Tag: interview (Page 5 of 7)

Interview: Roddy Bottum

May 8, 2013 / aftertheshow

Roddy Bottum of Imperial Teen and Faith No More kindly answered questions about scoring for films, the joy of being in Imperial Teen, and what the band will play at their upcoming shows (May 24th San Francisco & May 25th LA).

After The Show: The 4 of you in Imperial Teen evenly split all songwriting credit, so how do you decide who sings lead vocals on any given song? Like do you sing “You’re One” because you brought the idea for it to the group?

Roddy Bottum: we’ve done that all different ways. usually it’s whoever happens to be at the microphone takes over. we write a lot of our lyrics together. will has the strongest singing voice so we usually let him take over in that department. but if it’s a super unique perspective that i feel comes from me i’ll insist on singing.

the girls mostly sing backups but lynn has sung leads on a couple songs in the past. usually ideas that she has brought to the table.

You’ve lived in LA, NY, & SF over the years…How do their music scenes differ, and was one place/time better for you as a musician?

SF was such a beautiful place back when i lived there. it was affordable more than anything and all different types of artists could get by and make music and rent spaces at affordable prices. i remember paying $160 a month for rent on 16th street in the mission. that was with six roommates but still…. such affordable housing doesn’t exist anymore and it’s changed the demographic.

LA is more serious minded, if you want to get into the music biz, it’s clearly a good option. there’s SO much work there. a lot of it is sketchy stupid hollywood television crap but there is a lot of opportunity. NYC is a nut i haven’t cracked yet. i’ve just moved there temporarily and am looking for my niche. i do know there is more culture and inspiration there for me now. there are vibrant classical progressive scenes and theater, obviously, and opera. i’m into opera. i’m going to write an opera and a musical next year in NYC.

When you’re scoring, what are your goals/responsibilities and how do you work?

all scoring jobs are different. my favorite ones are when i’m left alone and the director or producers trust me and let me do my own thing. that’s a unique and wonderful situation. i do stuff on the computer and play stuff and record it. whatever works. it’s all about pleasing the big project at the end of the day.

How do you inject your own essence/personality into a score while also respecting what the director wants for the project?

i usually feel pretty strongly about the notion that the director has hired me to be me. it’s really all i can bring to a project, myself. that said, i kind of just try to keep it as honestly pleasing to myself as i can. sometimes i feel a little misunderstood and there’s some rewriting that gets done but for the most part it’s all about making my personality or perspective heard.

At recent shows you’ve played new songs from Feel The Sound as well as older favorites like “Million $ Man,” “Sugar,” and “Yoo Hoo.” Are there any plans for the upcoming shows to add in other old songs like “Pig Latin” or “My Spy”?

we were practicing ‘pig latin’ for a little bit. ‘my spy’ i don’t think we ever played live. we’re playing ‘our time’ and ‘room with a view’ this time around. those feel really good and we’re attempting another song off of FEEL THE SOUND. we haven’t done it yet but it was sounding good at practice. and another old song we hadn’t played in a long time.

It seems so rare for a band to stay productive, friendly, and positive over decades. What is it about your 4 personalities / work ethics / attitudes that makes IT a strong, fun band nearly 20 years after forming?

we have a lot of respect for each other and we really make each other laugh. we have a short hand language that we resort to that gets a lot of mileage. we’re a family that doesn’t really tire of each other. it’s still so much fun. we only do it for that joy of it. we certainly don’t make money doing what we do.

Did many Faith No More fans follow you to Imperial Teen? The two bands seem very different stylistically.

there are usually a couple of FNM fans in the house. that band really pushed the envelope as far as diversity goes. to the FNM fans’ credit… they are super open minded and usually get something out of what IT does. totally, though, night and day stylistically.

“Room With A View” and “Baby and the Band” sound like autobiographical stories of IT…so does “It’s You” to a lesser extent…

i think we only really write autobiographically. there were a couple tell all’s on this last record. we sometimes come from a ‘veiled’ perspective but usually tell it like it is and wear our hearts mostly on our collective sleeve. we aren’t great at writing about other people. pretty narcissistic.

