf alone.
Themes of elemental fascination glue together debut LP ‘Don Gato.’ Nielsen spent summers as a kid between the California oceans and the Eastern Sierra desert; he recalls it as a constant state of ethereal daydream - shooting rifles, making bows and arrows from willow branches, riding horses, catching fish, finding obsidian, and surfing. These experiences forged his connection with the natural. Iconic track Steal Away is a moody memoir of Nielsen’s youth as he yearns for these sanctuaries of solitude and rebirth from the boring comfort of home life. Phrases like “So many years in the shadow/ of a mountain called El Toro” and “Polaris/ shine on through/ and I’ll follow you” boast the fervent naturalism at the core of his songwriting.
While he’s not writing and performing his own music he tours nationally with San Francisco based Geographer as a guitarist, keyboard player and backup vocalist. DONCAT is currently putting finishing touches on his follow up LP ‘Easy Cowboy’ due out Summer 2016. Expect to see west coast tour dates to come along with it.
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