Nathalia

Originally from Barranquilla, Colombia, Nathalia moved to the United States to study Music Therapy at the Berklee College of Music. Upon completion, she began her career in Los Angeles and later received a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University. Nathalia’s experience as a music therapist and early childhood music educator inspired her to use music as a tool for teaching her own children Spanish. In doing so, she had inadvertently written songs that would later become her debut children’s album. Since then, Nathalia’s unique bilingual approach to songwriting has made her a prominent voice in the world of children’s music. She has released five albums of entirely original content, all of which were co-produced and performed by notable Grammy Award winners.

Listen to Nathalia's New Album

Nathalia's music is captivating and soulful. She expresses a wide variety of styles throughout her repertoire with ease. Her musical abilities are incredibly evident as soon as you hit play. Once you do, you won't want to hit stop. 

I first heard Nathalia's new album (Mil Colores) at a Grammy listening party in 2022. I fell in love with the rich sounds and songwriting immediately. Her music is more than just songs; they are soundtracks, describing a vivid, bright world with intertwining layers of vocals and rhythms. Each piece works in perfect harmony with the others and everything is balanced so well. You can dive into this record and get completely lost in it. This project is one the best that I've heard this past year. 

I got to chat with Nathalie about her mazing music and how this album came to be. Keep scrolling to find out more about her and her musical journey!

You have a variety of styles woven throughout your new album. What inspires you to mix things up and what's your favorite style of music to create/perform?

Every album we’ve produced has always featured a blend of musical genres. Our music is a reflection of our multicultural family, I am Colombian and my husband, Brian who co-writes and produces my songs is American. We bring our upbringings into our productions, on my end cumbia, merengue, salsa and tropical latin music; on his side jazz, rock, pop, blue grass... We don’t ever plan what styles we are going to use, we just let the song naturally evolve on its own. In terms of what I prefer to create/perform I notice that I gravitate towards latin, upbeat songs, if I can dance to it, I am most definitely having a blast.


After recording and performing, what do you do to unwind and recharge? 

After our performances, especially if we are in a new city, we love heading out to explore the area.  When it comes to unwinding after a long day of recording, I think we realize the importance of stepping away from what we are working on, going outdoors, changing gears. It gives us a new perspective and a set of “Fresh ears” when we listen back to what we’ve recorded.


You've been releasing albums for families since 2012. How do you keep your ideas for your songs fresh and new?

All our ideas come from our experiences, from remembering our childhood to watching our children grow; interacting with our students/fans or being inspired by other artists. Life is constantly changing and providing us with new beginnings and opportunities, so there is always something new to write about.


Did you always know that you wanted to make music for kids and families?

Not at all! I began my career as a music therapist.  In my line of work I would find myself writing songs for and with clients, it never occurred to me that I would one day write songs for myself or my children, record them and perform them!


I love that you have educational resources available on your website for little ones who are learning Spanish. Teaching language through your music. Brilliant! Where did that idea come from?

The main goal in the songs we write is to express whatever concept/theme in a fun creative way. Our agenda is have fun, reconnect with creativity, reconnect with being a child! I truly believe that the best way to learn is through play. It’s those playful elements of our music that makes it easy for us to create educational resources, whereas we are exploring lyrics, new concepts or analyzing the instrumentation, there are million ways to interact with a song to turn it into a fun learning experience. 


Do you have a concept or theme for your new album, Mil Colores?
 
The album Mil Colores was created in the middle of the pandemic, when all our gigs and music contracts stopped, when we uprooted our family and moved across the country because the going got tough. The palpable theme of the album is that of encouraging children to seize the day, remind them to find inspiration in the tiniest of things, to use their voices and never stop creating. 

What's the silliest song you've ever written?​

Oh my, the silliest song I’ve written has never been recorded because it’s ridiculous. It’s about me turning into “a crazy caterpillar hunter”. I do write about absolutely everything that happens in our lives. The story behind it is that there was a caterpillar that was eating my tomato plant, in my determination to find him, I was obsessively spending hours examining EVERY leaf… even at night with a flashlight! Those things are great at camouflaging!