Nathan Sharp talks games, music, and voicing Craig in Dream Daddy

Nathan Sharp, known by his YouTube handle NateWantsToBattle, makes music about the things he loves most: video games, anime, and emotional stories.

Musician, composer, and voice actor Nathan Sharp has amassed an impressive following on his YouTube channel, NateWantsToBattle. Since he created the channel in 2012, he’s gained more than 1.2 million followers. His wide array of cover songs and original compositions has earned millions of views. He constantly produces new content for his growing fanbase, and engages widely on social media.

In addition, Sharp has contributed his voice to several projects. Most notably, he’s acted in anime series Attack On Titan  and the film Fairy Tale: Dragon Cry, which is in theaters now. Sharp also voiced one of the dads in the Dream Daddy dating simulator by Game Grumps.

Culturess caught up with Sharp via phone this week to talk about his inspirations, fan interactions, and what’s on the horizon. The rising star, who’s a fully independent artist, has a lot going on.

YouTube has launched quite a few notable careers, especially for musicians — were you inspired by any particular person or story when you started your YouTube channel?

NS: I chose the YouTube platform mainly because I came from the MySpace music era, so I was used to uploading a lot of music on whatever the medium was. When I first started NateWantsToBattle, it was the big thing to upload music on YouTube. It was a free platform and it had a related search feature, and a lot of people spent time there. It seemed like the thing to do because it had so much outreach, especially for a free site.

You’ve done dozens of cover songs in addition to writing and performing your own music. Are there any covers that stand out as favorites? Why?

NS: I absolutely love Panic! At the Disco. It’s one of my fave songwriters, so anything by them is so much fun. Every time I get to cover music by an artist I grew up with and that’s had a lot of influence on me, it’s super enjoyable. Basically just any artist that molded who I am as a musician. I did an entire album of covers (AN: Thnks Fr The Cvrs, released independently in 2016) and it’s a lot of early 2000s pop punk: a lot of Cartel, Paramore, stuff like that.

Regarding your original music, where do you pull your inspiration? How does the songwriting process look for you?

NS: For the music that is based around some kind of fandom, video game, show, anything like that, I usually try my best to read more into whatever I’m writing about to find a more emotional meaning behind it. I try to avoid saying things like actual character or game names, but rather try to make music about their story rather than their character. Video games, anime, stuff like that, they’re stories about struggle and bettering yourself and being the best version of yourself you can be. I try to keep lyrics like that so even if you don’t even have a connection to the game, you can still relate.

Has any particular franchise been particularly influential?

NS: Video games have been a big part of where the channel and where my music career has gone. Games like Pokémon, Zelda, Five Nights at Freddy’s, Undertale… indie games that have a lot to do with struggling with emotion and darker things like that.

How did you get into gaming?

NS: I got introduced to video games by a childhood friend of mine who unfortunately is no longer with us. I was very young and he showed me Super Mario World on Super Nintendo and it was the coolest thing to me. I thought it was amazing that it looked like a cartoon but I was controlling it. Like, that’s crazy! After lots of begging, my dad got me my own SNES and I played a lot. I fell out of it in high school, but in college, I figured out I could combine music and video games, like, “oh, this could be fun!” I tried to do it a lot earlier in life but the band I was in wasn’t really into it. Now that I’m on my own I get to do that.

What made you decide to pursue music?

NS: Growing up, it was kind of the only thing that I didn’t totally suck at, for lack of a better term. I was young and my parents had me in that phase where I was trying everything: sports teams, clubs, scouts for a bit. I was also playing piano and that was the one thing I seemed to have a knack for and could continue with. My dad was like, “Okay, this is the thing we’re gonna push because it’s the thing that comes to you the easiest.” So my family kind of pushed me to pursue something that comes easy to me and that I enjoy.

Your voice acting credits are many and varied. What has been your favorite character to voice?

NS: I grew up with video games and cartoons, but one day it dawned on me that people are making voices for these characters and that’s really cool. As a kid, I made dumb voices and tried to memorize dialogue from Disney movies and Cartoon Network and stuff. It wasn’t something that I really did a lot growing up, though. It was after my music career started taking off a bit and I started doing convention appearances. Conventions revolve around a lot of anime and so does my music. I met various directors and different people in the industry and through that was able to talk to them and try some auditions. Over time, it turned into what it is today. It was really just right place, right time.

