Nathan Tessman aka MC Wheels is shining his positivity through his music, with his second album 'Dark Side Of Happiness' being released in early August.
The Sunshine Coast rapper says it's been a long time coming, but he's extremely excited for the album to be finished. “It's pretty exciting. I've been working on this for a couple of years, probably since around 2014 or 2015,” Nathan says. “It's just great to know that it's finally finished and I can release some new music out to the world.”
Nathan says his new album has a theme throughout. “You can kind of tell through the title 'Dark Side Of Happiness'," he says.
"Everyone has some sort of happiness that they sort of find, whether it's a certain job or activity they do, but there's a dark side towards it. For me, it's always me trying to be better at what I'm doing for my next project or coming up with new song ideas. It's about trying to balance that dark side but also the happiness together.”
'Positive Outlook' featuring fellow Sunshine Coast musician Lilly-Taloola is the first single to be released off the new album. “It's such a nice vibe for a track, so we put it out there and people really liked it,” Nathan says.
MC Wheels album launch is fast approaching. With special guests Master Wolf, The Outlook, Amity and Rabbitz, Nathan says he's nervous but excited for the night. “It should be a pretty sweet night. This is my first major, local gig. It's a bit nerve-racking that no one will turn up,” Nathan says. “We'll just have to wait and see what happens on the night.”
There are a number of up coming events and shows in the works for Nathan including a inspirational talk at a Sunshine Coast High School. Nathan suffers from a rare condition called Spinal Muscular Atrophy with Respiratory Distress (Type 1 SMARDS).
SMARDS significantly affects day to day activity and living, but Nathan manages to keep a positive and strong frame-of-mind and doesn't shy away from chasing his dreams. In 2014, MC Wheels supported his number one idols Bliss n Eso at the Riverstage in Brisbane.
“Without a doubt the best show I've ever done was when I got to support Bliss n Eso, it was incredible. That was a part of a tour they did where they wanted local artists to open up each show on their tour and I won the Brisbane spot,” Nathan says.
“[It was the] best show I've ever done, best set I've ever done and a really great crowd. Being a massive fan of them it was just a dream come true to support them”.
Nathan is dreaming big and doesn't let any disadvantages affect him. “My main goal is to build up a fan base to a point where I can do music as a living and if I do make some sort of album or something like that I could go on a tour,” Nathan says.
“But at the moment I'm just like any other underground MC just struggling to get that sort of break.”
MC Wheels launches his new album at The Milk Factory 5 August. 'Dark Side Of Happiness' is released 4 August.
written by Grace Purvis
