Though Natalie is born a Canadian, an opportunity to sing a song in a spiritual album paved the way for a musical career in Bollywood.
Having lent her voice in songs like ‘Aadha Ishq’ (Band Bajaa Baraat), ‘Navrai Majhi’ (English Vinglish) Bahl, ‘Ready Steady Po’ (Chennai Express), Natalie Di Lucio who has sung in many languages like Hindi, Gujarati and Telugu says singing in Tamil was most challenging. This was in part, due to the elements of opera in the song. “It was definitely a journey working with different people and pronunciation as well. I learnt a lot. I found Telugu much easier than Tamil. The style of singing in opera is way different. We really had to work on the sound and the pronounciations of that. But I was really happy to be a part of something like this as it hasn’t been done before,” says Natalie on ‘Aila Aila’.
Working with Rahman
He likes to experiment a lot and every time he comes out with a new album, you think what’s he going do this time. He has used a bit of opera in his songs before in films like Lagaan. So he called me one day to the studio and said we are trying some new sounds. So I was given the lyrics and that’s how ‘Aila Aila’ came about. Obviously opera hasn’t been tried before in Indian music so it was daunting for me as well. While previously opera has been relegated more to the background in films, in I it has been used upfront in lead vocals so that’s something interesting.
Adapting to India and its music
Vocally, I’m trained in western style and in opera. Indian classical style is very different with varied vocal styles and they have more long notes. I have a diction teacher that I work with on my pronunciation.
Now that I’m spending a lot of time in India, I’m used to listening to the different sounds. And the Indian music industry is also including elements of Western and Indian which is really great.
When I first came to India, it was a culture shock at first. Driving through the streets, walking on the road was scary. But I have grown to love it and I love the energy that I thrive off of. I enjoy staying here.
Would love to work with music director.....
Pritam. I think the music and the kind of compositions he comes up with is really good.
I like the work of Sachin-Jigar as well. All of them are doing some great stuff. So I would love to work with the newer music composers too.
Future projects
I’m recording for another Tamil film, a very beautiful song. On the sidelines, I’m also shooting for music videos which will be shot across India. The songs are western pop with Indian elements. We are planning to release that internationally. We will be going to Rajasthan very soon for the shooting. I will be releasing a music video on YouTube in a month.
Goals for 2015
In terms of playback, I’m looking at more specific sort of songs where my voice fits in. Like in the case of ‘Aila Aila’, my voice fits Amy Jackson so it made sense there.
The main thing I’m focusing on right now is showing India to the rest of the world through the video. I want to show the different cultures, traditions and the colours.