What’s one of your favorite lyrics you’ve ever written?

i really like, ‘the hawk bit the chicken…. killing boys but giving birth to men.’ i’m good at writing lyrics. i wish i did it more. that’s why i got to write a musical.

Imperial Teen has some rare, out of print songs like “Pretty,” “Sweet and Touching,” and the cover “Shayla.” Any chance that newer fans can somehow hear those songs?

probably not a chance in hell. a couple of our records are out of print and we don’t have any of that old vinyl left.

How has your attitude/approach to songwriting changed over the years…have you noticed any major shifts from when you were 25 vs when you were 45?

my stylistic approach has changed a lot. i’m bored with the 4/4 time signature, honestly, and i like to confuse it up a lot more than i used to. it used to bug me when rhythms were confusing but now i like it. i also am open more to sounds as opposed to riffs. but i still really like a cheeky perspective. that sounds kind of lame but i think you know what i mean.

Does it matter to you how Feel The Sound has done commercially? It deserves so much more commercial success, and it’s on Merge. Do you think there’s some bias against older musicians amongst the more youth-centric indie demographic?

i was surprised and am always surprised when our stuff doesn’t catch on like wild fire. i love what we do and it always seems super likable to me. i don’t think there’s a bias against older musicians as much as there is a really short collective attention span. people like ‘new.’ that’s clear. i like new too but i also am a really loyal fan. i will see bands that i loved back when again and again and again. i saw frightwig and killing joke both last weekend and couldn’t have been happier… something about that time in your life… your twenties. the wallop of familiarity.

Care to share the meaning of “Seven”? Was it inspired by your sister?

yeah, it was about my sister. how she was younger and always taking care of me. that dichotomy. a younger person taking care of an older person, being wiser. it kind of reads sad, does it?

Thanks Roddy! Check out RoddyBottum.com & Roddy’s Twitter + ImperialTeen.com

Interview with Allie Gonino

May 7, 2013 / aftertheshow

Allie Gonino is one-third of the band The Good Mad and plays Laurel on ABC Family’s The Lying Game. Allie talks about recording in Nashville, songs she uses to help get into character, and what she learned from opening for Justin Bieber.

After The Show: What was your experience like recording The Good Mad’s EP in Nashville?

Allie Gonino: I had such a blast recording ALTA. The first smart thing we did was hire Phil Swann to produce it. He kept things moving swiftly, and put together a really good mix. His energy is so fun to have around, so the recording process was always light and enjoyable for us. Another treat was getting to work with awesome studio musicians such as Joe Spivey and Paul Scholten.

It was amazing to watch/listen to Joe work, he played mandolin, dobro, bazooki, and banjo on ALTA. He added all the necessary touches needed to complete the feel of the EP. And Nashville in spring is definitely something to experience. Beautiful countryside and so many awesome places to hear live music and eat delicious food. I know that will always be a sacred memory for Adam, Andy, and me.

You play guitar, violin, mandolin, and piano – do you prefer one instrument over the others to compose on? What about playing live?

Believe it or not, I don’t do a ton of composing with instruments. I tend to enjoy writing songs with my voice, acapella. I’ve written a few songs on guitar, and they’re probably my more “marketable” songs. Playing live though, I definitely prefer the violin.

What’s the most challenging part about playing music as Laurel on The Lying Game? Is it hard to separate yourself from the character when you’re playing music (with a fictionalized version of your own band)?

Honestly, playing the musician side of Laurel is the least challenging aspect of that role because it is so close to real life. The only thing different between the way Laurel performs is that she’s a little more timid and less experienced. I don’t try to “put on” any act with Laurel, as opposed to when I perform, I’m telling a story, and I usually like to embellish. It’s always surreal because we do have so many similarities, and I believe life and art imitate each other.

Every character I play is a different aspect of myself, or at least, there are things that we definitely have in common. Part of keeping my head on straight is realizing I am already the woman I’ve always wanted to be. No character I play is separate from me, and ironically, no character I play is me. That’s the paradox.

Do you have any advice for teens about managing stress and balancing school with all the activities they do?

