Van Morrison is probably, at this point in time, my biggest influence as a vocalist. When we were making our last album I had a vinyl copy of 'Veedon Fleece' in the vocal booth in front of me, in the dorky sense. I think there were candles around, which is really tacky, but hey, I needed to channel Van the Man!

He joined punk bands in high school (Nevergonnascore This Past Year) and upon graduation chose to pursue music. Despite receiving generally positive reviews the album was not a commercial success peaking at 71 on the Billboard 200. Career


2001–2008: The Format
After forming in 2001 The Format released a demo titled EP which generated local interest and led to the band being signed to Elektra Records in 2002.

Ruess was the singer for The Format and is currently the lead vocalist of Fun. Nathaniel Joseph "Nate" Ruess (born February 26 1982) is an American indie/indie rock singer-songwriter from Arizona.