A Chat with Natalina (26.10.22)
Known for bold statements and unexpected transformations, US-based singer-songwriter Natalina brings an edginess to modern-day pop music. We speak with Natalina about their album PLANES, TRAINS & UFOs, what music means to them, crushes and future plans.
OSR: What drew you to music?
Natalina: I have had many wonderful, dedicated art teachers from a very young age and I can remember sitting on the front porch in the middle of town singing folk songs while my dad played the guitar. I always loved performing in the school musicals, vocal competitions and vocal lessons. Throughout high school, I continued to perform in show choir, theatre and I received my first guitar. In my 20s, I began to write songs. I have also taught all ages peace education through music and art expression. I still occasionally go to schools for special projects.
OSR: What inspires you to make music?
Natalina: I use whatever media will best convey my message or exploration at the time. This work, PLANES, TRAINS & UFOs is a collection of sounds, philosophy and visual media. In 2019, I created a massive, immersive exhibit Love Letters and MetaMemories. It included larger-than-life ceramic sculptures, paintings, projection art and over 1000 love letters written from the lyrics of 3 songs performed at 2 live events throughout the show’s 1-month duration. The idea was to create an experience for people to enter the place where love letters are generated. I love to create experiences, to inspire feelings and more beauty. Music is so fascinating, there is always more to learn, more classes to take. I picked up the harmonium and singing bowl for this album. I tuned an upright piano. I have been interested in tuning and frequency for 10 or 15 years and did a deep dive while coaxing the diverse instruments to play nicely together for this album.
OSR: What can you tell us about your album PLANES, TRAINS & UFOs?
Natalina: Before I began recording the songs for this album, I imagined a whole play inspired by imposed isolation and the current state of the world. I thought about billionaires taking joy rides to space while climate reports rolled out quarterly with muted alarm bells. I imagined a person, in a beautiful garden, alone at their cottage in love with someone not currently physically present. Maybe an alien or an ancestor, how would they communicate? Someone on Earth and someone who is not or someone in a solid body and another in light form? So, during this imagining, I read about quantum physics and religion and watched a few movies I had missed from the 90s (eg. Contact, Close Encounters & Men in Black). I read up on local folklore and pondered why the cow crossing signs here have UFOs on them. I filled my head with philosophy and religion and sci-fi and went into the studio.
OSR: Did you face challenges when recording the album?
Natalina: This album was created during COVID. I had recently moved to a tiny casita with no studio space. My visual arts projects, work everything was happening on the kitchen table. I had this inspiration calling me and I knew it was time to record this album, but where and with who? Putting together a band during lockdown was not really an option, and neither was sharing microphones at a community studio. So, I ordered a shed and had it delivered to my driveway. I got to work insulating and finishing the inside before winter. I added acoustic foam and carpet. I built in shelving and a workbench.
In my new studio, I got to work imaging all the backstory and ideas for the album. I studied a lot, revisiting ancient philosophies and some current texts like Extraterrestrial by Avi Loeb. Learning to use recording software was definitely a challenge. Getting the levels just right and learning mixing. I also learned some new instruments and guitar licks in order to record all the instruments myself.
OSR: What was the most enjoyable part of recording PLANES, TRAINS & UFOs?
Natalina: Seeing all the art that is still unfolding because of this album has been really amazing. I had a few epic photo shoots that took me to places I wouldn’t have otherwise experienced. Some of those photos have been displayed and chosen for public art, including a traffic signal box at the town’s entrance inspired by those cow crossing signs. Tracks 1 and 13 were featured in a projection performance at PASEO 2022 – an outdoor art festival over 6000 people attended this year. ‘Missing Cows and You’ (track 4) premiered as a music video shown on the big screen at the Taos Community Auditorium. More music videos and public art are coming soon! Two wearable art pieces inspired by ‘Why Are There Billionaires?’ (track 11) have walked the runway and received awards.
While I wrote and recorded the music for this album solo, I have been able to work with some really amazing people along the way including Magdalena Piotrowska of Poland who did the mastering for the whole album. She did a really amazing job and that was a very cool part of the process communicating the minute details to someone across the globe and having them translate that into my tracks.
OSR: What does music mean to you?
Natalina: Music for me is another vehicle for understanding. You know how music sometimes sinks into the core of you? Like an artist sings some small lyric and you could write a whole dissertation on it because of the delivery and the instruments and the tone and the breath and all of it? Poets can be like that, so can preachers and teachers and anyone really. I am interested in understanding and communicating through music.
OSR: What do you hope people take from your music?
Natalina: Now that it’s out there, I have no doubt people have taken away ideas I never thought of or intended. That’s the thing about art, or my experience of it anyway. People come to it with all their ideas and baggage and dreams and I sort of let go of my own hopes for them. I will say that throughout this album I speak in simple language about the most complex questions and I would love to start a dialogue with people about these concepts and how they might be applied to benefit humanity. This album is a love story, but not in any traditional sense. The narrator pours out their heart to you, the listener who at times may even question it all wondering if really the whole album was written for them.
OSR: If you were to win the lottery, what would you do with the money?
Natalina: I am already starting on my next project and this will be the biggest “experience” I have created to date. A site-specific installation surrounded by unobstructed mountain views. I don’t want to give away all the details so let’s just say any unexpected funds are most welcome.
OSR: Did you have a celebrity crush when you were younger and, if so, who?
Natalina: Leo. It was more like a friend crush. Like, I really wanted to know Leonardo DiCaprio. Turns out he’s pretty passionate about social change and the environment, I guess I still want to know him now that you mention it!
OSR: What is the worst piece of advice you have ever received?
Natalina: Playing open mics, sometimes men will come up and say something like “let me give you a piece of advice”, I can’t even tell you what comes next because I throw those bits out (about 75% of the time it has something to do with smiling).
OSR: Do you have future plans as a musician?
Natalina: PLANES, TRAINS & UFOs is still being unveiled. Most of the artwork has not yet been released. You can look forward to music videos and more content soon. As I hinted before, I am starting another project and working on a new scale. To keep track of my latest projects people can follow me on Instagram.
Many thanks to Natalina for speaking with us. For more from Natalina check out their official website, Instagram and Spotify.
