Fake grew up in Norfolk and began making music in high school, inspired by IDM acts like Aphex Twin and Orbital on the radio and further reading about the artists and their gear in music magazines. In 2003, Nathan met James Holden, who signed an aspiring producer on his [l=Border Community] label, releasing [r=193039] 12" EP. More records soon followed on Satoshi Tomiie's US-based [l=Saw Recordings], German label [l=Traum Schallplatten], and [l=Electrochoc Records] in France. Nathan Fake presented his debut full-length album, Drowning In A Sea Of Love, on [l=Border Community] in March 2006; the record gained positive reviews from [url=https://discogs.com/label/183279]Pitchfork[/url], [l=The Guardian], [l=Mixmag], and other publications. In 2014, Nathan Fake co-founded [l=Cambria Instruments] with Wesley Matsell, a fellow Border Community alumni. As a remix producer, he collaborated with several prominent musicians and labels, including Radiohead, Jon Hopkins, Chris Clark, undefined, [l=Warp Records], and [l=Kompakt].

In September 2016, one of the leading UK electronic labels, [l=Ninja Tune], signed Nathan Fake and released his [r=9442223] 12" EP later the same year. Fake presented the fourth studio album, Providence 2xLP/CD, in the spring of 2017, featuring Prurient (founder of Hospital Productions) and Raphaelle Standell-Preston (of Braids) as guest musicians, with favorable reviews in undefined and [l=Wire Magazine], as well as [url=https://discogs.com/label/153965]Bleep[/url]'s "Album of the Week" honorary mention. Later that year, Ninja Tune released a two-part Providence Reworks EP with remixes from Overmono, Huerco S., Olga Wojciechowska, and Konx-Om-Pax.