Meet Nate Block of Blocklisted Media in Fort Collins

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nate Block.

Nate, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I grew up in Cheyenne, Wyoming. When I was about seven or eight, a kid that lived down the block had a skateboard and one day I went over to his house and saw him do an ollie. I was blown away and that moment planted the seed for what would become a lifetime infatuation with skateboarding, film, art, music, and everything associated with skate culture. I’m 27 now and still skate most days. Cheyenne was and is a hyper conservative military town, so I was fortunate to find a little slice of alternative culture within the local skate scene. Our skate park was surprisingly immaculate considering what Cheyenne is. I mean it’s easily competitive with some of the best in Colorado. This is important because it means that the skate scene was thriving there which allowed us to have regular contest. Contests are important because with it came local music, photographers, videographers, and the best skateboarders in the area.

There’s always been this thing with skateboarding, where if you’re going to do a big trick or even a little interesting trick, you have to get it on film. Film and photography have always had this interdependent relationship with skateboarding. When I was a teenager, the shit that would go down at the Cheyenne skate park was wild. There were first and foremost incredible tricks being done by skateboarders and bikers, but there were also wild parties, firework wars, packed concerts, boxing matches in the bowls, and this park was the poster child for what late 90’s and early 2000’s skate culture was all about. Very reminiscent of Jackass and CKY. The best part was, there was always someone filming it. While my love for photography and videography didn’t fully bloom until much later, those early teenage years growing up in the midst of this wild underground culture, sort of instilled this intuitive need to have a camera nearby just in case some interesting shit went down.

Fast forward to my late teens, early 20’s, and I started going to a lot of EDM shows in Colorado. Those experiences transcended my seedling interests in media, art, and culture. The first electronic show I ever went to was Amon Tobin at the Ogden Theater in Denver. I got there late and had to stand in the back so I could only really see this tiny corner of the stage, but what I could see would plant more seeds that would change my life forever. Within the same few month period, I went to Winter on the Rocks with Atmosphere, Common, and Grieves. I remember having my mind blown that night and thinking how somehow, someday I want to be in the industry. Fast forward seven years and I got hired by Grieves to be his videographer for a show he was doing at The Aggie in Fort Collins. It was one of those moments that raises a lot of existential questions about life, time, and predetermination..

There were a lot of things that happened leading up to my first professional gig though. I was studying English Education at CSU when I decided half way through the major that I didn’t want to teach English anymore. So, I switched to Interdependent Liberal Arts with a minor in Music, Stage, and Sports Production which was essentially a mix of theatre, journalism, and video production. At the time I was at the prime of my bass head days and was spending a lot of time producing music and trying to be a DJ. So, when I started doing video production, a lot of the audio skills like mixing, sound design, and composition translated really well to video editing.

The switching of majors is a pretty significant story in hindsight. Essentially it goes like this: I went to see a general advisor about switching majors. I told him I was interested in music, art, business, and marketing. He said he didn’t really know what to do but thought my best bet would be to go check out the liberal arts department or journalism departments. Upon going to those departments, I met a guy named Steve Weiss. After going over the spectrum of my interests, we settled on the Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts degree with a minor in Music, Stage, and Sport Production. Of those requirements, he said an internship was one of them. He was going over a variety of options and people he knew, when he mentioned a friend of his named Dan Butcher who does BOH sound for The String Cheese Incident. In that moment, I thought how cool it would be to get an internship with that guy. Well about a year later, Dan came and taught a lesson on audio in my Audio Production class. I asked if he took interns and he said no. Fast forward another year later and it was time for me to find an internship and sure enough Dan Butcher was looking to start a video production company and wanted an intern. I spent two years building a good relationship with Steve and when he mentioned Dan wanted an intern, I begged to make it happen. He did everything in his power to do so and one day Dan agreed to meet with me. We had a good talk and that was it, I was going to be his intern. We’re actually texting as I write this. Another one of those existential moments…

He landed a deal that summer to shoot 16ish shows for the Mishawaka Amphitheatre. Over the course of that summer we did those show, filmed Eoto at Sonic Bloom, and filmed Bruce Hornsby at the Chautauqua in Boulder. I didn’t go into the internship with any expectations about what I’d be doing. However, it turned out that I would be doing mostly video work and on some pretty high profile shows right out the gate. I picked it up super quick, and just fell in love with the work and being in the music industry. I did own a DSLR prior to this and spent a couple years traveling the world in which I took some cool pictures along the way, but I never imagined doing it professionally on this level. Prior to that, I also had served and bartended for years, so in a lot of ways the music industry was a natural transition, but much more fun and culturally impactful. Over the next year I started getting gigs of my own, one of which being that Grieves show, and the following summer we did The Mish series again. That summer, Dani Grant owner/CEO asked me to be their in-house video guy. Eight months later, the Marketing Director quit and I took over as Video Marketing Director. The journey up to this point is very much a situation where I feel The Mish and the craft of photo/videography chose me, I didn’t choose it. In retrospect it makes sense in a lot of ways that I’m doing this kind of work considering my interests and personality, but it’s just weird how things work out in life.

