Man + drum machine = Rotundo Sealeg

Until just this week, I lived under the misguided impression that Rotundo Sealeg, the name of Belfast musician Nate Oldham’s one-man-band, was taken from one of those weird spam messages you get in your e-mail. You know, like “Merriweather T. Angioplasty,” or “Abraham Quetzelcoatl,” both of whom are trying to sell you Viagra or a better rate on your mortgage. Turns out, I was wrong.

“One day my heart spoke to me. It spoke to me of rock ‘n’ roll, and it said ‘Rotundo Sealeg,'” said Oldham, 26. “There really isn’t any explanation for it, other than I misheard a couple of things on the news and the radio and it sounded like ‘Rotundo Sealeg.’ I thought that would be a cool name for something.”

Oldham has been making music since he was a kid growing up in Islesboro – from noodling around as a teenager on his Moog Prodigy and his beloved Roland TR-505 drum machine, to being one-half of the mysterious new wave duo Tomorrow’s Retro Future while studying art at the University of Maine.

Now he’s the sole member of Rotundo Sealeg, where he writes quirky, short songs that he classifies as “fun new wave pop punk.” He will play Saturday night at the Keith Anderson Community Center, along with Wood Burning Cat, the 500s, the Rattlesnakes and 1800s Sea Monster, in his first-ever show at Rotundo Sealeg in the Greater Bangor area.

“My main goal in the band is that even if a song is sad or difficult to deal with, I try to make everything as danceable and enjoyable as possible,” said Oldham. “I still remember going to shows when I was in high school, and it was such a positive release, even if they were singing about something negative.”

Oldham’s songs combine a kind of childlike (but not childish) curiosity and humor with upbeat punk rhythms, delivered in a baritone that somehow also manages to sound like a screech (think Mark Mothersbaugh from Devo). “Hoverboard,” which is up on his MySpace page (www.myspace.com/rotundosealeg), is a great example of that.

“In the ‘Making of Back to the Future 2’ special, there was an interview with Robert Zemeckis where he made a claim that they really did have hoverboards in the movie,” he said. “I saw that when I was eight, and I remember thinking ‘Parent groups are trying to keep them off the shelves!’ I really wanted one. That’s what inspired the song.”

Oldham builds songs around beats programmed on the TR-505, and adds instrumentation as he goes. Live, he plays the backing tracks through his iPod, and plays guitar and keyboard along with them. The drum machine was one of the first instruments he ever had.

“I was 17, and much like most of my musical instruments, it had once been my Dad’s. He’s a musician too, and he had this old Roland TR-505 and he thought that it might improve my timing,” he said. “I just took to it immediately. I still use the same one. I have utmost respect for anyone that can play the drums, but I can’t. But I know exactly what I want the drums to sound like in my head, so it’s nice to be able to lay them out.”

In February, Oldham participated in February Album Writing Month (www.fawm.org), a project where musicians are challenged to write 14 new songs in 28 days. According to the Web site, out of the 283 active FAWMers (870 total registered), 128 completed the challenge. Oldham was one of them.

“It went really well. I wrote a couple that sucked, but a bunch have become part of my permanent repertoire,” he said. “All of the names of songs I picked up from interesting random phrases on the news, like ‘French Lab,’ which is on my MySpace.”

Despite what you might think, Oldham wants to make one thing clear: Rotundo Sealeg is not a real person, and he’s not him.

“I make sure to make the distinction that I’m not Rotundo Sealeg,” he said. “That’s the band. I’m Nate. I’m just the only one that’s in the band.”

Rotundo Sealeg, the Rattlesnakes, Wood Burning Cat, the 500s and 1800s Sea Monster will play starting at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 5, at the Keith Anderson Community Center on Bennoch Road in Orono. Admission is $5. Emily Burnham can be reached at eburnham@bangordailynews.net.