Hello, I’m a Melbourne based singer/songwriter and producer and I’ve just released my new album Through The Devils Wood, a collection of eleven beat-driven pop songs.
There’s a very cinematic sound to the production which comes from the fact that I’d always loved the idea of writing music for film! The sound is a milkshake of soul, dub, hip-hop, electro and spoken word, and people say they can hear a bit Erykah Badu in my mix which is of course flattering! Other people have said I sound a bit like Little Dragon, Portishead, M.I.A or Santigold.
On this album I collaborated with Sly and Robbie; Jamaican reggae music extrodinaires who have worked with No Doubt, Grace Jones, Madonna and the Fugees to name just a few. They found me on Myspace to my complete surprise, and provided me with some beats that were later developed into the song, ‘Through the Devils Wood’, later inspiring the album title. London born hip hop artist Lotek also collaborated with me on this album and helped me get some of the sounds I was looking for.
What’s your earliest memory of performing and who inspired you to start?
My Dad. The family would all sit in the lounge and everyone would be like, “ok Naomi, show us your latest dance routine and sing a little song to go with it”. I’d just make it up on the spot and pretend I was a serious performer. My Dad loved photography and used to take a lot of photos. I have some pretty embarrassing photos of being 12 in a polka dot ra ra skirt and crop ‘old navy’ t shirts.
You must answer this question honestly or we steal your rider. What and where was the first gig you went to?
Michael Jackson BAD concert when I was 11. My brother is 6’ 11” so I sat on his shoulders for the entire concert watching Michael swooshing in on a big floating machine thing over the crowd with the wind in his hair. It was soo unreal. What an amazing performer. The gig was somewhere in the city at one of those big Melbourne stadiums… I just cannot remember exactly where it was. There were so many people, it was like an exodus when it finished.
‘Fess up. What records have you stolen from your parent’s record collection and why?
I’m looking at George Harrison – All Things Must Pass on the shelf in my studio right now. The Jimi Hendrix Experience also, in fact my father collected Hendrix records and I inherited about fifteen of them. All original first prints. My mother had a lot of Billie Holiday, Al Green and George Benson. So really they had great taste! Mum had these mini Elvis records that she wrote her name on as a young woman. Very cute.
What’s on heavy rotation on your iPod right now?
Caribou, Gold Panda, Mos Def, Blu and Exile, Hieroglyphics, Toro Y Moi. So yeah, electro and hip hop!
How do you find new music?
I find people under the age of 25 and tell them to hand over their music collection!
Do you have any particular ritual before you go on stage, or even a lucky charm you take with you?
I have a visualisation. I visualise a mini casio keyboard ‘Concertmate 200’ that had when I was 12. It played the Bossa Nova. It just makes me smile – it’s very calming. It emulated the electro sounds of the 80s very well and I can even hear a little Grand Master Flash in there!
If you could curate your own festival, where would it be, who would be on the bill, how many people would you let in and what features would it have (attractions/food/bars etc)?
Lots of food and cocktail bars on the beach somewhere in Thailand. It would be a hip-hop /soul festival and I would invite musicians from all around the world to attend. It would be a musician only festival, so musos could network and join forces. I’d get any of the old greats of soul music that are still alive to come and play and then I’d go through my list of favourite modern day hip hop / soul artists and put them on the bill too.
Older classics like EPMD, Gang Starr, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Brand Nubian and bring on the explicit lyrics of NWA!
When you’re Rolling Stones Big, what are you going to request on your rider: don’t be shy. We want specifics!
Cosmopolitans for my gals. Because Sex in The City is one of my fave TV shows. Totally random and I cant believe I just admitted to that.
Because it’s more fun to do things together, which living Australian artist would you most like to collaborate with? Tell us why?
Gotye. Because he used to live in St Kilda where I live and I like his voice and I think he’d be perfect to write a deep, dark heart felt ballad with.
What is your band’s music the best soundtrack for?
The 007 films!!! There’s some 60s guitar coupled with big heavy beats and orchestral string sounds in a few of the tracks. It’s Ccnematic with a big sound in some parts, suited to that genre of film I think.
Where we can see you play next, what releases do you have available and where can we get them?
This year I intend to film another video clip in September with filmmaking team, Who By Fire and book in some summer festivals! It’s exciting because my band is solid, my drummer Chad Blaster is in Loteks band, Thomas Butt on Bass Guitar used to play in True Live, and we all know each other from other bands. Even though we have only been together a month they have interpreted the songs I wrote for the album like pros and are all so highly trained. It’s an honour to work with them.
my Facebook page where you can sample the album and read more about me:
itunes to buy the album ‘Through the Devils Wood’:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/through-the-devils-wood/id540278110