There are sooo many other stories and subtle details that have contributed to my journey working in music, film, and photography, but that is my abstract in a nut shell.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
No one’s road is ever seamless. From 17-20ish, I struggled heavily with drugs and alcohol. I almost dropped out of school and I was on a quick path to jail or death. There were many reasons for falling into that path, but miraculously I got my shit together and did a complete 180 within a matter of a couple years. Those were wild times and within that I learned a lot about eastern philosophy and ultimately found a philosophical foundation at the core of my demise which has become the center place of positive direction and purpose that I’m able to lean on when times get tough. There’s so much that happened over the course of those years, and so many philosophical takeaways from all those experiences, but one of the most significant takeaways from all that was finding a sense of compassion, peace, and patience with life. In the day to day, patience can be challenging, but I think one of the things I’ve done well is remained patient in the long term. That internship and Mish story was the product of several years carefully building relationships and just sorting hoping if I did all the right things, the correct thing would line up at the correct time. Again, I definitely get anxious at times for immediate change and results, but in general, patience, long term thinking, and remaining incredibly calm, focused, and calculated throughout most situations has been the recipe for my success up to this point. It’s a whole other story, but I also trained Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for about seven years and the experience and mentality I’ve gained from doing that sport in tandem with skateboarding had instilled a ridiculous level of determination and grit in me. Jiu Jitsu teaches you to be comfortable in the most uncomfortable of situations in a way that almost nothing else can. With age, I think my challenges actually compound more than they dissipate, but the lessons and philosophies I’ve learned from my sports particularly, help me to remain calm, focused, and centered throughout it all.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Blocklisted Media – what should we know?
Blocklisted Media started as the business entity I needed in order to start working with The Mishawaka and Dan Butcher. At this point, it’s just me and the entity through which I run all my freelance work through, but I have some big plans for the future. I work full time at The Mish, so I don’t have a lot of time for freelance work. However, the long-term goal is to sell photo prints, digital products, other merch/physical products, and ultimately do international travel videos, skate videos, and brand deals.

At this point, I’m most proud of the name. haha I’m also proud of my journey just trying to start a business. Although it’s not at a place where it can be my full-time job or provide full-time work for others, I approach it like I approach Jiu Jitsu. Right now I’m in the early stage of my journey as a business owner, but I’m staying patient and trusting the process because I know that if I just keep showing up and putting in work every day, eventually I will get to that black belt level where I have a sustainable business that not only supports myself, but supports a whole team of people and philanthropic projects.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Steve Weiss- Advisor at CSU. This summer he’s actually working with us at the Mish. One of the classes for the minor I talked about, requires 50 hours of video production work per semester and in the summer, they usually shoot a weekly concert series at CSU. However, because of COVID, that was canceled so Dani (Mish Owner) and I worked out a deal to have them shoot all of our limited capacity shows this summer. Looking into the rest of my career though, I’ll always try to get Steve’s students involved with whatever projects I’m on.

Dan Butcher-First Mentor in the industry. I think I’ll always feel a little indebted to Dan and therefore always try to give him paying gigs when possible. We’re good friends now and I anticipate we’ll be working on projects for years to come.

Dani Grant- Mish Owner, baddest woman in the music industry. Dani has invested so much into me and has given me incredible opportunities I could have only dreamed of. She is one of the smartest, most driven, and well-rounded people it’s ever been my pleasure of getting to know and work with. She is an incredible entrepreneur and I learn so much every day being on her team. Hopefully one day I’ll get to her level in business and will be able to pay it forward by creating opportunities for others within the entertainment industry.

My Family- They’ve been incredibly supportive of me doing all the things I do and I think the best gift I can give them is to just keep it going and pay it forward whenever I’m in a position to do so.

Contact Info:

• Website: Blocklistedmedia.com
• Phone: (307) 421-9959
• Email: Nate@blocklistedmedia.com
• Instagram: @nateblocklisted and/or @blocklisitedmedia
• Facebook: @blocklistedmedia
• Twitter: @blocklistedmedi

  Image Credit:
Nate Block

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