That Breakthrough Moment

No question, music creators can learn much from the stories of music veterans, years deep into their careers and full of sage advice. It can also be a thrill to hear from a talented new artist, full of energy and ideas even if they haven’t quite found their footing in the industry yet. But as any new parent can tell you, some of the most helpful perspectives come from the folks just a step or two ahead of you.

We interviewed a diverse trio of music creators who recently experienced breakthrough success after years of hard work: Emmy nominee Nathan Matthew David (composer of NBC’s Young Rock and Lifetime’s Surviving R. Kelly), writer-producer Nick Lee (who co-wrote/co-produced two tracks on Lil Nas X’s #2-charting Montero), and rising country star Lainey Wilson (whose single “Things a Man Oughta Know” recently hit #1 at country radio).

We asked each of them how they reached their breakthrough moment – and how they’re making the most of it now.

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What would you consider the “breakthrough” project or moment in your music career?

Nick Lee: The breakthrough moment for me was producing “INDUSTRY BABY.” I got to produce the record with Take a Daytrip and Kanye West, it debuted at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has been sitting in the top 10 for a number of weeks now. The song basically changed the whole trajectory of my career. It’s been opening a whole bunch of doors and I’ve been getting a whole lot of opportunities from it, so I’m just really grateful to Denzel and David of Take a Daytrip for bringing me on this project.

Nathan Matthew David: My moment happened at the end of 2018. I had spent the (prior) six years assisting my mentors straight out of school, and after learning so much from them, it was time to move forward. That year, I signed on to score the Russo Brothers’ show Deadly Class, the docuseries Surviving R. Kelly and the James Cameron-produced documentary The Game Changers. All those projects were creatively different; and it was exciting to have that variety and to have a pocket of work that would help me transition from assistant to full-time composer.

Lainey Wilson: There wasn’t just one moment for me. I feel like I’ve had breakthrough moments at every level of my career, from moving to Nashville, getting put in the GPS program with ASCAP, signing a publishing deal, signing a record deal, finding an agent, finding a management team. Every milestone, big or small, I feel like is a breakthrough for me.

Can you point to a couple key decisions you made, or opportunities you had, that helped lay the groundwork for your breakthrough?

NL: There were a couple key decisions, the first of which was teaming up with my manager Max (Gun Cho). Max and I go back since seventh grade and it’s just amazing to have him in my corner. We’re both equally driven and we always push each other to make our own things happen. It’s just great to have a partner to build everything with. Another thing was signing a publishing deal a few years ago with Atlas. They’ve been opening tons of doors for us, and Scooter [Braun] has been a big help getting me intros to people and getting me into big rooms. Just having them on my team has been incredible and has definitely helped me get to where I am today.

NMD: Being an assistant was the perfect environment for me to grow – I not only learned a lot about my craft from seeing my mentors working at a high level and on big projects, but taking on more responsibility over time gave me confidence that I could be a composer on my own. Growing up, I didn’t see many professional musicians in my family or from my culture, so seeing this as a real career path took a lot of time to believe. I grew in that confidence with each challenge that was presented to me along the way. I think choosing to face those challenges rather than run from them was a big turning point for me personally.

LW: Signing my record deal was the final piece in building the team that I needed to pursue my dream the way I wanted to. Getting my music placed in Yellowstone, one of the hottest TV shows on TV, brought a new wave of attention to my music. Playing the Grand Ole Opry made me feel right at home, like I was on the right path. And now, a #1 song gives me the confidence to just keep on going.

What’s changed, professionally and/or personally, as a result of your breakthrough?

NL: There were definitely some noticeable changes after the release of “INDUSTRY BABY.” A lot more people want to work [with me] now. I’ve been getting hit up a lot on Instagram, a lot of producers want to send me loops and beat packs and whatever, so I’m trying to balance responding to all those people and still managing my schedule. So, it’s been busier, and I’m forced to say no to more people which kind of sucks, but I have to make sure I’m balancing my work and my personal life too. So, since it’s so busy, it’s been hard for me to get a lot of sleep lately. That’s something I’m still working out the balance of.

NMD: Ever since that breakthrough, I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to work on some projects that are both creatively challenging and also meaningful. If anything, given the opportunity to work at this level has allowed me to focus on continuing to grow in my craft and as a person. The sheer variety of projects has really pushed me in different directions for growth. On the show Young Rock, I write music that is rooted in ‘80s and ‘90s hip-hop and pop. It’s been fun recording drum machines to a Tascam tape recorder and also using an old Emu Emulator II synth – that thing runs on a floppy drive! On the upcoming Netflix thriller, Hypnotic, I got to do a lot of exploration with sound design on modular synths; and on the HBO documentary Under the Grapefruit Tree, I had the chance to write an ethereal score using mainly strings and piano.

The meaningfulness of projects is also really important to me. I’m grateful to have been a part of some projects that have had some social impact, such as Surviving R. Kelly and also Young Rock. The latter has been really wonderful for [Asian American & Pacific Islander] AAPI representation and I’m grateful to help tell that story.

And personally, community has become so important to me since I launched on my own. I’ve been able to do a deep dive into studying indigenous Filipino music, and it’s been amazing to connect more with the Filipino-American diaspora here in LA. That connection and growth has been very important to me.

LW: I feel like my accomplishments are starting to speak for themselves and I don't have to explain myself nearly as much. I learn more and more about myself every single day. I’m still the same person, I’m just in a completely new position and I’m getting used to it. I’m home a lot less, I have a bigger platform and I get to connect with a whole lot of people.