Natty Interview in Shropshire Star 29-05-2015

Natty tops the line-up at festival

With June approaching, it can only mean one thing—festival time.

Tomorrow, the second Church Stretton Blues ’n’ Roots Festival will feature some of Shropshire’s most promising musicians, as well as artists from all over the UK.

Headlining this year will be roots and reggae artist, Natty, who will be making his first visit to Shropshire as he prepares for the release of his second album, Release The Fear, in August.

“Getting Natty to agree to debut his new album at such an intimate festival as Blues ‘n’ Roots was a huge coup us. It will really help establish us on the national blues and roots festival circuit,” festival organiser John The Tub told the Shropshire Star.

As for Natty, his touring schedule has taken him to far-flung places around the world, such as Brazil, Japan, Sudan and the US, where he opened for Ziggy Marley.

“That was amazing. I had a really good time. I got to know and like America. It’s very hard to like America, with the mainstream media, but everywhere I went, the people were so receptive and nice and warm and loving,” the 30-year-old told the Shropshire Star over the phone from his home in North London.

Natty’s debut album, Man Like I, came out in 2008, occupying the UK album chart for most of August though, ironically, the single from the album was called “July.” So what’s with the seven-year wait for a follow-up LP?

“There’ve been lots of things to delay the album. The start of the label [Vibes and Pressure], the start of the club night, I built a studio, recorded a bunch of other people—before I was a singer I used to be an engineer—lots of song writing and making children—well, not me personally, but helping out making them,” he said with a laugh.

While Release The Fear marks Natty’s first album as an independent artist, Man Like I was on Atlantic Records, an experience that Natty sees as valuable yet, at times, frustrating.

“I was not up for being the pop urban artist that they were pushing me into being. I don’t mind trying a couple of things, but I’d rather just do what you feel as an artist, and go with where your gut tells you, and so I ended up being on the shelf,” he explained, adding that, while he has “no regrets being with the major,” his popularity proved to be something of an obstacle.

“They liked me, which was one of the problems. If they didn’t like me, they would have dropped me straight away and everything would have been fine, but the album kept selling and, because people were into what I was doing, I guess they just wanted to hang on to it, and so we were in a stalemate for about two or three years,” he said.

With a name like Natty, one might assume that his music would be based on solid Jamaican beats, but, while his sound has a reggae feel to it, there are elements of pop, soul and folk, creating a folky roots groove that reflects his upbringing in North London. In what some might say is a brave move, Release The Fear is a concept album, the thought of which might strike dread into some people. Natty is more than comfortable with the description.

“The fear that has been [the UK and American] government’s most potent weapon in keeping society in check is being shaken up quite a lot. So that, in conjunction with my own personal journey, means that we’re living in a time right now where if you don’t release your own personal fears, you can be really intense.

“The album starts off with a song about giving thanks for life, and it goes on a journey within the album. That first song is called ‘I’m Alive;’ and it goes on to a journey, culminating in the last song, which is ‘Release The Fear.’ George The Poet does a little poem in the middle of that song as well, but it’s a 10-minute song,” he said.

Release The Fear was recorded in Tottenham where, incidentally, Natty’s footballing allegiances also lie (“I look for their results and I might occasionally catch them on Match Of The Day, but I wouldn’t say I was following them any more”), in a home-made studio.

“[We] literally [built it], drill in hand, hammer in hand, with a large chunk of my community. A few friends chipped in, but we knew we were in that building for only two years, and [then] the studio got broken down,” he said.

Like last year, the Blues ‘n’ Roots Festival will be supporting Macmillan Cancer Support, so it’s appropriate that Natty should have his own charitable causes, one of which is the ERASE Foundation.

“We support one orphanage and four schools in The Gambia, and we’ve got a clothing, mattress and food programme in Lesotho as well, which is where my mum’s from. So that’s what we’re doing in Africa at the moment,” he said.

Apart from Natty, Northern Ireland’s Kaz Hawkins and her Band O’ Men will head the rest of the line-up. Gary Hall, who played at the festival last year, makes a return to Church Stretton, as does Shropshire singer-songwriter Beth Prior, while the blues duo Washington Reed, from Chester, will be making their debut at the festival.

Church Stretton Blues‘n’Roots Festival at Rectory Field, Church Stretton (30 May). See www.bluesnroots.co.uk

Paul Merton Preview Shropshire Star 08 May 2015

Paul Merton bringing improv         fun to theatre

For many people, the first sighting of Paul Merton on British TV would have been on Who’s Line Is It Anyway?, the vehicle for improvisational comedy that debuted on Channel 4 in 1988.

It may come as a surprise to some folk to hear that, 25 years on, Merton is still busy improvising, not only with London’s Comedy Store Players, but also on tour as part of the Paul Merton’s Impro Chums show, with Shrewsbury’s Theatre Severn playing host tomorrow evening.

So what can you expect to see tomorrow night? When Paul Merton’s Impro Chums performed at the Ludlow Festival two years ago, it was described by Wayne Beese in a review for this newspaper as “a surreal, but brilliant night of comedy.”

Quite simply, the audience plays its part by making suggestions on a range of subjects, which the five comedians use for a variety of games. Merton’s introduction to improvisational comedy came in 1985, when he joined the Comedy Store Players in London, along with a young Canadian comic by the name of Mike Myers, later to find fame in the guise of Austin Powers. Three years later, Merton made his TV debut on Who’s Line Is It Anyway?, regularly appearing with two of his current Impro Chums, the big American figure known as Mike McShane and fellow Comedy Store Player Richard Vranch.

As well as McShane and Vranch, Merton will be joined on stage in Shrewsbury by ‘Mrs Merton,’ otherwise known as Suki Webster, and Lee Simpson, a Comedy Store Player since 1989.

By Stephen Taylor