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This month's interview is with Natalie Brown from Natalie Brown Online.

September 2003 - Natalie Brown Online

Going into this interview I had no idea what to expect from the experience. I decided before I sat down to talk with Natalie Brown I would listen to a few of her samples she has on her site. I was shocked, amazed and in awe of how much talent and charisma this young songwriter and artist had. In my opinion, she is one of the greatest untapped talents to be found on the independent circuit and also makes her home here at TotalChoice Hosting. Her site, Natalie Brown Online, also captures the charisma and talent she brings to the table as well.

Q. I want to first thank you for taking time out to talk to us Natalie. What do you think lead you to a career as a vocalist and songwriter?

A. I’ve been very passionate about the performing arts since I was very small. I began expressing myself through song and acting when I was about five years old and through school, church and community programs, I developed my skill and got further involved in the crafts of theater and song. In my teens I was very involved with theater and gospel music and it was from those experiences that I decided I really wanted to pursue a recording a performing career. I decided to pursue a mainstream career and took steps to purse a professional recording and writing career by writing songs, recording demos and eventually landing an independent recording contract and releasing my first record in late 2000.

Q. How did you get started in the industry?

A. I started out doing background session work and backup vocal touring work in Canada. That eventually led me to the US where I began to acquaint myself with the professional music industry. I’ve actually taken a lot of time to learn the business end of things as well as to develop my craft. Basically, I’ve been doing what most do when they are trying to make headway in any career, and that is to learn all I can, get my name out there, build a solid track record as a performer and songwriter as well as persevering to achieve certain goals I’ve set for myself.

Q. Who would you consider your greatest inspiration, and why?

A. Life is my inspiration. The multifaceted nature of everyday things, people, relationships, occurrences... all those things really inspire me. I’m really an observer of life in many respects and I tend to put to song what I have observed and the feelings evoked by those observations.

Q. What is your music style preference? Since you are in the music field, I have to imagine you have more than a few favorites artists.

A. I don’t have just one preference as far as music style goes. Pretty much if something touches me on some level I like it. I have been exposed to so many wonderful styles of music and each genre has a unique expression that evokes a response from me in some way. I will listen to most any kind of music and find something in it that I can relate to. I find the R&B, Soul and Jazz styles very compelling. I love the extemporaneousness of that music and the freedom that is in those specific genres. I also love classical music as it is melodically driven and I love melody. Different kinds of music do different things for me.

Q. When you look in the mirror, do you see yourself as a success, or do you feel like you're just now beginning to "climb the mountain" as far as your career is concerned?

A. When I look in the mirror I am proud that I have continued to persevere in my career. The recording industry has gone through, and continues to experience some pretty tumultuous times. It’s been very hard for new and established artists to even stay afloat in recent years. I think I’ve accomplished a lot as an artist, especially considering I am an independent artist in a genre that few artists are able to remain independent in and continue to have the ability to release records. I’ve made a lot of headway through persistence and hard work. I do have a long way to go in order to achieve the level I am aiming to achieve with my music. Eventually, I’d love to attain things like international distribution, increase my marketing reach and keep making the music I love for the fans that appreciate what I do. I would say I’m still ‘climbing the mountain’. I’ve really come to embrace the challenges and strive to find ways to develop a new model that works for me in the music business as it morphs.

Q. If you had to put a label on it, how would you define your personal favorite genre of performing?

A. My personal favorite “genre” of performing and music is a combination of R&B/Soul and Pop. I like music that is sincere, emotive and from the heart. On the same level, I like things that have broad appeal and that people can relate to readily. Pop, as in ‘popular music’, tends to appeal to a broad audience and I think that is a good thing.

Q. Some people in the media believe that music artists, like yourself, should set an example as a role model for children. Do you agree? Disagree? Also, what do you think about the responsibilities that this sets upon you from parents and guardians?

A. That’s a very tricky question. It’s tough because we are human and every human is fallible and apt to make mistakes. We only grow as humans because of the mistakes we make and lessons learned. As far as being a role model is concerned, my goal is to convey my life’s lessons to people in hopes that they might learn from my experiences. Ultimately, each human is responsible for himself or herself, so I feel it’s unfair to place the ‘role model responsibility’ in someone else’s hands (namely, public figures). I think every person can teach another person something valuable, be it by a positive or negative experience. It’s ultimately up to each individual to decide what is right or wrong for them and that role should not be given to any other person. I also believe that parents should teach their children to make good decisions for themselves. What is good for one person my not be good for another. I have a personal set of morals, values, perspectives etc., that some may or may not agree with, but in life I choose to live the way I feel is best for me and to express myself in my art the way I feel I need to. It’s up to the person on the receiving end of my art to decide if that is for them or if it is not for them (or their children, as the case may be). I’m just offering one perspective and presenting it the way I feel is right for me personally.

Q. At the end of a day, how many people would you say are responsible for your success, and why were they?

A. I’ve had a lot of good people come into my life and have learned a lot from their stories, lessons etc. I’d say that I’m really responsible for my successes because I’ve put a lot of time and hard work into what I do in my career. I’m involved in every aspect from art to business. I’ve been very fortunate to find a business and artistic partner who shares my vision and work ethic (my manager and producer Jeremy Rwakaara) and I’d have to say that out of everyone who’s touched my career, he has really helped me out the most by sharing in the journey I’ve had so far and really being a positive force in my life. This is a tough business and it is hard to find people who you can work closely with on a long term basis and trust. I’m one of the fortunate ones to have found someone who I can trust, work with and have complete confidence in.

