It was well over a year ago that I began the interview special feature and since then, I have interviewed a few amazing artists, including Syleena Johnson; Shystie; Mamas Gun; etc. Well now is the turn of the incredible Natalie Brown. Here is a bit of information about the lady herself, followed by the interview exclusive to Sexy Never Left.
Canadian singer/songwriter Natalie Brown’s involvement in music was nurtured from a very young age, with work in Theatre, Gospel music, creative writing, etc. Having decided on pursuing her music career, Natalie moved to California where she was selected to perform with Gospel recording artist, Ron Kenoly, on his ‘Welcome Home’ tour in 1996. Upon returning from a once in a lifetime opportunity, Natalie then went on to work with Seth Riggs and Dave Stroud.
The year 2000 saw Natalie release her debut album, ‘Let The Candle Burn’, which was welcomed with open arms by fans and many a person involved within the music industry. Natalie returned to the studio not long afterwards to record what was to be her 2003 album, ‘A Cool Christmas’, a ten song collection of R&B/Pop flavoured Christmas songs.
In 2004, the digital singles ‘I Wonder’ and ‘Queen of Me’ were made publicly available on Natalie’s official website. The songs created a buzz within music and received a large amount of attention and later on the same year, ‘Queen of Me’ was released on the ‘Soul Essentials 7’ series with songs from the likes of Rahsaan Patterson; etc. A great achievement for all involved.
To the delight of fans, Natalie went on to release her eagerly awaited new material and in January of this year, Natalie’s long awaited album, ‘Random Thoughts’, was officially released and contained songs on a variety of themes. It is now that she is finally beginning to make a name for herself within the music scene, often doing her own promotion online on services such as Twitter, etc.
What can people who haven’t heard of you expect from your music?
They can expect a voice that is clean, soothing and soulful. They can expect lyrics that speak of our relationship to others, this world and they can expect different themes within my music. They can expect music that, while it doesn’t sound like a “hit” record, it is written to stand the test of time.
How did you get into music?
I have been singing ever since I was a little kid. I was in community, school and church choirs as well as musical theatre and eventually this led to me wanting to pursue a lifetime career in music. I was in the Gospel field for a while, and then I became a secular artist and have been pursuing the path of an independent artist enjoying a colourful journey so far.
What are your feelings towards your work?
Like real life, it is a work in progress. I love what I do and I try to do the best job of it that I can each time I write or perform. I feel like what I am doing is taking my perspective on life and turning it into words and song that I hope people can relate to and find emotion in to apply to their own lives.
How have your experiences affected your music?
Everything that I see, do, and experience affects the music that comes out of me. My music is a product of both my experiences and imagination.
What are your thoughts and feelings towards artists of today?
Major label artists are more in the branding business than the artist business, so their art must reflect (for better or worse) the direction in which their corporate label owners and partners are headed each quarter. The artists that are naturally well-suited to that direction sound great; while the others sound forced. As for the Independent music scene, I think that there is a lot of incredible hidden talent out there. Not all of it is brought to the mainstream’s attention, but there is certainly no lack of great artistry. I am thankful for the internet which allows us to search for and discover great artists that we may not be able to hear on the radio, read about in publications or see on TV.
Are there any plans on touring internationally?
We have some top-secret stuff in the works which we will reveal at the appropriate time. Anyone who is interested in getting tour information should sign up to my mailing list at my site to stay in the loop.
Sexy Never Left believes in bringing real talent forward and giving them a chance to shine. Do you think talent gets a fair deal in music today?
I think that with the commercialisation of art at the major label level there has been a super focus on quarterly earnings and stock prices over artist development. If an artist at the major label level is both talented and commercial, then a good match is achieved and everybody wins. But mere talent alone, both at the major label and the independent label level, doesn’t seem to be enough to allow an artist to shine. It’s what I call the “talent+ model” – you must be talented plus have something else. For example, venues don’t book artists just because they are just ‘talented’. Instead, artists have to also have enough of a following for the venue to justify the booking. The same thing applies across the board, and there isn’t enough space to elaborate on all the different areas where talent fails to get a fair deal in music today. Do you think Al Green; Aretha Franklin; or Mick Jagger would be signed today just on talent alone, or would they be rejected because of a lack of sex appeal or commercial branding capability? At the major label level, artists that can be branded will do well. At the independent level, talented artists should be able to persevere in the long run, if more resources are available to spotlight them in large enough numbers to create momentum.
Has this always been your choice of career?
I wanted to be an actress when I was younger. But then I changed my mind in my teens and realized that people reacted to my singing voice in a very interesting way. I still have aspirations to act, but I realize I can make a difference right now with my voice and I absolutely love what I do.
What do you believe you bring to music that’s different from other artists?
I bring myself. I know that might sound funny, but there is only one me and I have a unique perspective that I can share via my vocal and writing abilities. I think that as artists, we are all influenced by what came before us, but each person is a unique fingerprint and therefore our interpretation of things through our gifting is what makes us different.
If you could collaborate with any one person in music, who would you choose?
This is an incredibly difficult question to answer as there are so many artists I’d like to work with. But at this very second it would be Chrisette Michele. I absolutely adore her voice and think that the combo of her grit and my smooth vocal could be very interesting. She is an amazingly talented writer and I’d love to learn from her through a collaborative effort. From my interaction with her online, she seems to have a heart of gold and I’d like to find out more about her heart through working with her.
If you could re-live one moment so far that you've been completely happy with, what would it be?
Wow, interesting question! I don’t really know. I don’t think re-living a past moment would satisfy me. I don’t believe in basking in old moments, I really believe in making new, happy ones.
Is there anything that you'd like to achieve that you haven't already?
I’d love to tour the world. I’d love to be able to use the platform I am creating for myself to speak to people and encourage them to live their dreams. I’d just like to take what I am doing now to a bigger platform, do it on a larger scale.
Are there any artists out there that you model yourself on?
I have been influenced by hundreds of artists over the years. I can’t really pick one artist that I can say I wanted to emulate. I’m always partaking in art and music and if there is something valuable, I may incorporate it into what I do.
Finally, is there anything else you’d like to say to the people reading this interview?
I would really like to encourage people to support all kinds of Indie art. There is a wealth of talent that blogs and ‘zines such as this one are aiming to expose and that is awesome. It really helps when you find an artist you enjoy to go to a show; buy a CD; invest in a painting; go to see a live play. Many of these artists would not be able to do this if it were not for those supporting their craft. So thank you in advance for supporting anything Independent.
I would like to thank Natalie Brown for taking the time to chat to Sexy Never Left and take part in this interview, for anyone who knows this artist online, you will know that she is very down to earth and always takes time to interact with her fanbase, something you don’t see a lot of within music nowadays. Such a lovely person, as well as being a very talented artist.
Natalie has also allowed me to feature one of her songs with the amazing interview I featured above, please check out the song I have posted below, which is available for you to listen to and if you wish to find out more on this very talented artist, you can do so by clicking here.
Natalie Brown – Queen Of Me
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