Natalie Mishell is a folk-rock singer currently living in the vibrant city of New York. She released her last album,”In My Shoes, back in 2010. Now she is back at it again with her brand new album,”Goodnight Stranger”. She will be hosting her album release party this Thursday at the Rockwood Music Hall in New York. Be sure to attend the afterparty where you can meet Natalie and be one the first people to purchase her new album. For now, check out Runnin With Its’ interview with the burgeoning singer. She will be on tour all summer and will be performing in Virginia and Nashville to name a few places.
Jason
Hey what’s up! How have you been since we last spoke?
Natalie
I’ve been good. I’ve been busy. A lot has happened, there is the new record, a tour, a new band, new management. So it’s really good, just a lot is going on.
Jason
That’s cool. So who has officially joined the band?
Natalie
The band and I have previously recorded together in the studio, so it’s pretty much the same people. I have Neil Nunziato on drums, Tony Oppenheimer on bass, Billy Grant on the keys, Troy Fannin on guitar and Neeley Bridges on the mandolin. She’s great, she does backing vocals and she’s really great with harmonies. It’s nice to have a three part harmony and that folky-flair. It has a very rustic sound. Troy is the third member in that.
Jason
Yea, if a three part harmony and mandolin isn’t folk music, I don’t know what is!
Natalie
Haha right. It’s really great. Troy really brings it. He kills it. So even though we have this three part harmony going on, our songs are really jammin. The songs are very easy to listen to. Some of the songs on this record are a bit somber, but the way he plays guitar, brings the songs to life.
Jason
That kind of reminds me a bit of Bob Dylan. When he went electric, everyone thought the songs weren’t folk anymore, but they were. They just had an upbeat rhythm to them.
Natalie
Exactly! That’s what we were going for. I kind of get more inspired to write about the hardships in life and I think most musicians do as well. But I want to keep the listener entertained and wanting more, so you have to have a feeling of a driven beat with some electric flair. Every now and then I will have a slow, heart-breaking song, but you need a little rock in there to spruce things up.
Jason
Yea definitely. So who have you been working with in the studio?
Natalie
So this last record has been a long work in progress. It’s called “Goodnight Stranger” and is going to be released May 23. We started a year ago, in June, and started meeting with producers. I wound up clicking with a producer named JP Bowersock who has worked with Ryan Adams and The Strokes. I’m a huge fan of his work, so it was a real honor and pleasure to work with him. His studio was also very old-school, which I felt very comfortable in. The engineer who works with him was also great. His name is Mark Dann. They knew I was on a budget and funding the record myself, but they made sure I was focused on the art and not the time and money.
Jason
Yea, the new album sounds great. It sounds like you have reached a new level. Do you feel that way as well?
Natalie
I definitely do. The major difference between this record and the last one, “In My Shoes”, was that we recorded the tracks live. The first time we recorded it in layers and pieced it together. But on this record, I wanted to go for a more rootsy-folk type vibe. I wanted to capture the vibe of the band. So what you’re hearing is everyone playing together in the studio. We just played the songs over and over to get the sound we wanted. I did a majority of my vocals separately, but there were a couple songs where I recorded it with the band. Those turned out really nice. We did a majority of the recordings done in a 12 hour studio session. We obviously had to go back in to tweak a few things here and there and dub in some spots, but we basically recorded it in one studio session.
Jason
Yea it definitely has a nice combination of rock, country, folk and blues.
Natalie
Yea, there a lot of different elements. I like that a lot. There might be a few songs that surprise you. I think a lot of these songs on here are very different from anything I’ve ever done. They each definitely stand out on their own. On “Between The Lines”, which has a very country-folk-bluegrass feel. Then there is material like “Blue Moon”, which is more of a rock type song. Even “Muela West” is an eerie, psychedelic folk song. I like that we started the album off with that song. I think it’s very captivating with the slide guitar.
Jason
Have you performed any of the new material yet?
Natalie
Yea, we’ve been playing the songs for a while now, but there are few songs on there that we haven’t performed yet. A lot of the material is going to be new though for my show this Thursday. For my fans outside of New York, this material will be brand new because I haven’t toured outside of the state in a bit. You can stream “Blue Moon” for now though. I put that out as a bit of a teaser. It will then be available on iTunes once the album drops.
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