Yes, let’s talk about managing stress! First thing for managing stress is to stop eating sugar, and other foods/drinks that cause acidity in the body. Caffeine, cigarettes, alcohol, fried and processed food, red meat, drugs (both legal and otherwise), all create acidity. This doesn’t mean you should never consume these things, but combined with our public water quality – which is another conversation altogether – air pollution, social media obsession, relationship stress, and many more environmental factors, eliminating such dietary factors would be one smart way to lower stress levels.

Massage therapy, meditation, reading entertaining literature, laughing, dancing, and restful sleep are all great ways to keep balance. The body gets its most restful and repairing hours of sleep between 11pm and 8am. And the number one way to manage stress: mindful, deep breathing!

How does your songwriting process/collaboration work in The Good Mad?

A lot of the time we’ll write songs on our own and bring them to the rest of the members to put everyone’s scent on it. However, there definitely have been instances where we’ll get together and someone will bring a hook or a melody line, or lyrics and we’ll work on it. It’s different for every song. We just try to make the song sound the best that it can, no one person is trying to hog the attention. The most important thing is that the song feels whole and moves the way that feels best to us.

What did you learn opening for Justin Bieber, performing for crowds of 17,000 people a night?

I think most importantly, I learned I definitely want to play to crowds like that again. Alternatively, I’m so unbelievably grateful for that experience, that if it never happened again, I’d be fine. That’s not to say I’m not going to shoot for it though. It’s a rush like no other. I know I wouldn’t have been prepared for that kind of gig without all the experience I’d had leading up to that. I also learned how important it is to know how to operate a water gun.

What bands have you been listening to lately? Do you listen to certain songs to help get into character before filming a scene?

I’ve been listening to Feist’s Metals, Alt-J, and Nicki Bluhm a lot lately. Usually if I need to get in the mood to cry for a scene I’ll listen to a Coldplay song or two. Katy Perry’s “The One that Got Away” has been helpful in those times, as well as “Holocene” by Bon Iver. If I need to get pumped up though, Beyoncé and Emily Haines are my go-to ladies.

What Metric and Lana Del Rey songs do you most connect with?

All of them? Ha. Most recently Metric’s “Poster of a Girl” and “Synthetica” have been on repeat. As for Lana, “Video Games” is the song that totally captures the feeling of my early twenties. Not even so much in the lyrics, but more in its whole vibe. Sometimes, I imagine myself as an old woman listening to that song and feeling all the power behind it, and it makes me cry. Not in a sad way, but in a fond way.

Despite all the trials, terrors, mistakes, heart breaks… when you reflect on your memories, if you’ve lived a life you’ve loved, you’ll be filled with an overwhelming sense of joy and gratitude. That’s my favorite thing about music. Music is the closest technology we have to time travel.

Interview: Pierre de Reeder of Rilo Kiley

April 10, 2013 / aftertheshow

Pierre de Reeder After The Show Interview

Photo by Tom Moratto

Yesterday I spoke to Pierre de Reeder, bassist and founding member of Rilo Kiley, about Rkives (released via his record label Little Record Company).

After The Show: So Rkives came out last week — how’s the release going from both a label and band member perspective?

Pierre de Reeder: So far so good…It’s hard to separate those [perspectives] at this moment. It’s exciting that it’s out and people are buying it and liking it – people who have been fans of the band for a long time. There’s an overwhelming amount of good comments which is awesome to see.

I think you’ve set up Little Record Company as an admin label…how does it operate?

I’ve started more of an administration label. It’s more an artist funded label and I deal with everything a label would do otherwise to release stuff – hiring independent press and radio and putting everything through a distributor. This [RKives] is a more traditional release actually as far as handling everything.

I like the prominent bass on “I Remember You.” The songs on Rkives cover years and years. Is there a track you most connect with and one you least connect with?

Our opening track “Let Me Back In” is something that’s been endearing to all of us for a long time and one thing I’m glad we’re finally able to release. The second song “It’ll Get You There” has always been a favorite of mine as well that didn’t get put on any record. I relate least to “Dejalo” but it’s fun.

What’s a typical day for you –is most of your time taken up by running the label?

The label for this release has been one of my full time jobs for sure that’s taken up a lot of time. I also own a recording studio and produce and record a lot of records so that is another very time consuming endeavor. I’m also a family man and I have kids – my priority. My days are very long and packed full of stuff in various directions.

