Wiktor Fejkiel: A few days ago you released the EP “I’m coming back to myself”. Do you treat it as a summary of the last two years?
Natalia Zasta: – Yes, I even wrote on the physical version that it was my music diary. I said the same thing about the first album. “I’m coming back to myself” is a certain artistic stage, but also a stage in my life – moving to Warsaw, changing my lifestyle, growing up. I feel that the songs created at that time are a record of the kind of person I was then. This change is very dynamic and I am glad that I managed to encapsulate it in one publication.
Why did you decide on the mini-album format? Haven’t you thought about releasing your second full-length album three years after your debut?
– It seemed to me that I had been playing these singles for a long time and I wanted to put them together. We had a few songs that could have completed the EP, but we decided it didn’t make sense. Ultimately, eight songs were released, one of which was a live version of “I’m Coming Back to Myself”. We called it an EP, but it’s actually a mini-album. As I said, I just wanted to close this stage, go on an autumn tour and go in a different direction next year.
Has much changed in your approach to music since your debut?
– I started when I was 16, back then I wasn’t writing my songs at all, I wasn’t as familiar with it all as I am now. My first experience was rather recognizing what the music market looks like. The first years were also an attempt to reach producers and all the people I work with. A lot changed over time, mainly when I started writing my own songs. I bring a ready-made piece of melody or lyrics to the studio and we immediately have something to work on. It is much easier for me to simply convey my vision. This EP is the first such release where each song has my lyrics and music, and I am a co-author of each song. And the song is especially important “Joke” – the first one ever that I wrote myself from A to Z.
Undoubtedly, of the previous singles, the title track “I’m Coming Back to Myself” was the best. Did you expect such a positive reception?
– I guess you can never predict it. It is known that sometimes a song has, for example, a catchy chorus, but this is not always enough. Sometimes we laugh that when we leave the studio and hum a song for the rest of the day, it has potential, but it really doesn’t matter. Right up to “I’m Coming Back to Myself” we had a positive attitude that this song could succeed. But it may also be a matter of the fact that this is the first single since the debut, after a break, and the listeners were waiting for something new.
Was this song’s similarity to the “Lost on you” LP a deliberate inspiration?
– It was pure coincidence. Whenever I come to create a song, I give some inspirations, but there was no LP here. I just wanted acoustic sounds. Later it turned out that we had heard it somewhere before, that there was a similarity in sound, but the lyrics and melody were completely different.
Do you treat this EP as a coherent release or rather as a collection of singles? After all, only two new songs will actually be released…
– You could say it’s more of a collection of singles I’ve been working on over the last two years. Each of them was another step on the way to finding what I would like my original things to sound like. That’s why I call it all a music diary and not a concept album.
However, is there any emotion or thought that runs through all the songs that would be a coherent line of this EP?
– I wanted it to be a journey for the listener to get to know me as a person. Let’s be honest, the debut album “I don’t regret” was my first contact with this big world, but here I have the impression that I manage to tell this narrative a bit differently. For example, the song “Check and Mate” is about how everyone sees me as Natalia, a gray mouse who is so quiet and modest. This already annoys me because I’m 22 and I feel more like a woman than a girl. And that’s what this song is about, that I can have a slightly different face than people think.
Are you still labeled as that girl from the TV show? After all, as you mentioned, you started your career really early.
– It’s difficult at times, but from what I talk to other participants of such programs, who have already come out of it and are working more on their material, I know that they are struggling with a similar problem. It was also bothersome when I later talked to some producers whom I was visiting for the first time, and they treated me as just another commercial project of the label.
What was it like working in the studio on this EP?
– I had a really good time with all the people I could work with. It’s all a matter of emotional understanding of what I want to do and this common vibe. I was so pleased with the fruits of our labor that I decided to publish it all.
Soul inspirations can be heard at many moments on this mini-album. Where does this come from for you?
– When I started singing, I learned it simply from soul songs. My singing style is also soulful and I want it to be heard. However, it’s all pop, so it’s just inspirations and tidbits. I also have my guitar side, I like old rock bands. Here, at times, I also went more acoustically towards the 90s, like Oasis. I try to combine all this in my pop.
Do you think there is more and more space for such sounds in Polish mainstream pop?
– Categorizing genres is very difficult nowadays. We have a lot of variations and hybrids. I think that the consequence is that the image and persona of the artist are more and more important than the genre of music he creates. If my songs were sung by someone with a more underground image, they might be considered alternative. And because of my pop image, they are considered pop. It’s all very smooth.
Are you planning to go on tour after the release of the EP?
– Yes, we have it already planned and I must admit that I am very excited. This is my first club tour, so I’m looking forward to every city, but I’ll especially enjoy playing in Opole, because I’m from that area. It will be a new experience for me that people come especially to my concerts and hear my songs. I’m really looking forward to it.
Will there be new arrangements for concerts?
– We always try to expand the arrangements at concerts. We leave some songs as they are recorded, but we develop others. I like it when something live happens at a concert and the songs sound different than on the album. We will definitely work with the team on this.
After all the activities related to the promotion of the EP “I’m returning to myself”, are you planning to focus on the second album?
– I’ve been working on the second album since the beginning of summer (laughter). So there is no time to rest. I have an idea of the direction I want to go, but I don’t want to talk about it yet. I will also talk to the label about it to see if we have the green light. It seems to me that this is a completely different side than I have shown so far. I hope I can present it next year. I’m very excited about this project.