Nataly Dawn – Interview
Interview by Alex Teitz
If you’ve seen Pomplamoose you’ve only scratched the surface of Nataly Dawn. Pomplamoose is Nataly Dawn and her husband Jack Conte. They’ve surged on YouTube with unique videos that have attracted worldwide attention. It makes up a third of what Dawn really is about.
The second element is My Terrible Friend, a folk duo, that Dawn does with Lauren O’Connell. They released an EP in 2010 and will be releasing another one next year. Look for the video in November.
Third, Dawn has her solo albums. On October 29 she releases Haze. Dawn has a relaxed style on stage. Her stage chat is humorous and occasionally self-deprecating. The music flows easily. Pay attention to “I Won.” The comparisons fit to Dar Williams and Lucy Kaplansky. Dawn is on a limited tour with Lauren O’Connell with the remaining dates of:
November 10—Los Angeles, CA—The Hotel Café
November 15—San Francisco, CA—The Chapel
November 18—Portland, OR—The Old Church
November 19—Seattle, WA—Barboza
Nataly Dawn is one of those pure elements in music. She invites the audience in like family. If there is an example for artists to aspire to, it is Nataly Dawn. For information on Dawn, Haze and the tour visit natalydawnmusic.com
FEMMUSIC: Can you describe your songwriting technique? How does it change in collaborations?
ND: Songwriting begins with what comes most naturally to you, and then you make it harder on yourself. I struggle with both parts of the process. The “easy part” and the “making it harder on myself,” because there’s a lot of beauty and simplicity in what comes naturally, but there can also be a lot of redundancy and you don’t grow if you aren’t challenging yourself. For me, the easy parts are melodies, harmonies and structure. The hard parts are lyrics and production. I often collaborate with people to make up for my weaknesses. I’ll work with someone who’s excellent at lyrics, like Lauren O’Connell, or someone with serious production chops like Jack Conte. For this record, I slapped some duct tape onto my crutches and did it all myself. Am I an amazing producer? Nope. Do I write great lyrics? Maybe after several painstaking hours. Are these songs good despite that? Somehow – miraculously – I think they are.
FEMMUSIC: What was the biggest challenge in making Haze?
ND: Being left to your own devices for three years is a scary thing. Sitting alone in a room and wondering if anything you’re doing is good enough. I feel like every tiny decision is followed by “Fuck it. It’s fine.” And then you move on. Collaborating is so much easier. It’s so comforting to work with someone else. Agreeing with a person on an artistic choice makes it feel way less arbitrary. But I also feel like necessity is the mother of invention, and working alone pushes you to the limits of what you think you’re capable of. If you don’t have a drummer, you can still make a beat. The good news is, it won’t sound like anyone else’s beat, and most people won’t be able to tell if it’s Matt Chamberlain or just you frantically tapping a launchpad.
FEMMUSIC: What one positive experience stuck out making Haze?
ND: Half of me will always question what I’m capable of and whether anything I make is “good”, but the other half is really proud of this record. I don’t feel like an “expert” but I do feel like I can write, produce and mix a track from start to finish, and that’s something to be proud of. Three years ago, I switched from Pro Tools to Ableton. Three years ago, I felt like an imposter. I needed to work with other people to make something and was convinced that their efforts were what made it good. And now I can stand on my own two feet, and point proudly at the crayola-drawing on the fridge that I made “all by myself”!
FEMMUSIC: How did you choose Beau Sorrenson to produce Haze? How did you meet him?
ND: The record is actually mostly self-produced. I wrote and recorded almost all of it in my home studio in San Francisco. And then, three years later, I wanted to scrap everything. I was so sick of everything. So I called my friend Olivia Lee and asked her if she would help. We’d never worked together, but I knew from her music and her work with my friend Lauren O’Connell that she possessed strengths that I lacked. She came on as assistant producer and introduced me to Beau Sorrenson, who mixed the tracks. Together, they renewed my faith in the album. I am so grateful to them. So many of these songs would’ve never seen the light of day without their fresh perspective.
FEMMUSIC: You & Lauren O’Connell are working on another My Terrible Friend release. What can you tell me about it? How is working with Lauren different vs Haze & Pomplamoose?