Photo by Steven Dewall

Artists can love the process of creating their work, and then they have to promote it and do Twitter and be a salesman, which is an entirely different skillset than creating the original art. What’s your perspective on that?

Certainly you become a peddler at that point. You’ve got your coat open, watches dangling on each side and you just do your best. There’s people that know a lot more than I on the business side…this release is the most engulfing. But it’s interesting – I can’t say I’m a businessman first – never was, never will be – but I think I fake it pretty good and get everything done. I do get engrossed in trying to be a peddler. I did major in business and marketing in college so I do try to apply that. With my label, I just try and give friends and people I like an outlet to release their music.

You have a recording studio — what qualities make a good sound engineer or producer?

Interesting question – I guess it’s such a subjective thing because there’s the technical side…you need to know what you’re doing from a technical perspective but then there’s the subjective ears and taste. From the producer perspective, it’s completely subjective. What you bring to the table is your experience in music, [they’re] hiring you for your opinion and what you can bring to the music based on your taste.

You and Jason Boesel have both released solo albums and can obviously sing – why did you guys never sing lead vocals on a Rilo Kiley song?

The band is established as Jenny as a singer and Blake as a singer…it’s already plenty of singing cooks in the kitchen. We love the dynamic between them. It’d be too schizophrenic and just not appropriate for that band. We have other musical outlets.

Will you release a follow-up to The Way That It Was?

I think so, yeah. I’m slowly writing new things and then recording them eventually. It’s funny and ironic having a complete, robust studio at your fingerprints and not utilizing it for yourself. That record took me 5 years of thinking about it and recording it to finally release.

At what point in Rilo Kiley did you realize you could support yourself just by playing music – was there a specific turning point or was it more gradual?

It was always a gradual process, at some point yes we were able to be a working class band able to make a living, between sales and touring.

If you could be a musician in any time period in history when would you choose?

Hmm I have thought about this…I guess I relate sort of to the late 60s early 70s era…I could see myself there. I don’t know if I would prefer that to my own period. I kind of like my own period of time.

There’s mystery and conflicting reports about the origin of the name Rilo Kiley – a dream about being chased by a sports almanac, an Australian football player from the 19th century, a character who predicted the date of Jenny Lewis’ death…do you want to clear that up?

I can totally confirm that all of those stories are true.

Thank you Pierre!

Get Rkives +RiloKiley.com +PierredeReeder.com

Interview with Kathryn Gallagher

March 22, 2013 / aftertheshow

After The Show: So how do you like Thornton [USC School of Music]? What kinds of classes are you taking?

Kathryn Gallagher: I love it! It’s such an amazing program. I take songwriting and pop harmony, performance classes and guitar lessons…anything you need, you can find there. It’s so exciting.

In terms of business, what are your goals? Do you want to sign with a label or publisher?

I want to make my first record and release it. I want to work with everyone, try everything, and make a really good record. I love performing – my dream is to go on tour with my own music…that seems like the most perfect thing in the world.

Right now we’re working on my first music video, for a song called “Damaged” that was placed in this movie Thanks For Sharing (with Gwyneth Paltrow and Mark Ruffalo).

I love your song “How Do I Grow Up” – it’s so, so good. Do you want to share the inspiration or how the song came about?

Yes, thank you! That song I wrote for the movie Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You. The director loved another song of mine so much that he sent me the script and I wrote a song. He said that it was too sad…so I got [to watch] the scene in an email –Toby Regbo is running with his therapist – and picked up my guitar and the song [“How Do I Grow Up”] was done in 20 minutes. I know exactly this feeling of not knowing what to do.

I was a senior in high school waiting to hear back from colleges – I saw that scene…I really identified with this kid — the feeling ‘I don’t know anything, I don’t know what I’m doing.’ It came out of this crazy point of desperation. It’s a really confused desperation. And after I finished it – maybe it’s okay that I don’t know. No one’s going to tell me and I just have to figure it out.

That’s cool – I didn’t know that you wrote the song specifically for the movie/scene. What qualities do you look for in collaborators/musicians to write or perform with?

