As part of our Artist of the Month feature we always try to deliver an interview and an album review. The incredible NATALIE DUNCAN is our Artist of the Month for July and she kindly agreed to have a little chat with us. Look out for a review of her Debut Album Devil In Me in the next few days.
Tom: Hey Natalie, how are you?
NATALIE DUNCAN: I’m ok thanks, I’ve just about recovered from the hay fever on Sunday.
Tom: Oh good, that was such a shame you had to cut the gig short, we felt really sorry for you…
NATALIE DUNCAN: Yeah I’ve never had to do that before. It was really embarrassing. I just ran and hid in the toilets afterwards.
Tom: Well if it’s any consolation the added bluesyness to your voice actually sounded pretty cool.
NATALIE DUNCAN: Ha thanks.
Tom: So what are your thoughts on the album, d’you think its been well received so far?
NATALIE DUNCAN: Yeah well I think so, I hope so anyway. It’s had some quite good reviews so I guess so.
Tom: Listening to the album, most of your songs seem to tell a story about a particular experience in your past?
NATALIE DUNCAN: Yes well my songs are pretty much about stuff that has happened to me, like Find Me A Home for example is about trying to find somewhere to live in London.
Tom: So you’re living in London now right?
NATALIE DUNCAN: Yeah.
Tom: Do you miss Nottingham? How does it compare?
NATALIE DUNCAN: I miss Nottingham loads even though I’ve been back quite a lot recently. I get to see all my old friends which is great. Don’t get me wrong I do like living in London, it is impossible to get bored here and I guess for really materialistic people it is great but there is a lot more alone time here.
Tom: How does the London music scene compare to Nottingham?
NATALIE DUNCAN: Well they are very different obviously because London is much bigger but I prefer Nottingham. Obviously I haven’t seen all the London scene but yeah…Nottingham is better.
Tom: I imagine the crowd in Buckingham Palace is a little different to the crowd at The Bodega…?
NATALIE DUNCAN: Haha yeah totally, that show was totally seated and you could feel them all staring at you throughout the gig which was hard. It was good though, we had to make sure we were extra tight during that one. [Natalie is talking about her performance at Buckingham Palace as part of Goldie’s BBC programme By Royal Appointment]
Tom: Are you proud of the amount of talent Nottingham seems to be producing at the moment?
NATALIE DUNCAN: I’m so proud to be from Nottingham, I try to tell people how good it is all the time. If I ever here anyone slagging off Nottingham then I will stand up for it.
Tom: So are you currently writing more material or having a little break from it all?
NATALIE DUNCAN: Well I’m sort of having a little break from it without meaning to if that makes sense? It’s strange, for the first time in ages I haven’t written anything for a while. When I was writing the album I was on a bit of a roll and writing maybe a couple of songs a week but right now I haven’t written anything for about 3 weeks which is long for me.
Tom: On your Poddingham Podcast you talk about needing a bit of drama in your life to inspire you to write. Does this mean there isn’t much drama happening in the world of Natalie Duncan right now?
NATALIE DUNCAN: No there is still lots of stuff going on but I guess I don’t think any of it is really worth writing about.
Tom: Natalie, I’ve been looking at some of the venues you’ve played in the past and it’s pretty impressive. I don’t think there is many people that can say they’ve played Buckingham Palace and Ronnie Scott’s…
NATALIE DUNCAN: Haha no probably not, the Ronnie Scott’s thing only happened as a result of the Buckingham Palace thing and I think that was a bit of a fluke anyway.
Tom: Now Natalie I’ve noticed you’re quite self-depreciative on stage as well, d’you mean to be like this or is the modesty just part of your personality?
NATALIE DUNCAN: Well I don’t mean to be like that. I guess it’s just who I am. I’m not a very outgoing sort of person anyway and it wouldn’t be that cool to be very arrogant on stage anyway. No one likes that.
Tom: So having played some pretty prestigious venues, do you have a favourite place to play?
NATALIE DUNCAN: Well even though Ronnie Scott’s is a legendary venue, the sound isn’t actually that good in the upstairs bit where I played. I would probably say The Malt Cross and The Bodega in Nottingham are probably my favourite places.
Tom: Good answer! What have you got planned over the next few months? I noticed quite an exciting poster at Splendour with an all Nottingham female line up?
NATALIE DUNCAN: Yeah there’s a few exciting gigs coming up, I’m playing the Theatre Royal on the 22nd of September with INDIANA and NINA SMITH which should be really good.
Tom: Thanks very much Natalie and we’ll make sure we’re there at the Theatre Royal!
You can buy tickets for Natalie’s gig HERE and you can also buy her brand new debut album “Devil In Me” from iTunes, Amazon or any other half decent place you buy music from…
Yours In Love of New Music,
Tom Hadfield x
@feelthenusic
@hadfieldreckons
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