{{Infobox musical artist | name = Goh Nakamura | image = Sundance Film Festival 2024 - Goh Nakamura-104A3212.jpg | caption = Nakamura at the [[2024 Sundance Film Festival]] | alt = | image_size = | birth_name = | alias = | birth_date = | birth_place = | death_date = | origin = | instrument = [[Guitar]] | genre = [[Acoustic rock]], [[indie pop]], [[folk music|folk]] | occupation = | years_active = 2007–present | label = | associated_acts = | website = {{URL|http://www.gohnakamura.com/}} }}

'''Goh Nakamura''' is a singer, songwriter, musician, composer and actor. His music has been featured in films directed by [[Ridley Scott]] such as ''[[A Good Year]]'', ''[[American Gangster (film)|American Gangster]]'' and ''[[Body of Lies (film)|Body of Lies]]''. His track "Daylight Savings" also appears in the film ''[[Feast of Love]]''. Nakamura made his acting debut in [[Dave Boyle]]'s award-winning film, ''[[Surrogate Valentine]],'' where he played a fictionalized version of himself. The film screened at a number of festivals including the [[SXSW Film Festival]] and Nakamura won a Special Jury Prize for Acting from the [[Dallas International Film Festival]] for his performance in it. Nakamura is of Japanese American descent.

==Background== Nakamura graduated from the [[Berklee College of Music]] in the 1990s.<ref>Goh Nakamura, About, http://www.gohnakamura.com/</ref><ref>Goh Nakamura-Starring Film 'Daylight Savings' One of 74 To Premiere at SXSW, Billboard Biz, http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/tv-film/1098563/goh-nakamura-starring-film-daylight-savings-one-of-74-to-premiere</ref> Nakamura's influences include [[Bob Dylan]], [[Elliott Smith]] and [[Elvis Costello]].<ref>8 Questions with Goh Nakamura, http://www.imprintculturelab.com/8-questions/8-questions-with-goh-nakamura/ {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20140715114421/http://www.imprintculturelab.com/8-questions/8-questions-with-goh-nakamura/ |date=2014-07-15 }}</ref> His self-described style of "dreamsicle pop" is a combination of folk pop, indie pop, acoustic rock, Beatles music and other influences such as literature.<ref>Alexander Varty, A career change is in the works for Goh Nakamura, https://www.straight.com/article-407596/vancouver/career-change-works-goh-nakamura</ref>

==Music== Nakamura's first album is entitled ''Daylight Savings.''<ref>Best of the Net, Music for 2004, http://a.wholelottanothing.org/2004/12/best-of-the-net-music-for-2004.html</ref> A music video directed by [[Bert is Evil|Dino Ignacio]] for a track on that album entitled "Embarcadero Blues" became featured on the frontpage of YouTube and soon amassed over 1&nbsp;million views.<ref>Jim Dunlop, Artists, Goh Nakamura, http://www.jimdunlop.com/artist/goh-nakamura {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140701033108/http://www.jimdunlop.com/artist/goh-nakamura |date=2014-07-01 }}</ref> The title track of the album, "Daylight Savings" was also featured on the soundtrack for the 2007 film ''[[Feast of Love]]'', directed by [[Robert Benton]], based on the [[Charles Baxter (author)|Charles Baxter]] novel of the same name and starring [[Morgan Freeman]], [[Greg Kinnear]], [[Selma Blair]] and many others.<ref>Goh Nakamura on 'Feast of Love' Soundtrack, http://blog.angryasianman.com/2007/09/goh-nakamura-on-feast-of-love.html</ref>

Nakamura also co-wrote the lyrics for the song "Bird's Eye", performed and also co-written by [[Mike Patton]], [[Serj Tankian]] and film composer [[Marc Streitenfeld]], which was a featured song on the original soundtrack for [[Ridley Scott]]'s 2008 film, ''[[Body of Lies (film)|Body of Lies]]''.<ref>KQED Arts, Goh Nakamura, http://ww2.kqed.org/arts/2009/01/14/goh_nakamura/</ref><ref>Goh Nakamura, Birds Eye, http://gohnakamura.com/tag/birds-eye/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714204539/http://gohnakamura.com/tag/birds-eye/ |date=2014-07-14 }}</ref> Nakamura has also contributed bass & guitar music to the score of Ridley Scott's ''[[American Gangster (film)|American Gangster]]'' and also guitar and vocals to the score of another Ridley Scott film, ''[[A Good Year]]''.