[As far as characters], I love all of them. They’ve all been so much fun to do but a lot of titles were an honor to be on, like the Fairy Tale movie and Attack On Titan. There’s just a lot of cool shows I’ve known about for such a long time and to be involved with them now is huge honor.

I have to ask about Dream Daddy. How did you get involved? Are you surprised by the response to the game?

NS: That project was a lot of fun because it was made by some friends of mine. I had known about it for a while and was looking forward to it. Then, a little before the announcement, they reached out to me like, “Hey, we have a dad we want you to voice. Do you want to come in and grunt and make some dad noises for like half an hour?” I was like “yeah!” It was awesome just in that it was cool to be involved my friend’s project. I never thought it would be as big as it is.

It’s really cool. I get so much more fan art than I thought I would of Craig and it’s really awesome. It’s not by some huge studio or something; it was a creative endeavor for a bunch of friends and I’m just happy to have been involved with it. And it’s cool to see how much community and passion exists for it.

How has your growing fanbase affected your creative process, if at all?

NS: I kind of always believed in creating the art that you want to create, because no matter what it is, if you believe in it, then there’s definitely a market for it. There’s people who will like it as long as you put your heart and soul into it. I made music I believed in and believed it would find its own following.

As far as social media goes, before, my social media was a lot more personal, in a way. Over time, after meeting fans and talking to them, they would share stories about how what I do has had a positive impact on their lives. I keep that in mind a lot more before I post something now, because I enjoy having that positive impact and try to maintain that. If I post something, I want to bring a smile to someone’s face or give someone the drive to carry on with what they’re doing.

Can you tell me a little bit about your upcoming release, Enjoy the Show?

NS: Yeah! It’s more of a compilation album, like a bunch of singles I put out through the past couple of years that were only available digitally. Now they’re all available in one physical form.

What kind of work goes into the visual elements of your music, like the single videos? Do you control those things, or just look for people with similar visions to yours?

NS: Because I’m an independent artist, I get to make pretty much all the calls because I’m not answering to a label or anything. In the end, I choose people who I trust their vision because they’re much better at it than I am. The video for “Heroes Never Die” was like, I wanna do a video in a laser tag arena. I brought it to my director, Mike, who I work with a lot and he works his magic, locks down the location, gets together an awesome crew and makes a really cool project. For “StopRewind”, I wanted to have vibes of The Stanley Parable, so yeah, that’s how it works with him.

For other videos, like “All I See”, that was one where I contacted a director who had made videos for a bunch of other artists I listened to and I brought him the song with no idea whatsoever. I told him to take full creative freedom, listen to it and look at the lyrics and see what comes to mind. They came up with this amazing, completely CGI future world with advertisements everywhere. It was crazy to see everything come together.

What’s next for you?

NS: Sometime this month we’ll be announcing more dates for the Cool and Good Tour, which is my headlining tour along with my friends AmaLee and MandoPony. We’ve got a couple shows spaced throughout the year, but we’re announcing way more.

Have you performed in front of a live audience before? What’s the difference between that and making music at home or in a studio?

NS: Before touring as NateWantsToBattle, I did with a few smaller bands back in the day and we’d be playing for crowds of 30-50 people. But this tour has just been amazing. It’s cool to see hundreds and hundreds of kids at every show coming out and having a good time. It’s a world of difference, literally the best part of the job. If there weren’t so much tying me to home I’d probably just want to live on the road for a while. From the time I leave to the time I get back it’s just a pure rush.

Last question: are there any “bucket list artists” you’d want to work with, if given the chance?

NS: Oh, man. Bucket list artists? I mean, like I said before, just… Panic! At the Disco, Fall Out Boy. A lot of the Alternative Press realm, those kinds of things. Just… as many people as I could that we share interests would be an awesome experience, for sure.

Next: Throwdown Thursday: Justin Bieber speaks up

To close, Sharp encouraged readers to keep an eye out for new tour dates and follow his YouTube channel: “There’s frequent music going up on the channel, usually 2-3 songs a month, and covers on the horizon.” Tour dates will be available on Sharp’s website, or you can follow him on Twitter for updates.