Recently I had the great pleasure of interviewing Bushwick, New York native Sara Kermanshahi of the band Natureboy. And if you haven’t listened to her latest self-titled release Natureboy, you’re missing out. Her songs are infectious acoustic odes laden with degrees of tenderness, fragility and longing. Her guitar playing is sedate and mellifluous, punctuated with a potency both endearing and captivating. Sara’s songs when played draw you closer; unconsciously you lean into them just to catch hints of their glowing warmth.
d. durand: I’ve been checking up on you Sara and I know you are a first generation Iranian-American born and bred in the great state of Washington. A Seattleite. Tell me about what it was like growing up in Seattle.
Sara: Seattle was good for the most part. Gray and rainy as well. Made some friends, started a band, went through teenage angst, pretty much like everywhere else.
d. durand: Growing up in Seattle obviously there is a lot of history as far as bands go, any musical influences aside from Nirvana?
Sara: Oh yeah, but Nirvana really turned my head around and made me like good music. Growing up I listened to a lot of Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, Modest Mouse, My Bloody Valentine, PJ Harvey, The Cure etc….
d. durand: Ok, an odd question. If you could be a Nirvana song which one would it be, and why?
Sara: That IS an odd question! Probably “Negative Creep.” It says it all in the title.
d. durand: Being a first generation Iranian-American how does your heritage influence you approach to songwriting, or not?
Sara: It doesn’t really. I’m still lost on my approach to songwriting. I don’t have a certain method or technique to writing. I know I have to be inspired, if I’m not inspired then its all shit.
d. durand: Do you come from a musical family?
Sara: Not that I know of, my parents were artists when they were young, mostly painting.
d. durand: What music was you exposed to while growing up before you developed your own musical taste?
Sara: Well, there was a lot of Persian music around and I did take a liking to it, would sing some songs in Farsi. But I never really got into it. So American radio was my thing until I could buy CD’s.
d. durand: How did your family react to your decision to pursue music as a career?
Sara: Sure they have their worries but they have been very supportive. They really want me to do what makes me happy. They’d do and have done anything they can to help me.
d. durand: Is it me or do I hear a bit of the Middle Eastern time signatures, especially the phrasing typically associated with the sitar. Is that a conscious thing or totally subconscious?
Sara: Totally subconscious. I don’t even think about time signatures when I’m writing. It just comes out naturally.
d. durand: In a previous life you played in the electrified band House On A Hill, knowing that, it’s hard for me to imagine your beautiful voice coupled with anything other than the acoustic mode you now practice, why the change?
Sara: I just got tired with the electric rock thing. I’ve always played on acoustic, just never recorded much. And I was going to do my own thing, instead of writing songs with someone else like in House on a Hill, and the acoustic made sense. But the funny thing is the 1st House on a Hill record was a lot like the NB stuff. We just went in a very different direction for the 2nd and 3rd ones.
d. durand: In my off-kilter mind I imagine if Billy Holiday was a folk singer I think she would have sounded a lot like you, any secret Jazz influences we should know about?
Sara: Not that I know of, my parents were artists when they were young, mostly painting.
d. durand: When I first started listening to your music I played it almost non-stop. The music you create could be described as haunting and melancholy. Was it a conscious direction or did it just come out that way?
Sara: Just came out that way. That’s the music I love to hear, so its natural to create.
d. durand: Your song “Pariah” is my favorite, what is the song about?
Sara: I don’t really want to say, because I like for people to have their own interpretations. And most of my songs are not just about one thing, but there are general themes like unrequited love or feeling isolated.
d. durand: I hear influences like the Cowboy Junkies, Patty Smith, Joan Armatrading, and the great Joni Mitchell, even a bit of Radiohead’s atmospherics, is this close?
Sara: I love Patti Smith and Radiohead. Other influences would be Cat Power, Bon Iver, Beach House, Bob Dylan, and a bunch of other artists. Seriously a lot of other ones that I can’t name off the top of my head right now.
d. durand: Out of your entire catalog of songs as Natureboy, what is by far your favorite song you never tire of performing?
Sara: It’s probably this song called “Head to Toe” that’s going on the next record, but we’ve played it live a bunch too.
d. durand: When your out on the road touring what is something you miss the most from home?
Sara: My bed.
d. durand: Any guilty pleasures you care to admit to?
Sara: Haha no.
d. durand: Whiskey or wine?
Sara: Whiskey.
d. durand: Good answer. Alright. Name three bands you are listening to right now?
Sara: Cass Mccombs, Atlas Sounds, Depeche Mode.
d. durand: Is there any venues you haven’t played yet you would love to play?
Sara: Sure, lots of them. Brooklyn has great venues. Bowery Ballroom in the city would be real nice.
d. durand: Continuing along the theme, is there one particular band or artist that you would love to tour with or headline for?
Sara: Atlas Sounds.
d. durand: Another fun question. If you, Hope Sandoval and Chan Marshall had a girls night out what would the three of you do and where would you go?
Sara: Ha! Well I love both those ladies but I don’t know them or have any idea what they consider a fun night, so I would leave it up to them, and I would follow along with adoration.
d. durand: How did you connect with Bleek Records?
Sara: Kevin from Kevchino.com has been a huge fan and supporter of NB and we’ve all been friends for a couple of years now. He decided to start a label with Scot Bowman who runs the Sky Report and their friend Nick Gretto and they all wanted to officially release the debut NB record in the U.S. because it never was. We are really happy to be working with them and know that they want the best for their artists. So there was no question.
d. durand: Last question. For now you’ve toured mainly the East and West Coasts, and a few places in-between. When are you coming to Michigan?
Sara: I don’t know. I want to of course. There are talks of a U.S. tour in the works, so we’ll see.
I want to extend many warm thanks to Sara and Bleek Records for making this interview happen. For more information and music from Natureboy visit them at bandcamp and Facebook. For more updates follow the band on Twitter. Peace.