TOMORROW – MY NEW EP RELEASE 15.04.10
Ok people… Do you wanna play a part in my new EP I am releasing. It’s called…‘Things I’ve done – Acoustic sessions’. I have recorded most of it, but with your help I can finish it off and send it out to you. This project is a way of giving you a little taste of what I have been up to b4 my next album comes out – Acoustic stylee. Hence I am putting it out tomorrow lunchtime (UK time) for my friends, family and loyal fans only!!! I will be putting it up for sale on this website… www.pledgemusic.com.
Ths is how it works… you guys will pledge your hard-earned cash for whatever package takes your fancy, and once we meet our target I will send you what you have pledged for, and only then does the money come out of your account.
You can pledge for all types of things as well as my EP. Things like… my handwritten lyric sheets, a private gig, signed t-shirts, some of my old instruments, announce me onstage at my gig, backstage passes etc etc..The main reason for doing it this way is that I am trying to raise as much money as possible for The Sarcoma Research Fund at Royal Marsden, at the same time involve you guys… the people who have got me to where I am!
Peace and Love, Vibes and Pressure
Natty
PS… check out my myspace for a couple tasters of the ep and tour dates.
I BACK, NEW RELEASE PLUS FREE DOWNLOAD 31.03.10
Yo, what’s going on peeps. Been really busy, but got some good news…
Firstly, I got a new website… check it out.
Secondly, I got a free song for you guys. I made it with my guitarist Bear….based on a true story of my friend who got robbed in his yard at gunpoint. It’s called Duppydub… for those not down wit the lingo… a duppy is a ghost, so when you try and duppy someone, you try and turn them into a ghost… get it? Good!
So all you have to do to get the track is click here.
Thirdly, I finally have a release schedule for my next album, been working away in the studio, travelling, reading and opening my mind to so many new (and old) things this world has to offer, so the music is now taking shape into something resembling an album, not just tracks here and there. But because I have been writing so much music I will be releasing a little sumn sumn first, which brings me onto my last point…
Lastly and most importantly I will be releasing an EP and going on a UK tour. It’s been a long time coming but we got our act together and it should be real nice. Been rehearsing and everyones buzzing off the new songs. I will be writing to you in the next 2 weeks telling you what its all about and exactly how you can purchase the EP…But it’s not just an EP…there will be footage/ merch/ live exclusive updates and a little documentary on my journey in the music world so far. Monies collected will be going to a Sarcoma Research Charity in the memory of Johnny Dollar who produced my first album.
SO STAY TUNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Peace and Love, vibes and pressure.
Natty
The Barbican, The Waitaha and Reasonings with a Reggae Legend 11.03.10
Wats gwanin people
so i thought i’d touch in an tell u bout this show just did.
Chris Difford from the band Squeeze asked me to come and perform at an event he put on called “songs in the key of London”. This happened 2 days ago. It was my first performance in the Barbican, i am hoping there will be more. It was heavy. I had a real good time and got to meet quite a few talented Londoners, mainly from the 2-tone and Still records era. Suggs, Jools Holland, Elvis Costello, Glen Tilbrook, Chas Jankel, my mate Blaine Harrison and many more guests came and performed. I got to share a stage with them all at the end where we did a rendition of Waterloo Sunset(my fave song about London). Me and Robyn Hitchcock sang the first verse, Elvis Costello and Glen Tilbrook sang the second and everyone else joined in for the third verse and the sha la la’s, It was pretty exciting sharing a stage with such legends. I was asked to also perform Cold Town and did a duet with Phil Daniels(of Quadrophenia), so all in all was a something great to be a part of.
Yet what i remember best was the lengthy resonings I had with a man called Rico Rodriguez. At the time I didn’t realise what this man had done. I was just blessed to be in his presence, an old Rastaman with a warm soul and opinions and knowledge of so many things. We talked about many things of the spirits and stars and all the old indigenous people like the Dogon(Mali), the Maya and the Waitaha(NZ). He explained to me as a young man in Jamaica before mobile phones they would use telepathy… ie u would think of someone and within the next couple days fate would design you two to meet. It makes sense, the amount of times I have mentioned someone or thought of them and then they call me is too many to count.We talked about so many things of the spirit and at times forgot we were there to do a gig. At one point he had to run onstage cos he missed his stage call, was pretty funny, anyway i am rambling… check out the mans webpage down below.
Anyway It was a good night, next gig I looking forward to is another Haitian fundraiser. Check out my blog about the last one.
On another tip my music writing is going well, working on a free downlad song which I will be putting up on my new websight. My guitarist, Bear who works with me on my productions come up with a sick guitar riff so We turning it into a song and it should be yp for your listening pleasure bery shortly. Anyway I gonna bounce now, but in case you were wondering what is happening with any releases…. stay tuned, I will be releasing something special very soon.
Peace an luv, vibes and pressure.
Natty.