Humor and honesty. Honesty’s a big one. I start any co-write with just talking. Openness and all the things I look for in a friend. And also talent is always lovely [laughs], but it really is almost further down on the list. You have to like them as a person, especially because co-songwriting can be such an awkward thing…you have to be honest and open, and that’s not an easy thing to do at all.

I’ve noticed that many kids of actors or musicians, who also want to do something creative with their lives, often face a backlash and resentment, and accusations of nepotism. Is that something you’ve had to deal with at all?

It’s funny because it’s definitely present but I’ve never had another dad [Peter Gallagher], and I never will…I love my dad because he’s an amazing dad. Both of my parents are amazingly supportive and I feel so lucky because of that.

I’ve been around it my whole life – my dad lives in that actor/musician world – so I definitely think it helps being around [the] creative. So I understand that more than, like, finance. I know there can be weird feelings or questioning…times when people assume that I get certain things because of whatever reason, but I just work and try to make my parents proud. There’s not much I can do about it. I wouldn’t trade my parents for anyone.

I discovered your music via Someday This Pain Will Be Useful To You. What about licensing – is there a type of film or certain kind of scene where your songs would naturally/thematically fit well?

That’s interesting – I’ve never thought about that. I think any scene where anyone is very confused or sad or self-deprecating, my songs would just fit right in there [laughs]. I write from such a personal point of view that I’m always surprised when a song can take on so many other meanings. It’s such an honor that anyone would want to use my songs.

And serious question: Your thoughts on Taylor Swift vs Miley Cyrus, in terms of the quality of their music + career longevity?

I’m a huge fan of both honestly. I’ve been listening to Taylor Swift since her first record. I’ve been loving Taylor Swift forever — I think she’s such an amazing songwriter…her tour is amazing. And Miley Cyrus – I totally watched Hannah Montana.

They’re so different – I hope they both have really long careers and are extremely successful, I think they’re so cool and so honest about who they are and what they stand for.

Thanks Kathryn! Check out KathrynGallagherMusic.com + stay updated on new music/shows on Facebook & Twitter @kathryng

Interview: Evan Lowenstein of Stageit

February 13, 2013 / aftertheshow

Stageit is an online video platform that allows artists to stream and monetize live performances while interacting with their fans in real time.

I spoke to Evan Lowenstein, the founder and CEO of Stageit, about using technology to connect artists and fans and running a thriving music startup.

After The Show: What are a few key attributes essential to being a successful entrepreneur, especially in the music & tech worlds?

Evan: That’s an excellent question. The first thing that comes to mind is tenacity. Perseverance. Having the vision and belief that what you’re doing makes sense. Not quitting. The challenge when you have a concept that is so unique – people will tell you you’re crazy or barking up the wrong tree, which can cause you to question your belief.

But as an entrepreneur, listen to your gut. Try to go back to whenever you had moments of success – even as far back as 5th grade – and tap into that. Having a good idea is arbitrary/an opinion, but knowing what success tastes like and knowing ‘I can do this’ is essential.

How do you sustain and motivate yourself when you’re running a startup in the months or years before it reaches that profitability point?

Exactly – it’s lonely at the top. What you just asked about is perhaps one of the largest reasons why people quit because they can’t get through that pre-launch time. Just getting a company to market is a huge accomplishment. It’s about perseverance and staying focused so you can really dig deep into your vision and your project.

It’s interesting that the tip jar is such a popular and lucrative part of the Stageit experience – my gut reaction was that artists might perceive it as being degrading or amateurish.

A lot of people in the beginning thought it would cause us to fail. The reason I knew it was going to be the tipping point to our success – pun intended – was because we listened to what the consumers were saying.

The advent of mp3s meant fans were able to drag, drop/copy, paste – i.e. steal music. They said ‘give us the music for free or cheap and we’ll pay you on the back end.’ Thousands of people actually tried to send money into Napster for music they liked.

This is not about double dinging. It’s about giving fans the opportunity to come in for cheap and be true to their word – they will pay less on the front end [for the Stageit ticket] but if they like what they see, they’ll pay more after.

We did research behind the methodology and psychology of tipping. By showcasing those who tip in real time, the artist is able to thank the fan in real time, which causes excitement and the fans to tip even more.

