SINGER NATALIE DI LUCCIO INTERVIEW

I grew up training in Western Classical music from the age of 4. Music has always been in my life. There was really no other option for me, but to sing. Later I went on to a university and took a degree in vocal performance in opera. Simultaneously, I also used to sing a lot of pop music while growing up. My influences were a mix of both pop singers as well as opera singers like Celine Dion. I also grew up singing in different languages. More than English I sang in Italian, French and German because those were the languages of opera. So that’s why language was never a barrier when it came to music.

So I was first introduced to Indian music when I was in university. I had received a message on MySpace to collaborate with an Indian music composer. And it was at that point when I started researching a lot and listening to a lot of popular singers from India. That’s when the interest happened and then I came to Mumbai and have been exposed to different music, whether it be Bollywood or regional music. I have been travelling around India and learning about different regional music. So its been around 6 years and I have been exposed for quite a while now, and this is definitely something I am passionate about.

On YouTube I heard Tu Jaane Na and loved it. I found an instrumental piano version [of the song] uploaded by a 14-year-old boy from Kolkata [Sanjay Das]. I remember getting all excited because I loved this song and wanted to sing it. The next day I recorded the song. I was scared to post it, as I didn't know whether my pronunciation and my accent were right. I also posted it on Facebook, but almost removed it that same minute as I did not want it to become a laughing stock, but instead people liked it and within four days it was the most watched video in India on one day. I had wanted to come back to India, but I didn’t know how. This video was God’s gift to me. 

I definitely owe a lot of my success to Indian music and to the Indian community. If it wasn’t for their support I wouldn’t be where I am today. So I definitely would say that I owe a lot to Indian music.

I worked intensely with the engineers from A.R.Rahman sir’s studio to get the pronunciation correctly. We would work out each word and then say the lines over and over again, until I would get it correctly and be able to sing it confidently.  After spending a good amount of time in Chennai I am starting to get more familiar with Tamil. I did meet Shankar sir in the studio and I could see that he is definitely a taskmaster. He, like Rahman sir, is not afraid to try new things which was evident in the film ’I’.

Performing at the ‘I’ audio launch was something completely surreal. Sitting in front of me were 4 legends (Rahman sir, Rajinikanth sir, Shankar sir and Arnold Schwarzenegger). That was a complete wow “pinch me” moment singing in front of them.  Those moments are what life’s journey is all about!  As far as singing in Tamil, I had a lot of practice with Aila Aila and vocally it was very comfortable for me. So I was excited more than anything.

Yes, I did! Truly incredible and that speaks volumes about his dedication to his art.

Aw thank you. Let’s see :) Offers have come but not the right kind, more of typical foreigner roles in India. I’m not focused on acting but let’s see if something comes where I can sing in the film also, then that would be exciting for me!

This year has a ton of surprises in store. New album releases - originals and some collaborations across India. New film songs as well ! Really excited for this one !

GOOD LUCK NATALIE 

Kaushik.L.M

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