Q. What current projects are you working on?

A. I’m currently recording a Christmas CD entitled “A Cool Christmas” that will be released on November 11th, 2003 and available exclusively on my website. I’m also in sessions finishing up my sophomore CD entitled “Polyphony”. We are aiming for a Spring 2004 release. I’ve been doing a lot of writing for TV and Film as well as getting back into the acting arena doing some independent film work. Right now the focus is on the “Polyphony” release and scheduling the domestic and overseas tours to support that release once it is out.

Q. How big of a role has the Internet played in your success?

A. I was actually one of the very first artists to use the Internet to launch a career in 1997. This was back when everyone was saying, “What’s Mp3.com, what is an MPEG file?”… imagine that! I’ve had a huge amount of success online and I virtually launched my entire career via the online method of distribution. I’ve had over 5 million downloads of my songs, sold my CD online around the world and really been able to use the Internet to establish a global fan base. This is something that is completely awe-inspiring to me, as an artist usually has to stick within a small local radius to build their career. I have been very fortunate to have a wide radius to reach out to solely because of the Internet.

Q. How involved are you with your site?

I am very involved! I am involved in everything from the technical stuff, design conceptualization and architecture to the graphic art design and implementation. When I am on tour I have a friend do updates if I am not able to do that remotely.

Q. How long has the site been around, and what were your web hosting experiences like before you found TotalChoice Hosting?

A. I first established an official web site in 1997 with my music publishing site natfunkmusic.com. In 2000 when I signed with Identity Records, we re-launched the site with the natalie-brown.com domain. I have recently re-claimed the natfunkmusic.com domain and will be re-launching the publishing site within the next six months. The site has been up since 2000 and is an incredible tool for marketing my music. Mostly I love that it makes me accessible to my fans and it helps me stay on a more personal level with them.

When I first got online it was using an internet server provider and that was OK. Personal domains were still a pretty new thing and the sites were nowhere near as intricate and involved as they are today. Since being online I have used several hosting companies, but found that for the exorbitant price I was paying yearly, the customer service was very poor. I actually stumbled across a link to TotalChoice Hosting last May and when my hosting package expired with my former host, I switched. By far, TotalChoice Hosting has provided the best and most helpful customer support, which is really important to me. I also love that you are ‘up’ all the time and that things run very smoothly on the back end. Price was also a factor in my decision to switch to TotalChoice Hosting and honestly, there is not a better deal around, trust me, I have searched high and low! The TotalChoice Hosting team is stellar and I love that there is a real family sense about TotalChoice Hosting. That really attracted me. I like to support businesses that are about respect, and TotalChoice Hosting has shown by their excellent service that they respect their customers.

Q. What is the most rewarding experience about hosting your website with us?

A. Honestly, you guys are a great bunch of people! The hosting package is excellent, the uptime is great, I love the cPanel and that I can access email and answer it even ‘on the road’, the customer service is the best I’ve encountered in pretty much any service industry and your staff is a cut above. When I switched over to you guys, I was still figuring out PHP coding and I got the most instantaneous and helpful service when I made inquiries about implementing PHP code. I was totally blown away by the fast and concise response! Each time I have a question, I can go to the TotalChoice Hosting Family Forums and get an answer right away via the forum or via Instant Messenger. The customer service is unlike anything I’ve previously experienced and has made me very happy I switched over.

Q. What are the tools you use to run your site?

A. I currently use Dreamweaver 4 for all the coding and I use a combination of Photoshop 7 and Fireworks 4 for the graphics. I am always hunting for new scripts to use to improve interactivity and usability and I implement them into my HTML code manually.

Q. Can we expect to see any new surprises at the site in the future?

A. I’m working on a completely new design for the “Polyphony” release, so I am hoping to take the new tricks I have learned and incorporate them into the new build. The most important thing for me with my online presence is that the site is accessible to the broadest spectrum of people. Flash and Shockwave designs look fabulous, but sometimes people don’t have systems that can support those types of features. Because I know I have such a broad fan base coming from all different parts of the world, I try to make my site as clean and user friendly as possible so that everyone can check out the music, pictures and interact with other fans in the community section of the site.

Q. If you could give a message to people currently only singing in their shower, what would it be?

A. Stay in the shower!… no just kidding… those showers do have wonderful acoustics… nah.. I’d say keep singing because when you are singing you are happy!

Q. What is the weirdest message or actual item you have received from a fan?

A. Believe it or not, I get mail from people in prison. The strangest one I got was from a guy who wrote to say he was being released shortly and he wanted to co-write some songs with me when he got out. It kind of freaked me out to be honest!

Q. What would you consider to be your highest achievement to date?

A. Just being able to stay in the music business at the moment is a great achievement! The fact that I’ve done things with my music that some signed Major label artists have not been able to do is a wonderful thing. I’ve chosen a slightly different route than some of my contemporaries, and though some may think I’m nuts not to jump on deals I’ve been offered by Majors, I realize that to stay in the game for the long haul you have to take small, concise, ordered steps and plan carefully. I want to do this for life, so I have a lifetime plan. I’m enjoying the journey and learning a lot as I go. You really can’t ask for more.

I want to thank Natalie for her time. If you are still interested in learning more, please feel free to visit Natalie's website Natalie Brown Online.

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