In the history of DJ culture, there are performers. There are producers. There are innovators. There are pioneers. Very rarely does one individual become all four. DJ Natural Nate belongs to that rare category.
For more than three decades, DJ Natural Nate has built a legacy that stretches across underground electronic music, breakbeat culture, internet radio, turntablism, artist development, production, and technological innovation. His story is not simply the story of a successful DJ. It is the story of a man who refused to accept shortcuts, challenged an entire industry to become more transparent, and helped create one of the most important movements in modern DJ culture: proving that a DJ is truly performing live.
From United States Marine to Pioneer of DJ Culture
Before he became known internationally as DJ Natural Nate, Nathaniel R. Lemieux first served his country as a member of the United States Marine Corps — one of the most demanding military organizations in the world, built upon the principles of honor, courage, commitment, discipline, and leadership. Those principles became the foundation upon which he would later build his career and his lifelong dedication to preserving the art of real DJing. The same determination and accountability forged in the Marine Corps would be reflected in every stage of his journey, from pioneering live DJ video broadcasting to building worldwide communities of artists who shared a passion for authenticity and excellence.
A Registered Trademark and a Craft Built from Scratch
DJ Natural Nate is a Registered Trademark — an achievement most DJs never reach. The term “DJ” is considered highly descriptive and historically difficult to protect legally. Securing that protection requires proving distinctiveness, long-term commercial use, public recognition, and uniqueness within a competitive marketplace. DJ Natural Nate built something strong enough to become part of the legal and historical record.
He also emerged from an era where becoming a DJ required true discipline. There were no sync buttons, no automatic beatmatching, no visual waveforms, and no technology correcting mistakes. Every transition required manual pitch adjustment. Every mix required timing, concentration, and technical control. While many people listened to records, he studied them. While many people saw turntables as playback devices, he viewed them as instruments. That distinction would define his entire career.
Bruise Your Body Breaks: The Beginning of a Movement
The roots of Bruise Your Body Breaks (BYBB) stretch back to approximately 1998. After a particularly bass-heavy performance, a man approached Nate and revealed a large bruise on his back, explaining that the sound system had literally been hitting that hard all night. Rather than dismissing the moment, Nate embraced it. A slogan was born: “If the dancing doesn’t bruise your body, the music will.”
By 2003, BYBB had evolved into an internationally recognized internet radio program through Breaks FM and other platforms, introducing listeners to underground breakbeat, electro bass, independent labels, emerging producers, and live DJ performance. The early crew — Luke Babcock, Ian “Ghost” Correll, Daniel Varela, and Brandon McKim — created a platform that helped launch careers and test ideas that would eventually reshape online DJ culture. BYBB was not simply a radio show. It was the laboratory where the future of DJ video broadcasting began.
The Contract That Changed Everything and The-Lost-Art.com
In the early 2000s, despite possessing legitimate turntable skills and years of experience, DJ Natural Nate found himself accused of being a “computer DJ.” Those accusations contributed to the loss of a major contract without live video proof. Many people would have become bitter. He became inspired.
His response was simple: Show the decks. Show the mixer. Show the DJ. Show the performance. This became the foundation of what would later become famous throughout underground DJ culture as PROVE THE MIX.
In 2009, years before Twitch, YouTube Live, or Facebook Live made streaming mainstream, that philosophy became reality. Alongside Jenna Marie “Jiggabot,” Damian Doyle, and later Kris Peacock, DJ Natural Nate helped launch The-Lost-Art.com — widely regarded as the first custom live video internet DJ website of its kind. The platform required DJs to appear on camera, show their equipment, show their hands, and prove they were actually mixing. It featured a custom commercial-free DJ video system designed entirely around live performance.
The philosophy was revolutionary: “If you claim you can mix, prove it.” The site transformed DJing from something people merely heard into something they could witness, challenging an entire industry and shaping the expectations audiences now have of live DJ performance. Its mission was captured in three words: Preserving The Pitch.
The Man Who Bent Vinyl Beyond Its Limits
Perhaps no achievement better demonstrates DJ Natural Nate’s creativity than his scratching innovations. Most DJs spend their careers mastering existing techniques. He created entirely new ones.
