New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ CineMedia Promotions) The independent spirit of Venice, CA, morphed into a creative space where composers John Nau and Andrew Feltenstein (ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES, BACHELORETTE) work their musical magic. Both come from a performance background. Nau was the pianist for the multi-platinum recording artists Hootie and The Blowfish and Feltenstein played and studied jazz. Together they compose and produce music for film, television and commercials.
John Nau was born and raised in La Jolla, CA. Nau, who plays piano and organ, led a 9-piece mini jazz orchestra for several years and has been a professional musician since the age of 14. In addition to his time in Hootie and the Blowfish he has played and toured with
Belinda Carlisle, RAT, Coolio, and The Januaries.
Fellow jazz-head and
Boston native Andrew Feltenstein studied music at Duke University where he played in the jazz ensemble under the direction of Dr. Paul Jeffries. He moved west, studying music in film through the renowned USC program.
It was in Venice, CA that the two would meet becoming fast friends and collaborators. They decided to open their own studio, a decision which paid off rather quickly as they secured a ready stream of commercial work for companies including Burger King, Motorola, Coca Cola, BMW and FedEx. They also produced/co-wrote the debut French album for Adam Cohen (Leonard Cohen's son) for Capitol Records.
A project for BudTV - a series of short films and sketches for Budweiser -- would lead to them working with Matt Piedmont, an Emmy Award winning writer for Saturday Night Live (SNL) and writer for the popular website Funny or Die. Feltenstein and Nau would be brought on to compose for the web series THE CARPET BROTHERS, starring SNL alums
David Spade and Tim Meadows and BRICK NOVAX'S DIARY, a winner of a Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.
Piedmont would make his leap to feature films with his directorial debut CASA DE MI PADRE starring another SNL alum, Will Ferrell and written by his Funny or Die collaborator Andrew Steele. Nau and Feltenstein's score would feature a philharmonic string section, period instruments (including a guitar fuzz pedal from the 1960s and a vintage Vox Continental organ), and a full "Mayan Ghost" Choir. They would also pen the title track performed by
Christina Aguilera and songs performed by Ferrell.
Nau and Feltenstein's film and TV credits also include the
Lauren Greenfield film KIDS AND MONEY, the BIG LOVE Christmas Album, and BACHELORETTE for director Leslye Headland, Their upcoming projects include BETTER LIVING THROUGH CHEMISTRY, starring
Olivia Wilde and Sam Rockwell, and the IFC series THE SPOILS OF BABYLON, from Matt Piedmont and Andrew Steele, and starring Kristen Wiig, Will Ferrell and Tobey Maguire.
