Natasha Nathanielzs is an extremely gifted performer, whether she’s dancing on stage to hip hop or African beats, crooning along to a jazz number or lost in a trance as she skillfully plays her harp, watching her perform will leave you breathless.

Preferring to be known first and foremost as a song writer, with the release of her EP Chasing Rainbows early this year, she’s certainly proved her talents are abundant. A student of the McDonald College of Performing Arts in Australia, Natasha excelled at many aesthetic fields like drama and dancing before she decided to focus her attention on music. She has played at a number of prominent events in Australia along with noted performances at the Galle Literary Festival and Alliance Francaise de Kotte’s Fete de la Musique.

 

 

Recalling the making of Chasing Rainbows, she says her journey all began on the golden sands of Unawatuna. “I was living in a bungalow on the beach in una for 7 months; basically i would wake up and go surfing then come back and write lyrics for the songs on the EP, it was very relaxed and laid back. I returned to Colombo to start looking for musicians i could play with.”

Talking about her skills as a song writer, she explains that although she never thought of becoming a singer, she began writing poetry with a melody when she wasa 13 years old, “I was starry eyed when I was younger, my writing focused on social issues and injustices, stories that I felt needed to be told. It changed as i got older, now I’m more creative, I just write without any reason or justification, the writing comes from a place inside that doesn’t require inspiration.”

Natasha is self taught on both the piano and harp, her interest in the latter came after she was gifted a harp on her 21^st birthday. While she is dedicated to playing her harp, she does hope to learn intruments in the future, like the sitar, cello and santoor to name a few. “I like learning instuments that sound different. I've played the guitar and piano, and while they are really good instuments, eventually they sound like every other song, whereas with these instuments you get that unique sound,” she said.

While her music could  be classed in the indie/folk/pop genres, her own tastes in music are quite diverse, listing artists like Billie Holiday, Bjork, Goyte and Alice Cochrane as favourites, and counts Malian kora player, Toumani Diabate, as an inspiration for her harp music.

 

  

 

Although her parents are not musicians, "far from it", she states with a grin, Natasha says there is an artistic streak running through the family, “My granduncle, Bill Forbes, was a renowned musician but in my immediate family, I’m the eccentric one, everyone else is following accounts and stuff like that. My parents has been very surpportive of my career, they knew i was not very academic so they encouraged my creativity and supported me when i enrolled at the College of Performing Arts.

My advice for anyone who’s creative is don't try to follow any particular path, simply create because that’s what you're compelled to do. Don’t worry about meeting expectations or what your art or music must sound like. Having a formula can be good but never be afraid to change the formula. Daring to change is the key!” Said Natasha.

 

 

“Music is really special as it can spark these vivid pictues in your head and make you feel emotions that you normally wouldn’t. It inspires you. I'd love my music to do that and be remembered for that.” She added.

The young musician has a busy year ahead, already working on lyrics for her next EP, she is scheduled to leave for Australia next month to take part in the numerous big music festivals set to take place. While Natasha definitely loves fulfilling her career as a musician and performer, aware that she might now be able to continue it forever, she say’s her dream is to further educate herself in the field of music thereapy, something she briefly studied in sydney, and hopefully be able to help those in need with music.

 

You can listen to Natasha’s music on www.myspace.com/nathanielsz and www.soundcloud.com/natashanathanielsz.

 

 

By Lake Argent

Pics by Kushan Pathirana