Why did you decide to use the Stageit currency notes system as opposed to just plain dollars?

Once you get into dollars and cents it can get weird when you’re tipping. It’s hard to do credit card transactions for just a dollar. One note equals ten cents. The other real reason is it’s a Vegas methodology…people feel more comfortable when they’re playing with notes. It’s awkward to throw down a 20 dollar bill to an artist.

You let artists place a cap on the number of tickets sold to any given show. What percentage of shows sell out?

Another thing we do to protect the artist is enable them to pull back tickets as they see fit. We’re an elastic venue so we never have to worry about that. I wish that could’ve happened back in the day that I was touring [with Evan and Jaron].

If I’m playing a 5,000 seat venue and there’s only 3,000 tickets sold, I would love to shrink the venue down to 3,000. We don’t have to worry about shows selling out because the artist doesn’t need to be held to the number of tickets initially released.

You cover the licensing, credit card transactions, broadcasting & bandwidth. How does the licensing work – is it a blanket license to ASCAP and BMI or a sync license too?

Just a blanket license to ASCAP and BMI. We don’t need a sync license since we don’t archive the shows. In addition we offer 4 people who work full time, around the clock serving artists. We help these shows get off the ground. A lot of shows don’t need us, but we’re available.

I know people are eager to pay for virtual interaction with the artist. But I still see a discrepancy/irony in the fact that making artists so accessible and even average (they can play a show from their kitchen) somehow devalues them. The artist is brought down to the audience’s level – the separation between creator and consumer has shrunk and the mythology or idolization of an artist seems to be gone.

I respect your opinion but I completely disagree. Do you have a problem with artists tweeting?

That’s the same situation…Twitter is of course hugely helpful to build, connect, and promote, but I don’t think it adds value to the artist when he’s tweeting about, for example, what kind of sandwich he had for lunch that day.

And I’ll tell you why we bring back a sense of mystery and romance to the artist/fan experience. Because of the on-demand nature of media, artists have careers that last 4 minutes. Each live stream is one-time and exclusive and not archived. The quality of the stream heightens intimacy and makes it so valuable.

We’re using technology that people have been saying has ruined the music industry. Our tagline is ‘a front row seat to a backstage experience.’ Even if you’re in the front row seat at a concert, there’s separation.

It’s true that you lose the glam if you actually go to a nasty backstage green room, but it’s real and close and enables the fan to have this moment to “meet” their favorite artist. The artists who are losing in this day and age are the ones maintaining that “rock star” distance.

Fair enough. Have you explored the idea of integrating curatorial or discovery options, positioning Stageit as a tastemaker or gatekeeper where people can discover new artists as opposed to just coming for an artist they already like?

Yes. Excellent. That’s exactly what we’re doing this year. We’re moving from a venue to a destination service. We want to have something for everyone…multiple artists in different genres each night of the week. A destination service where people can come any night of the week and know they’ll find a good show.

With the Kickstarter model, an artist sells rewards (such as Skype shows or other opportunities for artist/fan interaction). Do you see that as competition?

Not at all. For almost a year artists have been rewarding their top tippers with Skype chats and one band is even flying a fan to Haiti for a show. A lot of artists are telling us they prefer to use Stageit because they can get thousands of dollars from our service for 30 minutes of work, and not have to deal with fulfilling orders after.

As an artist originally, how comfortable have you been immersing yourself in business and getting involved in things like the venture capital world?

I’ve been an entrepreneur since I was 19. Artists/bands are entrepreneurs because they create something from nothing and have to market themselves. Dealing with venture capital is similar to dealing with record labels – they want something for less money and you want something for more money.

But we’ve chosen at this time not to go that route. We’ve gone more of an angel investor route. I want to protect our artists – we just changed our business revenue model from 60/40 [artist/Stageit] to 63-83% [for the artist] based on ‘the more you make the more you take’ to give the artist substantially more money – that’s not something a VC firm would be happy about.

How important is it to Stageit’s growth and exposure that you speak at different music and tech conferences/summits around the world?

