Dan the Automator

• 1. Introduction

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  Dan the Automator is the stage name of Daniel M. Nakamura, an American record producer. His credits include a song for the 1997 film Scream 2. They also include a 2024 album for the Black Keys. Between those two points sit rap records, rock albums, television themes and a band made of cartoon characters. How does one producer end up working across so many corners of popular music? What does it mean when a producer stops standing behind the glass and joins the group he is recording? And how did a quiet childhood in San Francisco lead to a career built on invented personas and unlikely partnerships? The answers begin with a family that had already lived through a great deal before he was born.

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• 2. San Francisco Roots

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  Daniel M. Nakamura was born in San Francisco, California, on the 29th of August 1966. His parents had both spent part of their childhoods in Japanese internment camps. Public service shaped the household. His father worked for the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, and his mother taught at City College of San Francisco. As a child, Nakamura learned to play the violin. That classical training sat alongside a very different passion that arrived in high school, when he became immersed in hip-hop culture. He later graduated from San Francisco State University. The violin lessons and the hip-hop records would soon meet, because Nakamura was already drawn toward the turntables as a teenager.

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• 3. From Turntables to Production

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  Nakamura began his career as a DJ while still a teenager. Then he watched two younger performers, DJ Qbert and Mix Master Mike, play live. The experience changed his plans, and he decided to concentrate on producing tracks instead. His own recordings started early. His debut EP, Music to Be Murdered By, came out in 1989, and King of the Beats followed in 1990. Wider attention arrived in 1996 with his work on Kool Keith's album Dr. Octagonecologyst. That same year he released the EP A Better Tomorrow. In 2000 he expanded it into his debut album, A Much Better Tomorrow, and Keith featured extensively on both versions. By then, Nakamura had started trading his solo spotlight for a series of shared identities.

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• 4. Handsome Boy and Lovage

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  In 1999, Nakamura teamed up with Prince Paul to form Handsome Boy Modeling School. Each man took on a character. Nakamura became Nathaniel Merriweather, and Paul became Chest Rockwell. Their debut album, So... How's Your Girl?, drew in guests such as Róisín Murphy, DJ Shadow and Del the Funky Homosapien. A second album, White People, arrived in November 2004 with RZA, Cat Power and Mike Patton among the collaborators. Nakamura carried the Merriweather name into another project, Lovage, with Patton and Jennifer Charles. Its 2001 album was titled Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By. A business dispute once pushed Paul out of the duo for a short time. Handsome Boy Modeling School has since played more shows and talked about a third album. In 2023 the group put out a limited LP of seven new songs, made in collaboration with Fords Gin.

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• 5. Cartoons and Concept Albums

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  Two of Nakamura's biggest ensembles were formed in 2000 and 2001. In 2000, he joined Del the Funky Homosapien and Kid Koala to create Deltron 3030. Their self-titled debut came out that year, with guest appearances from Sean Lennon and Damon Albarn. Albarn then brought Nakamura into a second project. In 2001, Nakamura produced the first album by Gorillaz, Albarn's band of animated characters. He also appeared as a member of the band, alongside Del the Funky Homosapien. The two men returned together for the second Deltron 3030 record, Event 2, released in September 2013. Jamie Cullum, Emily Wells and Zack De La Rocha appeared on it. Interludes were performed by the actors David Cross, Amber Tamblyn and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. A very different pairing came next, with an actress as his partner.

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• 6. Got a Girl

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  Mary Elizabeth Winstead, an actress, became Nakamura's partner in the duo Got a Girl. Their debut album, I Love You but I Must Drive Off This Cliff Now, was released in 2014. In September 2015, the pair took it on a four-city tour. They played Seattle, San Francisco, New York City and Los Angeles. At each stop they performed the whole album live. The set also included a cover of "I've Been Thinking," a song by Handsome Boy Modeling School. It was a rare moment when one of his projects borrowed directly from another.

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• 7. Producer for Hire

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  Nakamura's list of productions reads like a map of several genres at once. In 1997 he worked on Cornershop's album When I Was Born for the 7th Time. In 1998 he produced a remix album, Bombay the Hard Way: Guns, Cars and Sitars, built around the work of Kalyanji and Anandji. Primal Scream's XTRMNTR followed in 2000. Later came Galactic's Ruckus in 2003 and Teriyaki Boyz' Beef or Chicken in 2005. Jamie Cullum's Catching Tales appeared in 2005, and Cullum returned for Momentum in 2013. Kasabian worked with him twice, on West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum in 2009 and Velociraptor! in 2011. Nakamura also built his own business around the work. He founded the publishing company Sharkman Music and the record label 75 Ark. In 2024 he released Dan the Automator Presents: Good Advice for Suckers.

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• 8. Screens and Scores

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  Television and film have been a steady home for Nakamura's music. Ocean's Eleven used his track "The Projects (P Jays)" in 2001. Blade II featured "Gorillaz on my Mind" in 2002. Video games came too, with songs in Tony Hawk's Underground in 2003 and Tony Hawk's Underground 2 in 2004. Television followed with Charmed in 2005, Californication in 2007 and Better Call Saul in 2015. In 2007 he also made a remix for The Sopranos. In 2010, Scott Pilgrim vs The World included his songs "Slick (Patel's Song)" and "Ninja Ninja Revolution." In 2019 he moved from songs to full scoring. He composed the music for the comedy film Booksmart, and the soundtrack album came out that same year. Another score arrived with Easter Sunday in 2022. In 2025, he was announced as one of the remixers of the 2026 FIFA World Cup theme, representing the San Francisco Bay Area.

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