The early 2000s were a magical time full of “distressed” oddly bleached denim, popped collars on pastel Polo’s, knock off Burberry scarves, the Hilton sisters and boybands. Besides my favorite, NSYNC, there was my lesser known but equally beloved favorite Plus One. Yes, yes they were what you would consider a “christian” boyband as much as I and probably them would hate that term. Plus One were the kinder, gentler, showered, shaved and ready to meet your parents version of NSYNC. They had a song in a Pokemon movie (I know), did a guest stint on Touched By An Angel as juvenile delinquents in a detention center (I know and I KNOW!) and eventually broke up after trying their hand at “dirty (christian) pop” only to later reform as a threesome under the same name, break up again and then reform as a totally different band altogether. WHEW. That was a mouthful AND a run-on sentence..
If you were a fan and you’re like me you still get a twinkle in your eye when you hear old Plus One songs, you followed the brilliant but short lived Castledoor and sometimes while drinking late at night or sitting in the back row of your “relevant church” wonder what Plus One Christian boy band is up to these days. Well, look no further kindred spirit, I’ve done the leg work and I’m here to report back on what I’ve discovered.
Nate Cole
If you like boys like Justin Timberlake or Lance Bass (pre-coming out) than Nate was your fave Plus One guy. If you’re still into THAT bleached blond gelled look that I might advise you to take a seat because that is not quite the case these days for ol Nate. For those not in the know Nate married a gal named Liska who would later be part of his band, Castledoor with Gabe. From what I’ve gathered Nate and his wifey now life in Fresno (I know), have a musical side project and run some sort of online business where he sells his thrift store finds on Etsy and at Flea Markets.
Follow Nate on Twitter for the latest on their cool music, vintage cowboy boots and acid washed denim or whatever @DmGlm
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Gabe Combs
If you were into Gabe back in the day, you liked the quirky ones. So good news, he’s still quirky. Gabe married an anime doll named Coury who was ALSO in Castledoor before the falling out and now is a blog girl. You know what I’m talking about. Blog girls take pictures of themselves in weird hats, blogs about their “thrifting” and of course post tons of pics of their cute dog and new baby. Congrats Combs family! Follow Coury for fashion advice if you want to look like an insane anime doll in baggy sweatshirts with bangs.
After Castledoor went down the crapper Gabe and wifey moved back to Nashville where Gabe now runs a production company with… drumroll please… Nathan Walters! Yup, this is all so full circle people.
Gabe’s Twitter is locked but you never know… maybe you’ll get in and maybe there will be tons of Instagrams of (his own) latte art
Fun Fact: Gabe was apart of the competitive world of coffee making a few years back. (You: That’s a thing? Us:Yes, that is a thing apparently). Here’s a picture of Gabe at the 2010 Barista Championship in Anaheim, CA where he repped Intelligensia Coffee. There is just so much weird here I don’t even know where to start so I’ll just leave you with the picture.
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Castledoor
Castledoor is the band Nate and Gabe put together after they moved to LA with their wives and two friends. A bit of disclosure here, I live in LA and actually got to see Castledoor live and guys, they were REALLY good. Which makes their break up a few years back all the more sad. You can actually read their break up message on their band blog which is still up here. The message makes it seem as though Gabe chose to leave the band for undisclosed reasons. Maybe the band was getting in the way of his competitive coffee making career. Oh well friends, we’ll always have their spectacular EP called Follow the Dove (recorded by Aaron Espinoza! Earlimart!) which, thank God, still lives on Spotify.
Their song “Remember When” makes me so sad panda… clearly about their Plus One experience and after…
There are a TON of Castledoor videos on YouTube, so if you feel so inclined or so nostalgic go spend an afternoon watching.
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Nathan Walters
Nathan was the older brother type (sorry!) of the group, if he was your fave, you’re probably working through your issues in counseling. ANYWAY, Guys, this one never left Nashville! Nathan continued to put out solo music that sounded like the music you hear in the bathroom at a restaurant where it’s more about being seen than eating, after Plus One. In 2009 he had a solo single chart on Christian radio called “Quiet of the Night” and has written heaps of songs that have been used on tv. Arguably, he’s had the most success with music of the crew. Amid all this Nathan married a Russian chick named Inna who I remember had a blog as some point but I can’t find it now. After Gabe quit his competitive coffee making career and moved back to Nashville they formed a Production company called Multitone Musik. Head there and listen to their production sampler which includes music from Plus One, Castledoor, Rachael Lampa (remember her?!), Secrets in Stereo and Hawk Nelson (another remember them?!).
Honestly, Nathan seems like the most approachable one of the group what with him being all up in the social media: Twitter, Instagram, Vine, etc etc. Follow him if you want to watch a TON of Vines.
A recent Instagram of Nathan’s…
Awwww guys!
Jeremy
According to a very reliable Youtube video Jeremy is a crossfit trainer at Springfield Crossfit. Get it midwest ladies. He also has a blog (we need you at TN Jeremy) called Proximal Strength where he blogs about husband things and CrossFit training and videos of July 4th pool parties and whatnot. Essentially he’s a total Dad now. Jeremy has been married for NINE YEARS! Uh YEAH that’s a freaking long time. And yes if you do the math their marriage is around the time Plus One broke up… so ya know, you can draw your own conclusions there. Regardless of whatever happened cause honestly, it’s been nine years, who cares, this dude seems super devoted to his “ride or die” wife and really, that’s pretty awesome (and pretty Rough Ryders style). Good on you Jeremy!
Fun Fact: Jeremy competes professionally in CrossFit competitions and also is on the radio A LOT talking about CrossFit. He is one of THOSE CrossFit people. You know the type they use the word “box” A LOT and jump up on street signs for a quick pull up while they’re waiting on the light to change before they use the cross walk? Yea.
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Jason Perry
Alright guys, we have now reached my favorite Plus One-er (is that what they were called?) back in the day and also, as luck would have it, the most illusive of them all. Of course. His IMDB page says he contributed to some songs that were on relatively popular movies: Night at the Museum and Confessions of a Shopoholic among them. BUT here’s where it gets a little unclear… there is a producer and a songwriter out there BOTH named Jason Perry who write music so the internet is a bit fuzzy on whether it’s the Plus One Jason Perry or those other guys.
What I could find out though is that Jason lived in New York for a bit a few years back and played some local shows including a showcase at SESAC (a publishing company) and has a (now defunct) MySpace page with music. WAAAh. We can only guess Jason become a recluse because he’s currently writing the follow up to “You Are Not Your Own” and plotting how to get Joy Williams to start The Civil Wars Part Deux with him. Fingers crossed folks.
AWWW, memories guys! Somewhere Barbra Streisand is singing “The Way We Where.” There is actually a ton more to talk about here and I would love to delve deeper into the aftermath of a christian group, what is it like even “working” within those confines, what does life look like now? WHAT REALLY HAPPENED?!?!? But alas… that’s not going to happen in this post… maybe someday we or E! True HollywooD Story (or True CCM Story) will pull them in for some sort of look back. Until then enjoy the memories, the competitive coffee making, the defunct bands, the blog wives and the weird fashions.
Were you a fan? Do you know anything about what the guys are up to that we left out? SHARE!
PS If you REALLY care a lot there is days worth of info in the source linkes below. Have at it!
PPS You should read our post What Your Favorite 90s Boy Band Says About You HERE.
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15,