Every conference is different. I benefit from a lot of conferences from what happens in the hallways – artists coming up and business development relationships. Every single panel I’ve ever spoken on has immediately led to artists joining our service.

How valuable is it? It’s hard to say – I think often these types of things work on multiple impressions…doing things again and again. And decent press reports on these panels/conferences.

Thanks Evan and Stageit!

Visit Stageit.com and on Twitter.

For more on Stageit, check out these features in Forbes, Fast Company, Business Week, and TechCrunch.

Interview: Natasha Agrama

January 11, 2013 / aftertheshow

I recently talked to LA based singer Natasha Agrama about what makes a good jazz club, her upcoming debut record, and how the recent death of close friend and collaborator Austin Peralta has shifted her philosophy on life.

After The Show: What is it about jazz as a genre that appeals to you?

Natasha Agrama: I grew up in jazz. My stepdad is Stanley Clarke, legendary jazz bassist, one of the trailblazers of fusion in the early 1970s. With Chick Corea he was in a band called Return to Forever, and growing up, he was always shoving Ella Fitzgerald under my nose.

I went to art school. I studied painting and performance art and video production. I spent a lot of time not studying music, loving jazz the whole time — it’s the family business.

I loved singing — it was my favorite thing to do ever since I was a little kid. It’s what I need to do on this planet, and a lot of people need to hear…That’s the situation I find myself in, in this body, in this lifetime. It’s about jazz music for me, there’s nothing that I love more.

Also, I’m half Egyptian and half Chilean/Argentinian. I’m first generation American on both sides of my family. I felt totally ostracized…I’ve always felt displaced, both of my parents are transplants, my parents are not normal. I just never had a place, and in jazz, I have a place. I have a home, and I’ve been accepted. And the music accepts me. That’s my art form and it’s American — jazz music being the great American art form — and it’s built by people who never felt that they had a place. I feel a really deep connection to the music and the history of the music.

You’ve played at clubs like Blue Whale in LA and Blue Note in New York. What makes a venue good to perform in and do you have a favorite?

Actually it’s my dream to have my own venue. So I will be researching this question more and more in my life. And I’m just now starting to ask people and to formulate my own opinions. Stanley always makes fun of me because if you were to talk to him, he’d tell you that for the last 3 years of my life, I go to jazz clubs every single night of the week. That’s not true all the time, but it certainly is true a lot of the time.

Every time I go to New York…7 days a week. I’m at Smalls, I’m at Blue Note, Village Vanguard, the Jazz Standard.

And in Paris, I love all of the underground jazz clubs, like Le Caveau des Oubliettes which means ‘the cave of the forgotten ones.’ They have an old, functioning guillotine and carvings on the wall of people that were in there being tortured and suffering God knows when.

The first place I ever got on stage repeatedly was this place called Caveau De La Huchette. In World War II it was a bomb bunker! And then I love how Blue Whale is quiet and like an art gallery for jazz.

You have to have good sound and it should be affordable so that people can access it. People should come to the music. A good jazz club nurtures the music and makes it available to people. It should have beautiful drinks, and food probably, although I don’t think that food is necessary. Personally I can’t eat and listen to music at the same time, it’s like eating and crying — I just don’t want to do it at the same time.

Lighting is something I want to explore more, visuals with jazz music – no one’s going there. They’re so compartmentalized – it’s like Art. Jazz. Dance. Cooking. It’s all different worlds, and I’m kind of a jack-of-all-trades with a deep passion for singing, so I want to bring it all together…that’s my destiny. I have to, to be fulfilled in this life.

The last show that Austin Peralta played was with you (November 20th, 2012)…how are you processing his death?

It was my second show at Blue Whale, and it’s a show that will go down in history. People came up to me that night that I had never met, and I got messages from people like this German guy who had already gone back to Germany, who told me he couldn’t get this show out of his mind…it’s the best show he’s ever been to.

It was a magical show and it’s because I was so hyper aware that playing with Austin was my dream come true. I’m so glad I was present enough to get that and to not let it pass me by without really taking stock…it’s a huge gift.

Let’s talk about how you arrange. It seems like there’s almost an infinite amount of possibilities and directions you could take in making a song your own.