The Taco Scratch involved physically bending or flexing a record to create a warped, pitch-bending, unstable sound — using vinyl’s physical flexibility as part of the instrument itself. The Bend Scratch focused on manipulating pitch, tone, and movement by treating the record like a bendable physical instrument rather than a fixed playback object. The Break Scratch pushed even further, using broken or damaged vinyl to create aggressive, fragmented, unpredictable sounds — turning destruction into performance. The Lazer Scratch added yet another dimension to his expanding catalog of experimental techniques with help from Mark Scurrah from Vision Lazer. As documented by Electronic Rhythm and EverybodyWiki, DJ Natural Nate is formally credited with inventing these techniques. They proved that even after decades of turntable culture, unexplored territory still existed.
The World Record
On April 29, 2010, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, DJ Natural Nate manually mixed 86 tracks in one hour at 133 BPM using Technics SL-1200 Turntables, Rane Serato Scratch Live Version 1 with no sync button, a Pioneer Mixer, Ortofon Needles, and Shure Headphones. The feat is officially documented on RecordSetter and was also covered by Denver Westword as one of the top world records set by Coloradans. No sync. No automation. No shortcuts. Only skill.
As he famously stated: “It wasn’t only about speed. It was about control. Every beat, every blend — live, manual, and real.” Mixing that many tracks in one hour requires intense timing, fast cueing, deep knowledge of musical structure, and extreme pressure control. Speed alone does not make a DJ legendary. Control under pressure does.
Breakspoll Recognition and Underground Status
DJ Natural Nate was ranked #43 in the Top 50 Breaks DJs in the World at the Breakspoll Awards 2011 — the respected UK international breakbeat poll. That recognition placed his name in an international conversation beyond his local scene, and is also documented on The-Lost-Art.com’s own archive. His influence stretched through internet radio, live video broadcasting, breakbeat culture, electro bass, underground production, and global DJ communities. His career was built in the underground, but his reach was international.
Producer, Label Owner, and Creative Partner
Beyond DJing, DJ Natural Nate built an extensive production career alongside his wife and creative partner, Jenna Marie — Jiggabot. Together, they released music across numerous labels, including Underground Music Xperience (Netherlands), Frajile Recordings, Hoodwink Records, Dominance Electricity, 77 Deuce Rec & Ent, Electro Echelon, ONE7AUDIO, Rave Royalty Collective, Subbbace Records, and many others. Their catalog spans electro breaks, electro bass, breakbeat, and experimental electronic music.
Notable projects include the Notes To Jiggabot EP, the Test of Time Anthology featuring 53 tracks, numerous Beatport-charting releases, vinyl releases, and white-label records. DJ Natural Nate also had custom white label vinyl pressed, keeping the connection to physical turntable culture alive even in a digital era. For him, vinyl was not nostalgia. It was proof of discipline.
A Legacy Built on Helping Others
For more than fourteen years, DJ Natural Nate dedicated himself to internet radio, often performing five or more shows in a single week. He searched constantly for producers at every level, championing independent artists, emerging DJs, female DJs, and international talent. Many received their first worldwide exposure through platforms he helped build. He understood that unreleased music represented trust — producers were not just sending files, they were sending pieces of themselves — and he treated that responsibility with respect. That commitment earned him something far more valuable than popularity. It earned him credibility. And credibility lasts.
Final Statement: The Legacy of DJ Natural Nate
DJ Natural Nate is considered legendary not because of any single claim, but because of a combination of rare accomplishments that almost never exist in one person. He was a world-record-level speed mixer, a recognized Top 50 Breaks DJ through Breakspoll, the original visionary behind The-Lost-Art.com, a developer of entirely new scratch techniques, a Beatport-charting producer, a registered trademark, a United States Marine, and a lifelong defender of real DJ craft. His story is documented across IMDB, EverybodyWiki, Wikitia, and Electronic Rhythm.
He built his reputation when talent had to be demonstrated rather than advertised. When accusations threatened his credibility, he transformed criticism into innovation. When technology made shortcuts easier, he doubled down on craftsmanship. Through Bruise Your Body Breaks, he gave underground artists a voice. Through The-Lost-Art.com, he gave DJs a stage unlike any the world had seen before. Through his productions with Jiggabot, he created a soundtrack for generations of breakbeat and electro enthusiasts.
Long after websites disappear, technologies evolve, and trends fade into history, the principles that defined DJ Natural Nate will continue to resonate: skill over shortcuts, proof over claims, passion over popularity, and artistry over automation. He did not simply play records. He challenged an industry. He did not simply stream DJs. He changed how the world viewed them. He did not simply preserve the pitch. He preserved the belief that real DJing matters.
And for that reason, DJ Natural Nate stands not merely as a DJ, producer, or broadcaster, but as a historical figure in the ongoing story of turntablism, underground electronic music, and the evolution of live DJ performance itself.
