Nathan Micay

Toronto-born, Copenhagen-based producer and DJ Nathan Micay crafts adventurous, sci-fi-influenced electronic music as well as suspenseful television soundtracks. He first emerged with a unique take on post-dubstep and house under the guise of Bwana during the early 2010s. Stepping out from the pseudonym in 2018, Micay’s sound evolved into a more complex mixture of ambient trance and progressive breaks with the release of his 2019 debut album Blue Spring. After focusing on string-based arrangements with his second album, 2020′s The World I’m Going to Hell For, he began composing a hybrid orchestral score for HBO’s series Industry. He released the playful, breakbeat-heavy full-length To the God Named Dream in 2023.
First known as Bwana, Micay released club records inspired by garage and deep house on labels like Aus and 17 Steps, as well as The Capsule’s Pride, an acclaimed 2016 full-length built around samples from the anima classic Akira. Micay delivered his first EP under his given name in 2018 for renowned label Whities. The release saw him take his sound into more melodic, house-imbued electronics that echoed the sound of acts such as Throwing Snow and Max Cooper. The techno- and electro-referencing single Never Rhythm Game followed the same year on ESP Institute. 2019 saw the release of Butterfly Arcane on LuckyMe, and once again his sound merged the boundaries of house, techno, and electro. The release also signaled the sound he’d put forth on his debut album, Blue Spring. Released the same year, the album brought together the sound of all of Micay’s previous work into a collection of lushly produced electronic cuts.
In 2020, Micay released The World I’m Going to Hell For, a more ambient, cinematic full-length mainly created using string instruments. He then composed music for the HBO series Industry. The soundtrack to the first season was released in 2020, followed by the second season in 2022. Micay also wrote music for the series The Last Bus and the docu-drama Reality. After relocating to Copenhagen from his longtime home of Berlin, he released his third full-length, To the God Named Dream, in 2023. The album takes inspiration from science fiction and library music, incorporating elements of trance and jungle as well as Micay’s banjo playing. ~ Rich Wilson & Paul Simpson