(Photo Credit: Niki Rhodes)
Recently, I came across the work of the Portland-based singer/songwriter/producer Natasha Kmeto with her latest album Inevitable and her deep, gospel influenced vocals caught my emotions from the second the album kicks in. Coming from more of the electronic scene, Inevitable marks Kmeto's progression from coming out from behind the music sort of speak on her previously albums The Ache and Crisis to being not only upfront vocally, but using this album as a way to become more in touch with herself.
Natasha Kmeto is about to embark on a national tour with Brooklyn-based electronic duo Beacon, and before she hits the road, I was able to chat with Kmeto about the her personal evolution on her new album.
What sort of a kid were you growing up?
I was kind of a nerd. As a young one, I was a nerd but I was also a jock too, so I fell into different scenes of people. I was never one specific type of person. I played sports but I was also really academic and I was also really into music. Not really one specific stereotype I suppose.
On the new album Inevitable, just the way that it starts, it just goes into your vocals really strong. Just the decision to do that, does that breed any sort of vulnerability that you are just putting it all out there?
Totally! For me, starting the record with that track was really important because after I had Crisis, that was the next song that I wrote. So "Inevitable" kind of set the tone for the rest of the record. I wanted to make a really vocal forward album. I wanted to focus really hard on song writing and making the story telling aspects and the emotive aspects the highlight of the record. Starting it with that track was the best way to do that.
I notice that in comparison to your previous projects, Inevitable is much more vocal heavy.
I was definitely moving in that direction. My live touring act definitely shaped that direction because I was starting to accompany more live acts as oppose to DJs, so I was starting to think of my career as more of a cross over as oppose to dwelling in the electronic realm.
How is the artist/music scene in Portland?
It's good. When I first moved here, it was different. We're obviously a city known mainly for indie rock and bearded dudes with weird string instruments. I think since I've moved here I've definitely seen a lot more growth in the electronic music community and as far as indie music becoming more electronic in general. There's a lot of really great musician here. Our city is one of the city's in the country, I'm sure you can relate to this in Detroit as well, that is going through a lot of change. We're kind of in the midst of this mass gentrification, so the scene is changing really dramatically, really fast. Its funny when people ask me what the scene is like here. I have a little bit of a barometer of what its like but I don't, sometimes I feel I don't even know what's going on anymore and I used to be really plugged into what was going on.
Talk about the moods and themes of the new album Inevitable.
I feel like I was very much pushing myself in a direction that wasn't formerly very comfortable with by having the vocals that upfront, but in challenging myself to write material where that would sound appropriate with, I pushed myself to start getting more into the realm of more story telling with my lyrics. I think previously I done a lot more work with exploring the traditional theme of electronic music where you pick a phrase and you repeat. With this, I'm starting to push into more writing verses, writing choruses, and writing hooks. Within that, in order to get myself to a place I felt comfortable with it being presented that way, the writing and the themes centered around being more open and more honest and continuing the arc that I started with Crisis and staying brutally honest about my life.
Do you feel better about yourself after writing this album?
Absolutely! I think I was processing through a lot. With Crisis, I was going through a coming out process and was starting to just get confortable with my queer identity. I think Inevitable starts to complete that arc of me getting more comfortable with a lot of that stuff. Speaking to it more directly on this record definitely helped me feel more comfortable. It's funny because I wrote it so long a long that feels like a long time ago. I guess even when I continue to play the material and live with it, I still feel like it was a very important catharsis and I'm happy today. I got all of it out.
Natasha Kmeto plays the Majestic Cafe in Detroit on February 5th with Beacon. For more information on Natasha Kmeto, visit natashakmeto.com.