she’s signed to a grammy award winning producer, released multiple eps by now, her songs got played on bbc radio, she played a session for songs from the shed and many other “proper” shows – so it’s safe to say that natalie mccool isn’t necessarily a new artist in the business but it still seems like not enough people have recognised her incredible talent yet. what makes her so different?! many things. it’s not just her voice that sets her apart from other female artists. it’s the way her vocals, her lyrics and her sound work together. dark and mysterious, yet so fragile and innocent. it’s this great mix that makes her music so interesting. thankfully i’ve known and been in touch with her for a while now, so she didn’t hesitate for a second when i asked her if she’d answer a few questions for me.
question: you’re signed to grammy award winner steve levine and his label hubris records. how did that come about?
natelie: i won yamaha’s national songwriting competition 'make it break it' when I was in my second year of study at LIPA (the liverpool institute for performing arts). steve levine was one of the judges on the panel which included coldplay’s chris martin, promoter harvey goldsmith, and bbc radio 2’s mark radcliffe. after i performed at the MIBI awards ceremony, steve signed me to his label hubris records.
the double a-side single ‘fortune/on fire’ is your most recent release. how come you went for a double a-side this time and not for a new ep?
after the release of my 'black sun ep', i went into the studio to record some of my new songs with steve my producer, the new songs included both 'on fire' and 'fortune'. after recording the songs we began the process of choosing which track should be the single or 'lead track' on the next ep, but after listening to all the tracks we just couldn't decide whether it should be 'fortune' or 'on fire', because we felt that they were both so strong - so we decided we would release them both as singles - using the old vinyl terminology of 'double a side', obviously meaning two tracks both released as singles on the same record.
a couple of weeks ago you posted a video for your song ‘america’ which was partly written by sir paul mccartney. can you tell us how this happened?
a couple of weeks ago you posted a video for your song ‘america’ which was partly written by sir paul mccartney. can you tell us how this happened?
sir paul mccartney is the lead patron of my old university LIPA in liverpool. the LIPA building is actually his old grammar school! every year sir paul visits LIPA and holds a masterclass for all the music students who have taken the songwriting module in their final year. as i had chosen songwriting, i was given a one to one masterclass with him - can you imagine how surreal that was! i decided that i was going to play him a song that i hadn't yet finished - 'america' - just to see what advice he could give me - i had a couple of ideas about the bridge section, but i couldn’t decide exactly where to go with the chord progression. so i played it to sir paul, and to my surprise he picked up his own guitar and began to play along! he jammed out some chords to the bridge section, and that same chord progression has remained part of the song ever since!
what would you say is your personal highlight of your career so far?
it has got to be meeting and jamming with sir paul mccartney! but another great highlight was when my support slot for joan armatrading was confirmed. joan is on a uk tour this year and i’m supporting her at the bridgewater hall in manchester, 4th november. by coincidence i met her just recently at a uk music event held at the houses of parliament, she is so cool.
you’ve released three eps and a double a-side so far. what’s next on your agenda in terms of new material and live shows?
i'm about to release my latest ep which is planned for release this summer. i’m also in the process of making a couple of videos, and i've got a show supporting jesca hoop at LEAF in liverpool on the 28th june (also my birthday!). i have a number of other shows booked too, the live dates and latest news are on my website at http://www.nataliemccool.co.uk !
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