Brett Nelson (born 1969) is an American

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and more efficient employment of musicians, where ...

, singer and songwriter best known as the former bassist for the

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produc ...

band Built to Spill. In high school, Nelson played in a band called Farm Days along with Doug Martsch and Andy Capps. Nelson's next band, Butterfly Train, released two albums on

Up Records Up Records was a Seattle based independent record label founded in 1994 by Chris Takino and Rich Jensen. Some of the label's best known artists were 764-Hero, Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, Quasi and Tad. Chris Takino died of leukemia in 200 ...

, in 1994 and 1996, before breaking up (Andy Capps was drummer for the latter album). In 1994, Nelson and Andy Capps joined Martsch's Built to Spill. Nelson has appeared on every album except the debut, '' Ultimate Alternative Wavers'' and ''

Untethered Moon ''Untethered Moon'' is the eighth studio album by American rock band Built to Spill. The album was released on vinyl for Record Store Day on April 18, 2015, and on CD and digital format on April 21, 2015. It is the band's first album in nearly s ...

''. Nelson sings and plays guitar and keyboards for The Suffocation Keep, which released its debut album ''John Hughes Was Never So Wrong'' in 2002. The band completed a second album in 2004,''A Few Minor Modifications of the Stars''. The album was never released; however, the band did make it available for free download. Nelson lives in

Boise, Idaho Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown ar ...

. He sometimes calls himself "Brett Not Netson" or "breLson" to distinguish himself from Built to Spill bandmate Brett Netson. In November 2009, Nelson re-recorded seven Built To Spill songs "synthesizer/drum machine only" with bandmate Doug Martsch re-singing the songs and released it as an EP titled The Electronic Anthology Project in July 2010.
The new edition of The Electronic Anthology Project takes nine songs from Dinosaur Jr. with new vocals by J Mascis. It was released on

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

, April 21, 2012, in a limited edition of 500 purple vinyl copies (with digital, CD and standard vinyl to follow). Brett Nelson departed from Built to Spill, along with then-drummer Scott Plouf in 2012, after 18 years with the band. The reasons behind the decision are said to be benevolent. Nelson was replaced by Jason Albertini and Scott Plouf by Steve Gere. Built to Spill promptly began touring again in early 2013. After his exit from Built to Spill, Nelson joined Sleepy Seeds. They self-released their only album on June 24, 2014. After Sleepy Seeds disbanded in 2015, Nelson started a four-piece post-wave band called Sick Wish featuring his son Jonah Nelson.

References

External links

Brett Nelson on MyspaceButterfly Train on MyspaceButterfly Train on the Up Records websiteThe Suffocation Keep (official home)The Suffocation Keep on Myspace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Brett 1969 births Living people American male singers Singers from Idaho Songwriters from Idaho American rock bass guitarists Built to Spill members American male bass guitarists 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American male musicians People from Boise, Idaho American male songwriters