Natalise | “Music is something I can’t live without. If I don’t have it, it makes me depressed”

Meet Natalise. She’s one of those individuals who seem like they can do anything. Her work ethic includes finishing papers the day they were assigned…at Stanford University. This singer-songwriter is a pioneer of Asian Americans in the entertainment industry. Her music has been featured on hit radio stations including Wild 94.9 as well as hit MTV shows. Join OA as we chat with Natalise about music, nerds, and heartbreak over gelato.

Fun Facts:

• What takes up most of your time right now:  Rehearsing and writing
• Guilty pleasure: Boba
• Favorite de-stressor: Hot yoga, bootcamp, and dancing
• Relationship status: Um, trying to be open
• Pet peeve: People who aren’t open to the fact that they might not be the only ones who are right
• What do you look for in a guy: The thing that has lasted through time is a sense of humor, confidence, the ability to be supportive in all kinds of situations
• What kind of car do you drive: Acura
• How many languages can you speak: I took Italian and Japanese in school, so it’s very basic; but I can speak Mandarin, Toi San, and I can understand Cantonese. And of course, I’m a grammar Nazi when it comes to English.
• Your go-to food: Sushi. I’m veering towards being a vegan (she’s currently a pescatarian who doesn’t drink milk)
• Fun fact: Anything choreographed by Mia Michaels makes me cry
• Funner fact: I like nerds & like to talk about black holes, time travel, and stars

OA: We understand you started training in voice, piano, and dance at a young age. What prompted you to turn your focus on singing/songwriting?
N: You know, there’s certain hobbies that, as you grow older, you realize, “I really like it but don’t have time.” But for me, music is something I can’t live without. If I don’t have it, it makes me depressed. I can’t deal with the rest of my life if I don’t have music… if I don’t have that as a way to de-stress. Sometimes I’ll get up at 3am because I need to write a song down. It’s an obsession.

OA: You have such a vast musical background, from training in opera to singing jazz, to performing with bands—what is the musical style that you’ve made your own?
N: I moved down here  [to LA] three years ago. When I first got here, my managers were asking me “Who are you?” That’s a really hard question to answer. I had a hard time figuring what truly represented me. Through this process, I realized what I always came back to was the slow stuff, the piano stuff. At the end of a stressful day, I sit down and listen to Coldplay, One Republic, Snow Patrol. I love this sort of moody, heartfelt music. I knew that whatever I released next, it had to represent this part of me.

OA: How did you manage going to college and recording/producing an album at the same time?
N: I don’t know. I think it’s one of those things, when you want to do something, you just do it. That why I have no tolerance for people who say I can’t do x,y,z. There are 24 hours in a day. Get up at six and stay up until it’s done. I woke up early, went to classes, studied, did my papers and assignments on the day they were assigned, and it always gave me enough time. I was always traveling to studios and stuff, but I didn’t ever skip a single class in college. I love learning. For me, why wouldn’t you want to learn and better yourself? But, I do set a day to be lazy. You know, that’s healthy. Haha. [Aside: I didn’t have a tiger mom per se, but I think I’m totally gonna be a tiger mom because that’s how I was on myself.]

OA: So you made a deal with your parents that if you graduated from college in three years, you could pursue your musical career. Have they been supportive of your career choice, given the generation and cultural gap?
N: They’ve been really supportive emotionally. I feel like I gave up a lot to do this. There are a lot of people who go into certain career paths because that’s what they have to do. I could’ve gone to law school or med school. I love school. There are a lot of things that I am capable of doing, in my humblest opinion. But [music] is where my heart is at the end of the day, so I have to stay true to that. And back to your question about my parents — they know that music is my passion and so they’ve been really supportive. They do bring up the whole, “Are you ever going to go to business school?”-thing… I’ve considered it because I have a really entrepreneurial spirit. Who knows… one day… but for now, I’m following my mom’s advice: “Do what you love.”

OA: You are certainly a pioneer of Asian American talent in the entertainment industry. How strongly do you identify with your Burmese/Chinese heritage? Has it played any role in your career?
N: In terms of how it’s played into my career, I think it’s inevitable when people look at me in this industry, they automatically say, “That’s an Asian girl.” It is what it is. I’m not mad at that. Having the skill set that I have, if I were not Asian, would I have progressed more in my career than I have? I have no idea. But there’s no point in going down that road because I wouldn’t change who I am. It’s not like you wake up and say, “I’m Asian — this is my identity.” But I will say that my mom calls me when it’s Moon Festival and says, “Go to 99 Ranch and get moon cake.” For Chinese New Year, we have to have dinner with the family. All of the traditions are still upheld in my family. In that way, it’s a part of my life. Other than that, it’s hard to say what the single most important factor is in my identity. But as I get older, I appreciate my heritage and the cultural traditions. Not everyone has that.

OA: What is your response to certain members of the community who took offense in regards to your China Doll video?
N: I would say that it’s a joke. It was always meant to be a joke. It was portraying stereotypes in such an outlandish way to take the sting out of its negativity. Sometimes I feel as a community we haven’t been able to do that.

OA: In another interview, you mentioned encountering “roadblocks from labels” and started your own independent record label. Tell us how you achieved such a feat, and would you recommend other artists to do the same?
N: My mom says I’m really stubborn. Whenever I want to do something, I just do it. Once I was on that path, I said I’m gonna do it: how do I start a business; how do I register? I come from a family of entrepreneurs, so it wasn’t very foreign to me. There’s a process: trying to get funding, building a team, etc. It’s not that I do or don’t recommend it, I just think everyone has a different path and there are obstacles in every situation. When I released my second album on my own label, I had complete creative control but I also knew, if anything went wrong, it was completely on me. It’s emotionally hard.

OA: We hear that you’re working hard on a third album. What can we expect from it in terms of content, style, and significance?
N: My first album was very dance. My second album was hip hop/pop. And I just wanted to get to the root of what moves me, what makes me happy, what makes me cry. So I wanted to make sure every single song I write is meaningful to me. You’ll hear a lot of piano. I’m very lyrically driven. Every word, every story is true. It’s from me.

OA: How has your musical style transformed since the first album?
N: It took some self-examination. I knew doing my first and second albums, there’d be a dance/pop audience that would be receptive to it. For this third album, I’m not sure if the heartfelt stuff is everyone’s cup of tea. But I love it. And of course, I do think there are people who relate to the message and experience… I mean everyone has wanted love, lost love, has had their heartbroken, etc. I have. We’re all human.

But really with this third album,  I told myself if I’m going to sing these songs every night, then they need to be real. I want people to understand and really know who I am.

My first single is “Open Me” and like I said earlier, every word is true. I literally wrote this song in 30 minutes. And in that moment, I was writing so fast on pen and paper… but I thought to myself, OK – every heartbreak and experience has led me to this song.

How to stalk Natalise:
Facebook: /natalise
YouTube: /natalisetv
Twitter: @natalise
Website: NataliseMusic.com

You can ‘LIKE’ Natalise on FB and download her new song “Open Me” for free at http://on.fb.me/natalise

Fun plug: Be sure to support Natalise’s project at www.facebook.com/myloneearth, a site that encourages people to do good deeds on a daily basis. It spreads the message to do daily actions.