ND: I am so excited about the songs Lauren and I have written together! There will be two My Terrible Friend music videos coming out in November while we’re on tour, and I’m so proud of these songs. Lauren is an incredible producer, with unflinching musical taste. She is a genius. Everything she makes turns my soul inside-out. Also, she’s one of my closest friends. I can’t believe how lucky I am to have such inspiring friends. When Lauren and I work together, we come to each other with bits of ideas: maybe a chorus, maybe a riff or a lyric. Then we hand it over to the other person, let them mess around with it for a week, and see what they come up with. Once we settle on melody, harmony and basic instrumentation, Lauren takes over the production of the song. She is a killer producer and does everything from her home-studio. Then we hand it over to a mixer (Beau Sorrenson once again! He’s just so good…) For Haze, I relied on myself for most of the production, and would reach out to people for help on things like drums (Louis Cole), string orchestration (Anton Patzner), additional production (Olivia Lee), and mixing (Beau Sorrenson). With Pomplamoose, we start with a melody or a riff. Then Jack does something super funky with the harmonies. Then I add a weird bass line. Then Jack produces the heck out of it, while I write lyrics. We’re like a machine. We’ve gotten so good at communicating over the last decade. It usually takes us three days to make a song, from start to finish. We try stuff, make fast choices, take it apart, rebuild it, and then we put a bow on it and call it done.
FEMMUSIC: You’ve worked with Nonesuch Records in the past. You now fund your work through crowdfunding & Patreon. What benefits do you see to this funding mechanism? Would you sign to a record label? Why or why not?
ND: Nonesuch was a great label and I feel lucky that they took me on. When I signed with them, neither the label nor I were quite sure what we were signing up for. In the end, we both agreed that it wasn’t a great fit. I think that my mistake was not knowing what I expected from the label. You can’t just sign with a label and expect things to happen (though that is usually what artists do). I have a much better sense of what I want now. As it turns out, I’m not a big fan of touring, which is not the case for most artists. Live shows are a great way to connect with your fans, but in my experience not a great way to reach more people. Also, touring is such an arduous process. You’re away from loved-ones for extended periods of time, getting no exercise, eating terribly, never getting enough sleep. It’s just not how I want to live my life. Making music is what I love to do. I want to make as much music as possible. Patreon allows me to do that. Every time I release a music video, my patrons give me a certain amount of money. Right now I have 1,280 people contributing around $6,000 toward each video that I make. Which makes it sound like I make a shit ton of money. But really, I’m running a small business. Everything I make gets poured back into the art and the business of making art. It’s not a popular thing to talk about. People have very strong opinions about where art and money should meet. I try to release three videos per month. And part of not having a label is hiring people to handle the business. That means business managers, booking agents, lawyers, mixers, cinematographers, editors, graphic designers, web designers and other musicians. Most of these people take a fee or percentage. This month I hired my first full-time employee, and she is kicking butt. I feel so lucky that I get to work with these people. Without them, I would never find time to make art.
FEMMUSIC: As a woman in the music industry, have you been discriminated against?
ND: I think there are two main forms of discrimination that drive me up the wall. The first is the assumption that there’s a guy somewhere doing all the work behind the scenes. People rarely think that I’m the one producing and mixing the music, and directing and editing the videos, but I usually am. Only very recently have I started hiring other people to help me with that stuff. The other frustrating thing is that because I’m in a relationship with Jack (the other member of Pomplamoose), people are always asking about him. There will inevitably be a comment under my solo videos that reads, “Where’s Jack?” or “Are you two still together?” And if – God forbid – there’s another guy in the video – a guy who is not Jack – people are even more vocal. It’s so frustrating. And such a double standard. When Jack releases a video, I feel like more people respect his solo channel, and don’t expect there to be a girl there.
FEMMUSIC: Whom would you like most to tour with or collaborate with?
ND: It would be really fun to work with Vampire Weekend, Vulfpeck or Blake Mills. I’d also love to collaborate on a track with Greg Kurstin. His production blows my mind. And while we’re shooting for the moon, a tour with Gillian Welch would be a dream come true. But the truth is, I’ve been repeatedly astonished by how much talent there is in the world. The Bay Area and the internet are full of people who may never win a Grammy, but who are insanely good at what they do. Those are the people I love working with.
FEMMUSIC: What one thing would you like to change about the music industry?
ND: There are so many myths in the industry, so much false information perpetuated by “common knowledge” and Hollywood. I just want every musician in the world to know that no one will ever discover you. It’s not about writing a hit song, or having a great manager, or working with a famous producer, or getting on the cover of Rolling Stones, or opening for Gillian Welch. It’s about working your ass off, and constantly trying new things, and breaking down walls, because everyone will say “no”. Work hard, be generous, publish your art and move on. You are the only one who can make shit happen.