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An Interview With Natalie Claro

1. Your voice is amazing!! How long have you known you wanted to make music?

THANKS! I’ve been a music junkie since I was able to talk. Growing up I joined programs, clubs, orchestras, and engaged in whatever I could to always be apart of music somehow. Yeah, even musical theater. (I enjoy watching those shows but man do I hate being in them.) Despite all those things for some reason as a kid I wanted to be a fashion designer. My mom’s the one that would always ask me “You like it so much, why aren’t you going to do that when you’re older??” I’d always just shrug it off thinking it wasn’t possible. Then in 8th grade I saw Paramore in concert and was like “okay I have to do this”. My mom knows everything.

2. What motivated you to pursue your music career while you're still a teenager?

The reason I started so young is because I honestly didn’t think I’d be at the stage I’m at so soon. I started off doing open mic’s at restaurants and people always liked my songs a lot. Then out of nowhere I got thrown into these bigger venues and everything just sort of happened. I came out with singles and promoted the living hell out of them and here I am hello.

3. Have you experienced any road-blocks because of your age?

The biggest road-block I deal with is being under 18. A lot of larger venues don’t really pay attention to you until you’re of age regardless of your obvious dedication due to legal fears or doubts about your capability. That’s okay though, overall I’m still taken seriously amongst adults and I have more opportunities lying ahead as I reach each age.

4. Tell us a little about your songwriting process.

I sit down with either my guitar or keyboard, and then the words just kind of flow out as I play chords and rhythms. I can only write when I have a situation significantly affecting me. The song “My Calling” on my upcoming EP goes into detail about that concept. Other times I’ll have an idea while out around people but due to being really personal about my music I just kind of find an excuse to leave so I can record what I’m thinking on my phone. I’ve never written a song with anyone or let someone see me as I write because then I feel so… violated.

5. Your EP title is “Atychiphobia”, which means the fear of failure. Would you consider that a running theme in your music and songwriting?

Yes exactly. That’s actually the whole concept behind my job. It’s not so much a fear of failure, but more of a blatant refusal to accept it. Sometimes I come across situations with my music and my image that I feel could be better if I was farther along in my career, but regardless I push and push until it’s something I feel relieved with. My single “Mountains” was mixed, and I’m not kidding, 19 times. With every single mix that came back to me, I couldn’t feel satisfied with it- but because of my relentless desire for my own interpreted perfection I wouldn’t accept it until it felt right. Hundreds of notes and 19 mixes later I gained a song that I’ve been told is some people’s new favorites. It’s even been played on 97x. I trust my gut and I’m grateful for it.

6. We loved the music video for your song Stumble! How involved were you in the process of making that music video?

I actually came up with the entire video. Each scene represents a different metaphor for frustration with people I’ve dealt with during my whole life. The paint idea sprouted when I saw a post on twitter of “colors that represent emotions”. I took ones like grief, anguish, etc. and had them pelted at me. (I couldn’t get it out of my hair for days). The symbols were influenced by comic strips censoring cursing by using characters (?&*#%!). The frustration in me is supposed to build throughout the video, hence more and more symbols appearing on my skin as the song progresses. The finale they are smeared off in relief. The flower and mannequin scene represents my puppy-like acceptance to befriend people quickly only to realize they might not be that great of a person (I really despise friendships or relationships that are unkind, disrespectful or abusive. I try my hardest to have 4 quarters rather than 100 pennies worth of relations.) The flowers the mannequins hand me blossom so full and youthful, but as the video continues they keep getting destroyed. At the end I gave up and decided I’d rather be alone than with toxicity so I shoved all the mannequins down as a way to give up on them. And as for the car, well… I finally got to do what I’ve always wanted to do whenever I’m PISSED! I totaled a vintage car for artistic expression.

Unfortunately, the single won’t be available much longer. I made the song before I knew how to produce music, so I didn’t exactly have much control over what the end result was. I was told a lot of “can’t” and “no” while making the song and it ended up being very far from how I imagined it and very pop. That’s okay though, now I create my own music and what lies in the future is a lot of originality, creativity… and frequent tempo changes.

7. What are your plans for the future?

Concerts like crazy. Along with my EP will be a short tour through the East Coast (the majority of my viewers live there). Other than that I’ll be starting my album and just doing the most I can. Woohoo.

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