portalpopline.com.br When I had the honor to be invited by Amanda to create together with her a different approach to the so called “What Are They Doing Now?” special - as part of her column “Baú” - one of the first names that came to mind was Natasha Thomas. It was 2004 when a friend introduced me to Natasha’s music. A danish girl with soft voice singing pop music highly influenced by reggae (a unusual mix that worked very well). At times of dial-up internet connection at 56kbps and social media still on baby steps (xoxo, My Space), her first album “Save Your Kisses”, released in 2004, had good results, even though it didn’t make it to top of the charts in markets where the record was released in, including Brazil. But it was only when Natasha caught the attention of one of the biggest fashion brands in the world and became the face of its perfume line that she got to meet success. To the sound of her own music, Natasha showed her beauty in a TV ad for the brand, which helped her to leverage her career. And that was exactly why she came to Brazil, where she took part in TV shows, had one of her songs as soundtrack to a soap opera and reached Top 5 at Brazil’s national music chart with the single “It’s Over Now”.

After “Save Your Kisses” cycle, Natasha finished her contract with Sony Music and moved to a smaller record label. From this move, she came up with the album “Playin’ With Fire”- a record with a greater dose of R&B, influenced by the hype that was starting exactly at that time and took over the music business for a few years (also putting Nelly Furtado on the spotlight with the album “Loose”).

Natasha Thomas’ second album failed and didn’t have enough repercussion, mostly due to lack of promotion and for only being released in very few countries, like Germany, Denmark, Japan and United Kingdom. The only single from the album, the song “Skin Deep”, is probably the most different one from the whole album concept (something similar to what happened to “Two Hearts” in Kylie Minogue’s “X”, if you know what I mean). After this particular struggle, Natasha disappeared from the spotlight, releasing one song or another every now and then. She became a mother, graduated as a professional makeup artist and started a YouTube channel where she talks about beauty and lifestyle. Interviewing her for our session “What Are You Doing Now?” in “Baú” was a real joy.

Hi Natasha! It has been a long time since we last heard from you, musically speaking, what have you been doing since your last release? My life changed a lot. I lived in Berlin and worked as an artist until 2008 and then I moved back to Denmark. I met my now husband 7 years ago, and we now have a 4 year old beautiful daughter. I was working on a Danish album with a Danish label back in 2010, but that label went under financially and therefore the record never got released. Since I wanted to care for my new relationship, I didn’t want to start all over with a new label and management once again in Germany, where I would have to be gone for months at a time. So, I went back to school. First, I became a certified makeup artist and then I got an AP degree in Multimedia Design and communication. I still would love to make music again, but finding it hard to fit it all in, and I would have a hard time being away from my daughter for too long at a time. But I do still miss it, and still mainly feel like my identity is being a singer and performer. I've made a Youtube channel that I would love to build a following on, mainly talking about beauty and lifestyle related topics. So, the target group is young creative women, who are into that sort of stuff.  And you stayed a little period in the United States, right? I did go to the States for several months back in 2008. I recorded a bunch of demo songs in Florida and Atlanta (At RedZone Studios), and was close to landing a record deal over there. But at that time I was kind of mentally drained, and didn't feel like moving straight from Germany to the States and starting over by myself once again. I kind of wanted to try to have a normal life for a while. Cause I'd been traveling non stop since I was 16. So I must have about 30 unpublished demos that are really great, but sadly that just wasn't the right timing in my life. It would have been another fun adventure though. 

But do you have plans to come back to music? I would actually love to, but I'm no longer in contact with very many people in the industry, so not sure who I would partner up with. My manager moved back to the states as well, so currently don't have a management company that represent me. I've been asked quite a few times to join with a song in the Eurovision song contest. Maybe I'll do that at some stage. But would prefer just to do my own album.  Not really a fan of competitions. Back in the day I was asked to join to represent Germany and Swtizerland but said no. I've been asked a few times (including last year) to compete with a song in Danish Eurovision. I had just started a new job in online marketing and i still felt like my daughter was too young for me to be away from her for two long - if i was to win, which there's no guarantee I would have (I've never released music on a big scale in Denmark, so people don't really know me here:). But who knows, maybe next year. I do fell a bit "out of shape" vocally, so I would need a lot of training to get back on the stage. How is the life of an Youtuber different from the life of a singer? What made you decide to become a Youtuber? I'm currently not a full-time youtuber, it’s more of a side/passion project. And I hardly ever have time to film and put up many videos, but I'm hoping to get a filming room ready in my house soon so I can start filming at night after my daughter goes to sleep at like 9pm.  before then, I have no time during the day. But would love the lifestyle of a full-time youtuber, and just be creative and make content on a daily basis, both on youtube and on www.natashathomas.net, where I also don’t post nearly as often as I would like! But planning on and hoping that will change in the near future :) You’ve been the face of one of the biggest fashion brands in the world, promoting one line of their products. Do you consider going back to a modeling type of job? That would be fun, but 30 years old in the world of modelling full time is a bit on the "mature" side, unfortunately. BUT if an offer came along, I would for sure be interested. It's a lot of fun. For now, I'm just posting snapshots of my life on Instagram.

