We recently connected with Chris Nurding and have shared our conversation below.
Chris, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?
The short answer is no, I wouldn’t change a thing! The longer answer is, after graduating High School, I enlisted in the US NAVY, saw the world, and learned to fly. Upon finishing my 4 year enlistment, and having reached the conclusion that things might be safer on the ground than in the air, I was hired by the FAA and served 30 rewarding years as an Air Traffic Controller! My career was primarily that of a radar approach controller working jets in and out of airports such as LAX, SFO, Seattle, and San Diego among others. My eldest son has since followed in my footsteps and is now a Controller at Apsen Tower in Colorado!
I finally retired to our family home in Coronado, CA at the tender age of 54, but decided I needed a “hobby” so I decided to take bass guitar and singing lessons! I had once sang in a choir, and played the violin in 5th grade, but had no other experience and very limited talent in my mind. Well, they say you can become an expert at just about anything if you put in the time, and time was what I now had! So after 2-3 years of hard work, I found myself playing semi-professionally with a couple of small dive bar bands.
Something then stirred inside me that if I could perhaps surround myself with the right talent, put forth popular dance tunes that most people love, and connect with the right venues, that we could perhaps make a mark in the local music scene and have a lot of fun doing so! Hence, IT’S NEVER 2L8 Band was born in 2016, and it’s been a miracle ride ever since then! IT’S NEVER 2L8 stands for what it sounds like: IT’S NEVER 2L8 to start over, realize your dreams, and do something completely unimaginable and out of your comfort zone! Take a chance, what have you got to lose?! Guess I’m proof that IT’S NEVER 2L8 to rock and roll!!!
Chris, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Apart from the story of me learning on the fly, late in life, to be a serviceable musician, promoter, and administrator, I’m most proud of the fact that this little project, IT’S NEVER 2L8, has become an entrainment entity that folks enjoy, seek out, and tell their friends about! I can barely hide my joy and excitement when I look out onto a large crowd to see folks up dancing, and singing along at the top of their lungs! We have one standing order! Participate at an IT’S NEVER 2L8 performance cuz we’re there for you, and playing all of your favorite tunes! Our motto is, if you don’t recognize our song in the first 4 notes, we just ain’t playing it! Lol.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being creative in your experience?
That’s an easy one. I get to stand up onstage and play and sing in a popular performing band! Doing so, while bringing joy and happiness to others, while perhaps helping them forget their daily troubles, if only for a while, is something most people can only dream about! Trust me, the beauty and significance of such a gift is definitely not lost on me. Plus, I’ve had the absolute good fortune and pleasure to work with my three ridiculously talented band mates, for the past 5+ years: Lead singer Deanna Haala, lead guitarist Dan Stelter, and drummer Mikey Bee! With such talent onstage with me, my job is to just not mess up! Lol
How did you build your audience on social media?
I was never very internet savvy, had practically zero presence on Facebook and Instagram, and have never taken pictures, videos, or designed websites or posters in the interest of promoting anything,; let alone a performing rock and roll, pop, 80’s, disco band! Thru trial and error, while also asking questions and taking note of what other bands do.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.itsnever2l8rocks.com
- Instagram: @it’s_never_2l8
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/ITSNEVER2L8
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCSYXU1b8-8PJOrsiEToOrkQ