For Estonia-born Natalie Red, the journey to becoming a musician began by taking the plunge and moving abroad. Having lived in Finland from a young age, after finishing school, she moved to London to attend the capital's prestigious BIMM Music Institute — which has famously been the starting block for artists including Marina Diamandis and Lana Lubany.
As she settled into big city life and began to hone her high-octane sound by dropping drum 'n' bass remixes of Ariana Grande tracks on SoundCloud, it was only once Red reluctantly shared her first original track 'Addicted' in 2022 that her career kicked off overnight. Not only did the track explode across TikTok, it also established the then-21-year-old as an artist looking to reinvigorate London's underground dance scene with her widescreen approach to the genre.
Red has also established herself as a future-facing producer, and is helping to develop a new dynamic in a space that has a long history of sidelining female and non-binary artists. In the same month she dropped 'Addicted', a report was published by the Jaguar Foundation, showing that female and non-binary artists made up less than one percent of all dance music played on UK radio – a startling figure Red was adamant on changing.
Fast forward two years later, and the momentum isn't slowing down for the 23-year-old. She continues to work alongside members of women-led collective Loud LDN – including Venbee and Lucy Tun – and establish herself as an artist producing her own blend of futuristic hyperpop.
“I always had this feeling that when I did a session with someone, it never felt quite right. It felt like a barrier to it being entirely my track,”, Red tells NME in a Canary Wharf cafe. “I'm just as much a producer as a musician, I need to be able to control how my music sounds. I feel like it isn't as honest if someone is doing the work for me.”
Following the release of her new EP 'Silence Through These Walls', the singer, songwriter and producer sits down with NMEand lays out her big plans for the future.
How did your journey as a musician begin?
“I started taking everything really seriously when I was 20 and I got into the production side of music, especially when it came to artists like Pharrell and Tyler, The Creator. It was from there that I became passionate about producing music and being hands-on with my own work. But when it came to singing, since I was 13, it was 100 percent [all about] Ariana Grande. I didn't grow up with either of my parents being necessarily creative, so this route started with me being obsessed with pop culture. I always had MTV on and I loved watching music videos. It was a lot of Ariana, but I really tried to listen to everything — yes, electronica and pop… but also everything from Linkin Park to K-Pop.
“When I decided to make my own music, a huge source of inspiration came from Pharrell and his earlier work with The Neptunes. I knew that the duo produced a lot of hit songs for people like Britney Spears and Gwen Stefani, and then I found that with so many artists I was listening to, Neptunes were always the producers. Everything Pharrell puts his name to ends up being so cool, and I became fascinated by that.
Is the blurring of genres something you actively try to do with your music?
“I don't consciously try to avoid being one genre, I think a lot of it just comes from producing my own music. When I'm hands-on with the production, the end result always ends up being a little bit weirder than what I first thought. I like to lean into weirder, Grimes-esque decisions – plus it helps me with that urge that I have to make my music stand out! Above all else, I just want to experiment. I want my music to be an opportunity to make weird stuff that sticks with people.”
There is a sense of futurism to your sound and aesthetic – where does this inspiration come from?
“I definitely take inspiration from movies. Sci-fi, futuristic films are my all-time favourites, especially The Matrix, Chappie, iRobot and District 9. If a movie can make you think, and have that psychological aspect where you leave it questioning what life is all about… those have always been inspiring for me, and I think a part of that has definitely found its way into the music.
“For instance, it's funny, just yesterday I was producing and I was actively looking for space-type sounds because I was trying to catch something similar to The Matrix soundtrack! I think synth-y bass stuff like that is so badass.”
How did moving to London shape your approach to songwriting?
“I moved here three years ago and I've realized that in both Estonia and Finland, people are very different to those in London. People keep more to themselves there compared to here, so, when I moved, I was very shy and I was forced to get out of my shell. I've only been here for a short amount of time but I've already grown so much because of it.
“I'm grateful for the time I had in both Estonia and Finland, for sure. When I moved to Finland, I went to an international school and got to experience lots of different cultures and languages and my music taste really grew because of it. But it reached a new level when I came to London. Before then, I had never heard of drum 'n' bass in my life! Then, all of a sudden, I'm discovering people like Nia Archives and PinkPantheress, and all these other incredible non-binary and female electronic artists that I had never heard of before. They definitely inspired me.”
Not long after moving to the capital you shared 'Addicted', which blew up on TikTok almost overnight. What was it like seeing such a huge response?
“It happened when I was at BIMM, going into my final year. I didn't know any producers and I got tired of waiting to find someone who could help me capture the sound I had in mind, so I did it myself. I made this demo tape, got it mixed and mastered and put it up myself… then it all got pretty crazy. I was a bartender at the time and I remember thinking 'This is going to change my life'. Then, literally the next day, the song magically got into all these playlists and I started getting all these emails and calls from people in the industry.
“It was definitely validating because I'm such a perfectionist and I'm prone to doubting my work a lot – plus I was still figuring it all out. Believe it or not I was hesitant to even put it out, but I'm so glad it did. Now when it comes to sharing new music I'm a bit less harsh on myself, all that matters is that it's a vibe.”
What message do you want to put forward with your new EP 'Silence Through These Walls'?
“I think my sound is pretty different with this one. I've tried to experiment more with my production by using harsher sounds and longer songs. I hate the feeling of getting lazy with songwriting, so I've really tried to challenge myself to write in a new way and write good lyrics as well. The vision I have is very futuristic, and the songs I have on there are exploring deeper topics than before as well. For instance, the song 'Silence In These Walls' is about missing childhood, needing friends, and craving a simpler time.
“I've also realized that my past releases have made me learn a lot about myself and what I want to do as an artist. Now I have a stronger idea of what kind of music I want to make and, because of that, I can experiment a lot more. I'm not afraid to make whatever I want, so I can let go of the scrutiny I used to put myself under. As well as that, this is the most I've ever known about the industry and about production.”
Going forward, what do you hope to accomplish?
“It's a generic answer, but I just want people to have fun because of my music. I will always want people to feel like they can dance to my music. Going forward though, I hope that being more vulnerable in it means that they can resonate with it no matter what they're going through, and it helps them feel like they're in the present moment. That's something that I struggle with as well.
“Life moves so quickly, so to have something that makes you aware of and grateful to be in this moment in time, that's what means a lot to me.”
Natalie Red's new EP 'Silence Through These Walls' is out now
