Recent from talks
Bob Nanna
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Bob Nanna
Bob Nanna (born June 14, 1975) is an American musician best known as the singer and guitarist for the bands Braid and Hey Mercedes. Nanna also currently performs as part of the band Lifted Bells, as well as solo releases under the handle The City on Film as well as his own name.
Robert Thomas Nanna was born in Chicago, Illinois. In 1993, Nanna moved to Urbana, Illinois to attend the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Inspired by post-hardcore bands such as Jawbox and Hoover, Nanna founded the band Braid soon after. During their initial run, Braid played a total of 537 shows, and toured with such bands as Jimmy Eat World and The Get Up Kids. Braid released three full-lengths, 1995's Frankie Welfare Boy Age Five, 1996's The Age of Octeen and 1998's Frame & Canvas, before breaking up in 1999. Nanna graduated from the University of Illinois in 1997 with a degree in communications and advertising, in his words, "the easiest [degree] I thought I could do with the least amount of effort."
During his tenure with Braid, Nanna was also part of the short-lived Orwell, playing post-hardcore influenced by Indian Summer and Lync. Nanna subsequently began his solo project The City on Film and formed Hey Mercedes with his Braid bandmates Todd Bell and Damon Atkinson and guitarist Mark Dawursk. From 2000 to 2005, Hey Mercedes released two full-lengths, 2001's Everynight Fire Works and 2003's Loses Control, and shared stages with such bands as the Early November, Armor for Sleep, Piebald, and Hopesfall.
Braid reformed for a reunion tour in 2004. After Hey Mercedes broke up, Nanna played in Certain People I Know, before joining Lifted Bells. In 2013 he co-founded Downwrite, a website for commissioning custom songs, with Mark Rose of the band Spitalfield.
Braid reunited in 2011, releasing the EP Closer to Close soon after, followed by their first full-length since 1998, No Coast in 2014. Hey Mercedes has also played occasional shows, including a 2016 reunion tour.
In 2020, Nanna released his first album under his own name, Celebration States, a largely acoustic album recorded in one day. Orwell released an anthology, Orwell 1995, made up largely of old recordings from that year, in 2020 on Expert Work Records. The anthology was reissued in 2025.
Nanna has cited numerous bands and artists as influences, including Gauge, Fugazi, Jawbreaker, Blake Schwarzenbach, Bob Dylan, J. Robbins, Will Oldham, and Morrissey.
Hub AI
Bob Nanna AI simulator
(@Bob Nanna_simulator)
Bob Nanna
Bob Nanna (born June 14, 1975) is an American musician best known as the singer and guitarist for the bands Braid and Hey Mercedes. Nanna also currently performs as part of the band Lifted Bells, as well as solo releases under the handle The City on Film as well as his own name.
Robert Thomas Nanna was born in Chicago, Illinois. In 1993, Nanna moved to Urbana, Illinois to attend the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Inspired by post-hardcore bands such as Jawbox and Hoover, Nanna founded the band Braid soon after. During their initial run, Braid played a total of 537 shows, and toured with such bands as Jimmy Eat World and The Get Up Kids. Braid released three full-lengths, 1995's Frankie Welfare Boy Age Five, 1996's The Age of Octeen and 1998's Frame & Canvas, before breaking up in 1999. Nanna graduated from the University of Illinois in 1997 with a degree in communications and advertising, in his words, "the easiest [degree] I thought I could do with the least amount of effort."
During his tenure with Braid, Nanna was also part of the short-lived Orwell, playing post-hardcore influenced by Indian Summer and Lync. Nanna subsequently began his solo project The City on Film and formed Hey Mercedes with his Braid bandmates Todd Bell and Damon Atkinson and guitarist Mark Dawursk. From 2000 to 2005, Hey Mercedes released two full-lengths, 2001's Everynight Fire Works and 2003's Loses Control, and shared stages with such bands as the Early November, Armor for Sleep, Piebald, and Hopesfall.
Braid reformed for a reunion tour in 2004. After Hey Mercedes broke up, Nanna played in Certain People I Know, before joining Lifted Bells. In 2013 he co-founded Downwrite, a website for commissioning custom songs, with Mark Rose of the band Spitalfield.
Braid reunited in 2011, releasing the EP Closer to Close soon after, followed by their first full-length since 1998, No Coast in 2014. Hey Mercedes has also played occasional shows, including a 2016 reunion tour.
In 2020, Nanna released his first album under his own name, Celebration States, a largely acoustic album recorded in one day. Orwell released an anthology, Orwell 1995, made up largely of old recordings from that year, in 2020 on Expert Work Records. The anthology was reissued in 2025.
Nanna has cited numerous bands and artists as influences, including Gauge, Fugazi, Jawbreaker, Blake Schwarzenbach, Bob Dylan, J. Robbins, Will Oldham, and Morrissey.
Recent media