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 These Words
Crossing the Atlantic and racking up hit pop songs is no easy task, but America’s got a new sensation on its hands in the form of 24-year-old Londoner Natasha Bedingfield. And has she used her new star status to wrangle lots of Yankee boys to make out with? Well, not quite.
INSTINCT: You performed “Unwritten” on Dancing With The Stars a couple months back. After taping finished, were you finding glitter in the strangest places?
NATASHA BEDINGFIELD: Yes! It’s like when you’ve been to the beach and sand gets in your knickers. They really take it seriously on that show, and it was just great to see people dancing. When I was first asked to be on, I thought my manager was asking me to dance on the show. I was like, “No way!”
What’s the inspiration behind that song?
It’s a song I wrote for my younger brother, and it’s about how life is like a book and every day is a page and you hold the pen. I think that people try to write your life for you and say how it should be. There’s a lot of uncertainty, and the song is really about enjoying each day.
Have you ever performed in a gay club?
I have! In London there’s a club called G-A-Y, and one of my first proper gigs as a signed artist was at this club. It was quite funny because something happened to my sound, so half of the gig people couldn’t hear me singing and they were pointing at my mic. I didn’t understand what they were saying, so I just kept singing. The next time I went back was about a year later, when the songs were already hits. It was one of the most amazing experiences when these guys and girls sang along like it really meant something to them.
Do you and your brother Daniel fight over who has the bigger gay following?
[Laughs] Well, whenever Daniel sings, he strips down to just his boxers, so in some ways that makes him a bit sexier! But I got to work with a lot of really top producers, and I thought maybe that was because they were hoping I was gonna do the same.
Let’s talk about your song “Size Matters.” How true is that for you, Natasha?
[Laughs] I knew you’d pick out that one! I love just being cheeky and putting stuff like that out. In that song’s sense, I’m talking about the heart.
Another great song we single people can appreciate is, appropriately enough, “Single.” Is this about yourself?
I wrote it about two years ago. I’m single right now, but I was single then as well. It was just coming from this place of frustration from the way people perceive a single person. Often I would say I’m single and people would go, “Really? Poor you.” And I was like, I actually really enjoy the stage of life I’m at right now. I have a choice, and this is how I wanna be.
Where were you the first time you heard one of your songs on the radio?
Probably in a car being driven somewhere by a cab driver. I was on an airplane last year watching Ice Princess, and at the end of the movie they played “Unwritten.” I forgot that this movie had my song in it and at the end, I jumped out of my seat and called the air hostess over and was like, “That’s me! That’s me!”
Along with acts like James Blunt, Gorillaz and Coldplay, you’ve definitely found your place in the American market. Is this a big priority for most English artists?
I think that America is like the big prize, definitely. We really look, musically, at what’s going on in America. It’s a big deal.
Now, let’s get down to brass tacks. What are you guilty of splurging on the most?
Makeup and clothes. I love America for shopping! I like the vintage stores.
And finally, who snogs best—English boys or American boys?
Oh, do you know what? I haven’t snogged an American boy! So I can’t answer that.
Sure, you haven’t.
Robbie Daw dishes out pop music news and sass daily on his site Chart Rigger. Also check out natashabedingfield.com
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