You came to Brazil to promote your first album, “Save Your Kisses”, how did you feel knowing that you have so many fans in Brazil that time? It was my first time in Brazil and quite unreal. I actually didn’t realize at the time that anyone knew me or my music.  Not until I arrived and started performing and promoting the Lacoste "Touch of pink" fragrance. I had an awesome time, and people

were so open and inviting and had a very positive energy - unlike anywhere else I've been actually.  Can we expect you to come back here someday? I would love to come back, but like I've mentioned, I'm not sure who I'd be making a music project with next. I've usually been the one to receive offers from different people but now I think I would need to be a bit more proactive if I wanted to make music again, because it has been so long, since I've been very visible and working actively as an artist. With your second album, you decided to go with a different music style, ditching the reggae vibe to go for a more R&B beat, something that, at that time, wasn’t usual to a blonde girl to do. So, you were one of the first non-black singers to bet on an R&B beat, something that was followed even by Madonna in 2009. What made you decide to choose R&B? Did you ever feel insecure with that decision? My label back then called me “Gangsta Barbie” as a joke. ;) It was a phase in my life where I felt like breaking free from the innocent Britney type image and expressing myself a bit more. As many teens like to do. I was never unsure of it, but i do feel like now, that album was still really great - but just ahead of its time. It took quite a few yours for that style of music to become popular and people just weren't ready for it. Especially in Germany back then. Where are now R&B is like the new pop and people are embracing singer like Zara Larsson who is heavily inspired my RnB. So it was a bit of a shame that style of music wasn’t appreciated back then. At least not from young white chicks like me. But I think If I was to make another album today (being 30 years old and a mother) it would be more of a singer/songwriter type of style and less pop/dance, or a good balance of both. What happened after the release of “Skin Deep”, the one and only single from “Playin’ With Fire” album? Another indie label that went under. Right after the release of the album. And its just a fact, at least back then before social media became so huge, that if you don’t have the budget to push your album you can compete, so it just sort of slowly faded into the background and didn’t get the push it deserved or that it was supposed to according to the plan. I wanted to work with indie labels after Sony to have more control and say in the creative process, but unfortunately a lot of indie labels just don't have the same budgets and they tend to go under quite often – apparently.

How do you feel the music business is right now?

What are the differences from the time you were under the spotlight? - I feel like its much better now! The artist have more control and they can be on and control their own following on their own platforms. There's a broader range of the styles of music that's popular now, and there is more business opportunities in general. So I feel like it's opened up and become more free and positive, and that only benefits the artists. What are you listening to right now? Give us a Top 3 songs and favorite artists of the moment. I actually really enjoy Justin Biebers music. He's my guilty pleasure to listen to. Zara Larsson is great too and super talented - she reminds me a lot of myself at her age. Also really like Coldplay and Lil mix. One of my favorite songs of all times is not new, but I love singing it and that's James Arthurs "Say you won’t let go", that's very similar to the style of music I would love to do now. Also so proud of the Danish band Lucas Graham - He's so crazy talented and I love all their songs. Sure I'm still leaving a lot out, but I have a pretty broad and maybe a bit random mix of favorite music; ---- xx ---Original Link: http://portalpopline.com.br/bau-entrevista-natasha-thomas About POPline: POPline is the most important online media outlet of pop music in Brazil with more than 8 million views per month and more than 2 million followers on social media Last year we set a new record with more de 120 million hits on our website. We keep up with the new releases, festivals, award shows, new stars in the making and the life of pop, EDM and alternative pop artists with daily articles, videos and even a online store. The website is online for 10 years now and it is a media and content partner for the most important record labels in Brazil, such as, Universal Music, Sony Music and Warner Music, and streaming plataforms like Spotify. Since 2006 we interviewed more than 40 international artists like Alicia Keys, Ed Sheeran, Demi Lovato, Coldplay, Justin Bieber, David Guetta, Fergie, Joss Stone, Jason Derulo, Jason Mraz, Little Mix and Shakira.