In the spotlight ... Natty

7:00am Saturday 3rd May 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

TWENTY-four-year-old singer songwriter Natty hails from North London. He started writing songs from an early age and eventually found himself working in a top London recording studio as a tea boy, before working his way up to the position of engineer.

By Andy Welch, PA Features

AFTER working on albums with the likes of Duran Duran, Chic's Nile Rodgers and Razorlight, Natty quit to concentrate on his own music.

He started to get attention after a series of open mic nights and later recorded a series of underground mixtapes. He's now signed to a major label and his debut single Cold Town is released on Monday.

Natty also begins his UK tour on May 24 and finishes on June 15. For full details go to www.myspace.com/natty4d We caught up with him while he was putting the finishing touches to his debut album, which is expected in June.

YOU USED TO WORK IN A STUDIO. HOW WAS THAT?

I enjoyed my time there, I really did. I sat in on sessions for lots of people and did bits and pieces. I worked with Razorlight, Mos Def, Queen, Nile Rodgers from Chic. It was a really posh studio, so you got to meet all sorts of different people. Razorlight's first album was kind of a big break for me and I had some other big bands ringing me to work on their music afterwards but I turned them down and quit my job when I realised it wasn't for me. I need to be creative and do my own thing.

HOW HAS THAT TIME HELPED YOU MAKE YOUR OWN MUSIC?

Well I'm very hands-on when I'm recording, which comes from my time in the studio, but also from the fact I'm a control freak! But then this isn't just a career, it's my life. Sonically, because I know what I'm talking about, if I have a vision for something, then I go for it and know how I can get the sounds I'm after. And I learned that there's something to be learned from everyone, absolutely. It's as important to know what not to do as anything else. I learned more about crafting of songs than anything, not so much the writing, but the structure and the production.

HOW WAS PERFORMING ON LATER WITH JOOLS HOLLAND FOR THE FIRST TIME?

I was so, so nervous, I can't tell you how nervous I was. A friend of mine said I looked like a rabbit caught in some headlights. When I watched it back, I was cringing. It sounded really different on TV too. I thought it sounded better on the night. But it's a learning curve for me and it was very cool to be there.

WHEN DID YOU START WRITING SONGS?

I think when I was about 11. I never wanted to sing though, I just wrote because I had to. There was no pressure, I had no plans to be a singer or to write a hit, I just wrote. I stopped writing when I was 13 or 14 and started making beats instead, making computer-based music. Songwriting just grew on me and I went back to the guitar when I was 17 after I'd had my phase of thinking I was going to be an MC or DJ. Then I joined the studio but I think it goes without saying the main reason I got a job there was to get free time in the studio to work on my own music.

HOW OLD ARE THE SONGS THAT'LL GO ON TO YOUR DEBUT ALBUM?

All of them were written in the last three or four years. I've got about 200 or 300, you know, just bits and pieces, ideas and scraps of songs. I think I have about 80 complete songs, which were then cut back to the 10 or 11 that'll go on the album. Some songs are just learning curves that help you on to other, better things.

TELL US ABOUT THE SINGLE COLD TOWN.

It's about London and it just came out of a vibe or a feeling that I sensed a while ago. I guess it was about six months after the July bombings and the city didn't feel right. There was racial tension all over, a lot of things going on with hoodie culture and kids stabbing each other. I just put all those things into words, trying to work out how it fitted together. The song's a picture of London and its complexities. I'm singing about how far we've come but asking why it all started falling apart a while ago.