Exclusive Interview: Natasha Hemmings

Cheshire born Natasha Hemmings cannot remember a life without music. As an active member in her county and school music scene when she was a child some of her earliest memories are from choirs and performance groups that she was a part of.

At the age of 14 Natasha auditioned for the prestigious Royal Northern College of Music. A student here for four years, Natasha was able to develop her technique and understanding of classical and operatic music whilst also exploring different genres. Emerging from the world of classical music Natasha diversified her compositions and returned to the RNCM to take the Popular Music undergraduate degree focussing on song writing and contemporary styles, graduating with honours.

Meanwhile pursuing a parallel career as the reigning Miss England in 2015, Natasha performed at venues and events across the UK and in China (including the Beauty Crown Theatre in China, where she performed as a top 5 finalist which was streamed worldwide).

During this time, Natasha began working on her debut album. She started listening to her favourite classical musicians once more and decided to focus on this genre for her first release.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nVtfN-06MM

The resulting album ‘Whispers’ included some of Natasha’s favourite classical songs which she interpreted and augmented with her own lyrics, also bringing in Grammy Award winner Jose Feliciano, and Clannad vocalist Moya Brennan. This unique and ethereal take on existing tunes caught the ears of some notable people in the music industry which resulted in nationwide tours with The Overtones, and then Russell Watson and Aled Jones.

For her second album Natsasha has delved even deeper. She fully immersed herself in the writing and recording of the album – composing and arranging all but one of the tracks. The music is lush and contemporary, with her trademark vocal style. The album, titled “Invisible” is a very personal record. In it Natasha confronts some uncomfortable episodes in her life, including the mixed blessings of her time in the world of beauty pageants.

I wanted to tell my story with this new album and each of the songs has been inspired by moments throughout my life. In today’s world everyone is creating a ‘perfect’ version of themselves out on social media and the true person is ‘invisible’. It feels like no one can truly be happy when pretending to be someone else, scared they won’t be liked and accepted for who they are.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXgnGPUJndM

The album is preceded by 2 singles, The Enemy based on Natasha’s personal experience ‘witnessing difficult situations where people of influence or power have used that to manipulate very young women’ and title track of her album ‘Invisible.’

Natasha just finished a full nationwide tour as special guest to Ronan Keating taking in a run of major theatres and arenas.

Check out our Discover Spotlight Podcast featuring interviews with other emerging artists. Plus listen to Channel R Discover, our 60min curated playlist featuring the best emerging artists Sundays at 10am PT/1pm ET on Channel R.