Back in October 2022, I talked with Nathalie Miranda, via Zoom, about her musical journey. Five months later and after a virus attacked my computer, i can share our amazing conversation. Nathalie has just released her new single “Echoes” and it seems like the perfect time to go through her first musical memories, her icons and more.
A plastic microphone and a dream
With artists, I find it particularly interesting to go through their early years and discover “the moment”, as I call it. What was the moment that they knew about their passion and started their journey towards achieving their dreams? For Nathalie it all started with a plastic microphone and some dancing.
“When I was 1-2 years old, I remember dancing to the records my mom owned and we have videos of it as well. I just remember dancing and I had this plastic microphone that I would use to sing and perform. I was feeling happy and it’s crazy how I can remember for such a young age. Then all I knew and was interested in was music. In school, music was the only subject that drew my attention and really interested me.
Also, my grandad was a violin player and I still have these memories of him playing the violin and my grandma singing along with the melody”
What about the professional level? When did you realize that music would be your career?
“Back in the day it was all about MTV and hearing songs on the radio. I would watch the Grammys or the BRITs and dream of performing on these big stages. I’d think of how people would actually get to react to my music and my records and I really wanted to see that happen.
After that, I pursued my dreams and started singing professionally (getting paid) at 25. I would sing for community concerts and other gigs, but I started getting paychecks at 25″.
Inspirations, Icons and… Changes
Then, after exploring her younger years, I wanted to learn more about her through her musical icons and what would her “playlist” look like in the past.
“For my teenage years, my playlist would definitely include “Queen”, Whitney Houston, George Michael, Bon Jovi, Christina Aguilera… These are the top ones, but honestly I have so many artists that I love/loved”.
What are the changes that you have witnessed happen in the music industry? Has it changed for the better or for the worse?
I would say it is somewhere in the middle. Now, on the one hand, the music market is more free and anyone can pursue their dreams independently. On the other hand, though, this just makes it much more complicated, because there is so much more competition nowadays.
“You have to somehow break through the noise”
I agree with Nathalie and as I see it, the music industry has changed in so many ways. For me, it is all about marketing and not about talent (most importantly). Voices can be manufactured, personalities can be created and marketed and if these things make you money, then that is enough.
Back in the day, people had to actually go out, find a store and purchase their favorite artists’ music, which meant that the talent and charisma had to be immense, to get people to buy your music.
Nathalie agrees…
“It’s true! You have to almost give a piece of your soul to everybody. When I was younger, magazines and interviews were the closest I would get to my favorite artist. They all had their private lives and their professional lives. Nowadays, you have to be giving every detail of your life, post vlogs and videos of your everyday activities and I don’t like this aspect of the industry today.
The importance of changing things up
I always found it outstanding when artists are able to transition from one music style to another effortlessly and Nathalie is one of those artists, for which, changing things up is important.
“The artists that I listen to are vastly different in music and in style, so it is also important to me to reinvent myself with every new music release. I find, in each genre of music, something that I truly love and enjoy.
Moreover, when I was younger, I wasn’t comfortable enough with changing it up, so you could say that I am doing it for my younger self as well. As I evolve as an artist, I find it easier changing things up and experimenting with new sounds and styles”.
A Quick Shout Out to Xtina
As a journalist, but also a Christina Aguilera fan, I had to make sure that our talk about Xtina is published. One of Nathalie’s icons is Christina Aguilera and when talking about her, here’s what we said…
“With Christina, I love how she’s confident and she does whatever she wants to. That was very obvious with Stripped. Also, every song and every album is different which I truly appreciate. She has inspired me to dive into different genres and styles. With my music, I try to evolve and experiment”.
For me, Christina is one of those artists that will be remembered for eternity, because of her talent, but also because of her uniqueness. Not many singers can go through every genre of music and sound great. Aguilera can transition from country to pop and from rock to r&b and we still love her unique approach to every song and album.
What about the future?
Lastly, we talked about the past, we discussed about the present, but what about the future? Nathalie wants to continue experimenting with new sounds and that one thing that you got to love about her. Not afraid of change, she says that whether it’s a ballad, a Spanish up-tempo track or a Greek piece, she will continue changing things up.
Her new single “Echoes” is now AVAILABLE