Nakamura's second album is entitled ''Ulysses'' and was considered more of a "branching out" in style that received positive reviews from the likes of KQED.<ref>Claire Light, Goh Nakamura: Ulysses, http://www.kqed.org/arts/music/article.jsp?essid=23381</ref> Nakamura's third album is entitled ''Motion from the Music Picture'' and features songs from [[Dave Boyle]]'s films ''[[Surrogate Valentine]]'' and ''Daylight Savings''.

==Film Acting== Nakamura made his acting debut in [[Dave Boyle]]'s film ''[[Surrogate Valentine]],'' where he played a fictionalized version of himself. The film screened at a number of festivals including the 2011 [[SXSW Film Festival]].<ref name="sxsw">{{cite web |url=http://schedule.sxsw.com/2011/events/event_FS11053 |title=Surrogate Valentine |publisher=schedule.sxsw.com |accessdate=2014-07-12 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130727234634/http://schedule.sxsw.com/2011/events/event_FS11053 |archivedate=2013-07-27 }}</ref> It won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Narrative Film from the 2011 [[San Diego Asian Film Festival]] and won an Audience Award for Best Narrative Film from the 2011 [[San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival]] (now known as [[CAAMFest]]. For his performance in ''Surrogate Valentine'', Nakamura won a Special Jury Prize for Acting from the [[Dallas International Film Festival]].

He also starred in the film's sequel, ''[[Daylight Savings (film)|Daylight Savings]]'' which was named after his first album and which premiered at the 2012 [[SXSW Film Festival]].<ref name="indiewire">{{cite web|url=http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/exclusive-clip-from-sxsw-comedy-daylight-savings-the-sequel-to-surrogate-valentine|title=Exclusive: Clip From SXSW Comedy 'Daylight Savings' The Sequel To 'Surrogate Valentine'&#124;The Playlist|date=7 March 2012 |publisher=blogs.indiewire.com|accessdate=2014-07-12}}</ref> For his work in both films, Nakamura was chosen as a New American Filmmaker by the Vilcek Foundation at the 2012 [[Hawaii International Film Festival]]. The National Film Society (comprising [[Patrick Epino]] and [[Stephen Dypiangco]]) also awarded him a Best Actor award for his role in ''Daylight Savings''. He played the same role in the third film in the trilogy, ''[[I Will Make You Mine]]'' (2020), written and directed by [[Lynn Chen]] and a selection of the 2020 South By Southwest Film Festival.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kennedy |first1=Lisa |title='I Will Make You Mine': Film Review |url=https://variety.com/2020/film/reviews/i-will-make-you-mine-film-review-1234622916/ |access-date=6 January 2022 |publisher=Variety |date=2 June 2020}}</ref>

Nakamura plays "Uncle" Sam, musician and host of an open mic night, in the award-winning independent film, ''[[Life Inside Out]]'' (2014) directed by Jill D'Agnenica. He performs his song "Here's a Secret" on stage in the film.

==External links== *[http://www.gohnakamura.com Goh Nakamura's Official Website] *[https://www.youtube.com/user/gohnakamura Goh Nakamura's Youtube Page] *{{IMDb name|2686432}}

==References== {{reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nakamura, Goh}} [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American film score composers]] [[Category:Berklee College of Music alumni]] [[Category:American male actors of Japanese descent]] [[Category:American male film actors]]