Waitaha Peoples: http://waitaha.org/
Dogon Teachings: http://www.darkstar1.co.uk/ds12.html
Pics from Barbican gig: http://siddifford.zenfolio.com/p406300466
Rico RodriguezReggae musician: http://www.2-tone.info/artists/rico.html
Love4Haiti and Recent tings 27.02.10
So, wats happenin thought i would tell u wat i been up to. My 2nd album is taking a little longer than anticipated, partly due to politrix wit my label, partly due to my unwillingness to write commercial sounding music. I know i can be stubborn sometimes, cos the Beatles made commercial sounding music but they heavy, so i know I don’t need to sell out just make the songs I am writing all they can be. but i think we will be getting there very shortly…. meanwhile I have been putting plans together for a possible release(not a full album) yet I dont wanna say too much cos I dont wanna Jinx nothing…. but April should be a lovely year(lol).
Did a gig last night called love4haiti in Cargo. I been asked to do a cople gigs for the benefit of Haiti and at first I said yes to all of them, but I had to take a step back an think about it for a minute. Do I really wanna be invloved in those same old events put on by the same old charities where the press is great and everyone says how great it is to do but nothing really happens on the ground? However this event is giving all proceeds to UHUK(United Haitians in U.K). The reason this is important is that it will be Haitians taking care of HAitians. As opposed to “the west” taking care of them. Everyne is seeing the way that the Americans are sewing up that country for themselves(Very rich land, possible oil, hasn’t been dug yet). And everyone is seeing oxfam and other such charities busting a gut to help. dont get me twisted its great that they are helping, as long as that help doent come at a price and eventually they will be left self-sustainable. Ok i am getting on a tangent. Soweto Kinch, Myself, TY, Jonzi D etc all performed… musicians were haevy. I didnt get to practice with them, just a 5 minute soundcheck and we still killed it, so shout out to the uprock band, and all the people involved with the night. It was a special day, also felt good to perform at the Cargo again, one of m fave small venues. Check out the link below 4 some bits and pieces.
Started putting together a Vibes and Pressure blog page, so to all political activists/ poets/ musicians and love pedallers write in to vibesandpressure@googlemail.com if u wanna submit anything for the opening of this page.
Anyway got a bounce, off to the studio… gonna be doing a little writing with Just Jack, will let u know how that goes. Peace and love, vibes and pressure Natty
UHUK: http://www.uhuk.org/
The Cargo show: http://www.you-me-we.org/love4haiti-the-show/
It can be easy to fall into the trap of trying to pigeonhole this eclectic artist’s style as reggae-soul. However, scratch beneath the surface and there are hidden depths to the chart-topping Natty who effortlessly fuses many genres and vibes into a melting pot of sounds which can be described as the gritty yet uplifting soundtrack to many young people’s lives growing up in the UK today.
Writing songs from an early age, Natty grew up listening to his parents’ diverse record collection. Being of African and British heritage, he soaked up the sounds of artists including Neil Young, Fela Kuti and Bob Marley. The vast scope of influences can be heard within Natty’s own compositions, yet he brings something refreshing and unique to the world of popular music.
After spending the majority of his teen years producing hip-hop beats for local MCs, Natty left school and landed a job at a recording studio. He quickly moved his way up from tea boy to working with artists including Mos Def, Queen and Razorlight. Whilst working on other bands’ music, he used the opportunity of free studio time to develop his own material.
In early 2006 Natty began performing at numerous open-mic nights, rapidly generating a huge buzz which led him to sell a vast number of mix-tapes to his emerging fan-base as well as attracting the attention of music industry professionals. During this period, Natty founded his own live event; Vibes & Pressure. Much better described as a movement rather than simply a club night, Vibes and Pressure attracted the likes of Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly, Mr Hudson, I Blame Coco and many more to grace the stage. Natty went on to form his own four-piece band and was asked to support numerous artists on tour including Kate Nash, Bedouin Soundclash, Hard-Fi and Lee Perry.
Atlantic Records signed Natty in 2007 and his critically acclaimed debut Top 20 album Man Like I was released in August of the following year. Natty became a festival favorite, performing his unique brand of, hard to categorize, yet accessible reggae, to thousands of fans who couldn’t get enough. Early highlights included performing on Later With Jools Holland, his hit debut single July being featured as BBC Radio 1’s Record of the Week and performing for the iTunes Festival. Natty has collaborated with many respected and high profile artists including Baaba Maal, Tony Allen, Roots Manuva, Oumou Sangare, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble and Little Roy. Working with the award winning Nitin Sawhney in 2008, led to their collaboration Days of Fire featuring on Sawhney’s latest album London Undersound, as well as a sold-out performance at London’s prestigious Roundhouse for the BBC Electric Proms.
As well as his success in the UK, Natty’s music has been welcomed globally with open arms, leading to performances all over Europe, flourishing projects in Jamaica as well as hitting the number 1 spot in Japan with his single Badman. Natty’s appeal as a musically motivated yet accessible artist with an intelligent message is undeniable and has resulted in fans crying out for his next release.
The future looks bright for Natty, currently working towards releasing his second album, he is also putting out an acoustic EP of brand new material, something that, for his dedicated fans, has not come a moment too soon. This EP was recorded live with 3 of his band-mates and will consist of acoustic songs merging reggae, blues, folk and soul; a fusion which is sure to delight those who first fell in love with Natty’s sound during his early acoustic gigs. Many are keenly anticipating what will happen next, Natty is sure to hold a few surprises up his sleeve. The London swagger coupled with a rich musical heritage and understanding of the world is surely a recipe for a long and fruitful career.