For me, arranging is really a team effort – it depends who I’m playing with, what their vibe is. My foundation is in performance art, where anything can happen. You have a concept and then you bring it to the world, and you put it out in the vacuum of the world, in the elements and it weathers your idea, breaks it down, smashes it or it picks it up in a whirlwind and takes it and it touches someone…you never know.

I like to let things come up organically…I heard the other day, Miles Davis never told anyone what to do — he just picked the right players. And this is in a live setting of course.

Normally I have a feeling of how I want it to go, and it either happens that way or it doesn’t. I never really tweak what people are doing. I’ll set the tempo with my body because I dance too. When you set up a song it’s a theatrical thing.

Like the last night at the Blue Whale, we did this song called “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” and it changed my life…I’m a different person after singing that song and playing it with Austin. We play one of these songs that everybody has done, it’s a classic Duke Ellington song, in my favorite key F, and it’s “Solitude.”

So I said “Solitude,” and Austin said “can you give me the quarter.” And it came in and it was EXACTLY what I wanted, deeply what I wanted. I say darken it up a bit, and he adds this tension…and the perfect arrangement came out. I just sang the whole form through twice and it got so dark, so heavy, it went into a shuffle feel…it was grinding. And it found its way because truth was guiding it.

What’s the breakdown between covers and originals on your record [hopefully out this spring]?

I think I’m shooting for 4 originals and 8 other songs. Out of those 8 other songs there are some jazz standards. One’s “All Matter” by Bilal. There might be Little Dragon…There’s Mingus, there’s Ellington, Joe Henderson…so not even ‘standards standards’ but songs in the jazz family.

As you know I love your song “Stand Still” ~

I was challenged to write a song about beauty. And I did it over this little loop – D minor G minor, D minor G minor, D minor G minor, F major 7, A minor 7. And that repeats. It just came out…our beauty is that we will never be/this will never be right.

What’s your philosophy on life and how does it affect your music?

I’m learning a lot about life right now. Well, we never die. I’m pretty positive about that. Every go around we have, let’s see how much weight we can lift up this time around. You get thrown in this world and all these things make you forget your purpose. Society tries to turn you into a mindless zombie slave, and there’s evil everywhere…like shallow modes, staleness, and depraved humanity on every advertisement, and it’s just the lowest vibration.

My philosophy is: I’m here to heal and I’m here to elevate, and music is the way I’m doing that today, and it’s the way I can get my voice heard, and it’s something I love.

When I first started dedicating my life to music I didn’t realize that I’d have to become a different person. My body is my instrument…I have to take on this responsibility. Austin has made my sense of purpose blossom and I know the path that I’m supposed to go down now.

On Austin Peralta ~

I know the path – I’m very lucky in that he’s showed me. I want to play with the musicians he’s played with in the same venues and cities. I can’t believe it, but I got to play his last show on earth with my idol.

The way that he lived his life, enjoying everything. He loved things so much. Everything is so much more beautiful since he died. It’s crazy that death makes me want to live more. And my dad brought this up the other day…That’s where humanity is at, that we still need people who we love to die to get it, but one day we’re not going to need that.

His death is an enlightenment and it’s changed my philosophy on life and music– I got this tattoo that says ‘the love the music forever,’ because as long as you have the love and the music, which are synonymous, then life is full of purpose and music is full of purpose.

People make music that is not full of heart, it’s full of ego. Even people whose music I enjoy…their process is squelched of passion. I never want to make music for the wrong reason, and I have, because it’s scary to put your soul out there and be vulnerable, but I really want to get into it and die every time. Then rebirth every time. Remind people without having to die for them why we’re alive.

Now I’m really serious about life. I’m not this raging soul, consuming life fast and hard. I used to be kind of like that. But I’m a nurturer. I’m serious. I’ve wasted a lot of time not taking life seriously. It’s a really dark scary place without the love and the music, and without the understanding of infinity and forever.

It’s so exciting that we exist and we can enjoy music. That’s exciting. This is a privilege and a chance and I want to uplift — I really take that very seriously these days. I’m not going to let it fade it away — I’m not going to let Austin fade away.

Thank you Natasha!

**People in LA – you can catch Natasha performing this Sunday, January 13, at Room 5.