like for October, not so much shamanic, but I am taking reference from dancers like Martha Graham and Pina Bausch, Merce Cunningham and looking at the outfits and the graphic shapes that they use. I think there will be, not a fashion perhaps, but definitely a very modernist, visual aspect to the live shows with what we do, and what I’m wearing. Obviously I’ve enjoyed doing the demure thing for that time, but I don’t think it’s me to just be, like, really normal and take a step back! I think I do want to present a strong visual image, so I’m working on that and I think it was a process where I wasn’t completely sure what I wanted to do, but I’m much clearer now.
You didn’t look like you were half ready. You didn’t have your tights only half rolled-up, or anything. Hahaha, thank you!
You had an alter-ego on the last album, Pearl. Tis album seems like straight up Natasha Khan – did you make a decision to be the narrator? Well I think if you’re a creative person, I think for me it means that you want to innovate and explore new territory with each album. I didn’t want to repeat myself and I felt like I’d really pushed that theme with the last record to its conclusion. I could have gone anywhere, I suppose, but I wanted this to be about England, much more about my home, much more autobiographical and I think just in life, in general, I’m trying to really be conscious of developing an intimacy with people in my life that’s real. In our day-to-day lives, I think everyone can put up a persona, and the most terrifying thing is just to be vulnerable and open and say how you really feel about things. Tat creates an intimacy with other human beings that’s priceless, so I think that kind of ethos has really permeated my work as well.
Who am I, out of all this stuff, and what do I want to communicate? I think without having all this drama and moving around, really dramatic relationship breakups and all of that sort of dramatic stuff, I think that can be quite one-dimensional sometimes.
Just to leave you with a question, it seems pertinent to ask you – as we await the nominations announcement for the Mercury Music Prize – are awards and bodies like that ever something that moves how you work?
IT’S VERY ROCK ‘N’ ROLL TO BE SUICIDAL AND STUFF, BUT I THINK TO CELEBRATE THE JOYOUSNESS OF RAW LIVING IS LIKE ISN’T TOUCHED ON AS MUCH AS IT SHOULD BE.
Erm, no… Obviously it’s an interesting and flattering by-product of doing what I do, but I think my own inner critical voice and standards are so high, that if I started bringing in a need for outside affirmation and validation for what I do, it would become very complex and quite hard to navigate. I love when I get nominated for things; it’s great to be thought of and it gives you exposure to people that might not have heard it, which is the most important thing to me – perhaps persuading people to have a listen. But I think the only thing I ever do is follow my heart really; I have to be true to myself. I try to push myself to do better than I did before, but
Actually stoppingand just being a human being for a while, I think I discovered that Natasha Khan is a lot more complex and rich, as a person, than just being this mystical, sad person. I feel like there’s a lot more to me than the subjects I was exploring on the last record. You find like a real humanity, I think, to all those layers and different things that you experience over the period of two and a half, three years.
I think that’s just me. I’m quite hard on myself, but I think that’s good. No matter what people think of it, I think I’ll always do that; whether I’m in fashion, or whether people are liking it or not, I’m gonna keep doing what I feel I need to communicate. Tat keeps you safe, I think. Tat’s what keeps you grounded in your creative process.
Emma Garwood
Natasha Khan brings Bat for Lashes to the UEA on Friday 26th October. She releases her new album, ‘Te Haunted Man’ on October 15th. For tickets go to
www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk. To read the full interview, go to
Outlineonline.co.uk
14 /October 2012/
outlineonline.co.uk
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