TFword in Conversation With Natty Lou
The Welsh DJ and producer joined us last year to discuss her music and share what’s in store for 2025, from new releases to upcoming shows.
The Welsh DJ and producer joined us last year to discuss her music and share what’s in store for 2025, from new releases to upcoming shows.
Drum & bass is a notoriously challenging genre to produce, requiring a deep understanding of intricate rhythms, complex basslines, and precise sound design. Similarly, the art of drum & bass DJing demands exceptional skill in beatmatching, track selection, and reading the crowd to maintain energy and flow. Natty Lou, despite having made her breakthrough less than four years ago, has managed to master both disciplines with remarkable finesse.
With releases on prestigious labels such as Bassrush Records, NCT, Viper Recordings, and DeVice Records, Natty Lou has demonstrated her ability to craft tracks that resonate across the global drum & bass community. Her production style fuses energetic drum work, punchy basslines, and emotive melodies, showcasing both technical prowess and a keen sense of musicality. Each release has reinforced her reputation as a rising star, earning support from heavyweight DJs and tastemakers within the scene.
2024 marked a pivotal year for Natty Lou as she transitioned from an up-and-coming artist to a formidable force in the genre. With a string of high-profile releases, standout performances at major festivals, and countless intimate club sets where she unleashed her electrifying DJ skills, Natty Lou consistently proved her ability to captivate audiences. She capped off the year with a stunning, melodic, and atmospheric liquid drum & bass release on Ridmic Records, the sister label of the renowned Liquicity Records, further showcasing her versatility and artistry.
As she charges forward into another groundbreaking year, we sat down with the multi-talented artist to dive deeper into her upcoming music, highly anticipated shows, and what’s next on her creative journey.
TFword: Hey, thanks very much for taking the time to speak with us. Where are you speaking with us from?
NATTY LOU: Hello! Thank you so much for having me. I am currently living in Cardiff, South Wales, United Kingdom!
TF: We’ve all seen you in action as Natty Lou the DJ, delivering some unforgettable sets. When did the transition from Natty Lou the selector to Natty Lou the producer take place?
NATTY LOU: Thank you for the kind words! So, I started my production journey in 2021 when I enrolled onto an 8-week beginners production course by ‘Education & Bass’. This all happened during lockdown when I didn’t have very much to do! The course was remote & online-based learning which worked well for me at the time and gave me something to focus on. Then eventually, as everything started opening back up again, I began having studio sessions with a few different producers. I found out that I learnt much better in person, so being in the studio with some incredibly talented producers really helped to develop my knowledge in music production. I released my first track in February 2023 on DeVice Records (big up Rene LaVice!) and it did well, considering it was my first track! It was featured on Apple Music playlists ‘Drum ‘n’ Bass’, ‘Breaking Dance’ and ‘New in Dance’.
TF: Some of your best music was released last year and across such a wide spectrum of labels and styles. How would you describe 2024 from a production standpoint?
NATTY LOU: Yes, 2024 was a great year for music! I released a total of seven tracks on some credible DnB labels such as Viper Records, Bassrush (Insomniac), NCS, Liquicity and more!
In May, I released a collaboration with Axel Boy & Emilie Rachel called ‘In The Future’ on Viper Recordings, and this had always been such a huge goal of mine – to release on a label that I’ve been listening to since the start of my DnB journey in 2008.
Another track, which came about by chance, was the ‘Infinity 2023’ remix for Guru Josh Project released in April. I had previously made a bootleg of ‘Infinity 2008 Klass Remix’ and it did well on SoundCloud. Darren from Guru Josh Project hit me up on Instagram and said that he wanted to make it an official remix! That was a really nice surprise and probably one of my biggest achievements in my music career yet.
TF: The best part about Natty Lou’s music is that you don’t pigeonhole your productions to a particular style. Talk us through some of your creative thoughts when you get to writing music.
NATTY LOU: Well, I listen to a lot of music. Not just Drum and Bass, but other genres too such as Hip Hop, Soul, Funk, Disco and I love cinematic music from composers like Hans Zimmer and Danny Elfman. I am a Hip Hop and Locking dancer, so music from the 70’s and 80’s is on my Spotify playlists. For example, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious 5, Afrika Bambatta, Earth Wind & Fire, James Brown etc. I think it’s important to listen to other styles of music to get some inspiration.
I also find that making music is a great way to express what I am going through at the time. On reflection, a lot of my tracks are about ‘love’. My track, ‘Tempted’ ft. Gemma Rose, is one of my favourite tracks that I’ve produced because it really reflected what I was going through during the time of writing. It was like my therapy and a way, I guess, to express my feelings and emotions.
Not only that, I watch a lot of YouTube tutorial videos to get inspired. There are a few good ones out there by Sub Focus and I’ve attended some in-person workshops, the most recent one by High Contrast.
TF: How was the year 2024 on the road for Natty Lou?
NATTY LOU: I’m very happy to say that 2024 was the best year of my music career yet! I was fortunate to have played some great shows such as Boomtown, Hospitality on the Beach, Boardmasters, Rampage Open Air, Liquicity festival and more. I really enjoy life on the road, playing in different countries, meeting new people and making new friends. Highlight of the year for me was being selected by pioneer, Andy C, himself to support him on his Drumsheds show in November last year. That was an unforgettable moment. A big thank you to the promoters, labels, brands and to my agent at UAA for making it such a memorable year!
TF: Having taken on so many roles in the past, it can get exhausting but we always see you deliver everything you take on with the same level of zest. How do you keep yourself motivated?
NATTY LOU: “If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life”. I’m very lucky to be living my dream as a performer. I’m very passionate about what I do and always in my element when I’m performing. I think every artist has their down-days and challenges to face, but it’s about how you manage and overcome them that matters. It takes a strong mindset and thick skin to be in the music industry. I have a deep love for Drum & Bass music, the culture and it’s community – so I guess that’s what keeps me going!
TF: You closed the year with a beautiful single, was it the sonic climax you’d envisioned at the start of last year?
NATTY LOU: Thank you so much! So, it was quite a funny story how I first met Leemo. In March, I played at an event in Manchester called ‘We Love DnB’ and, after my set, we ended up getting a takeaway and sitting in his car. As we were eating our burgers in the car, Leemo started playing his tracks and I absolutely loved them. He’s such a talented liquid DnB producer and I just knew we had to collaborate on something together. He sent me across ‘Think Of U’ which really stood out to me, and I asked him if I could jump on it. It got signed by Liquicity’s sister label, ‘RIDMIC’, and it’s doing well so far!
TF: Is there a sonic vision you have in mind for the new year?
NATTY LOU: I love all sub-genres of Drum and Bass, but I would say that I mostly produce high-energy, melodic, dancefloor Drum and Bass with powerful vocals. I like music that is uplifting & energetic, with melodic catchy hooks and atmospheric pads. I am still yet to find and develop my signature sound, so I’m going to be doing a lot of experimenting with sound design this year – it’s one of my new year’s resolutions!
TF: Coming to 2025, how’s the year looking like for Natty Lou with her music?
NATTY LOU: My release schedule is looking busy over the next few months! I’ve got releases lined up with labels such as DeVice, Hexagon (Don Diablo’s label), a collaboration with D*Minds coming out on RUN and another coming out on Shock One’s label ‘Dark Machine Records’. I am currently working on a few tracks including one with Abi Rush who is a great vocalist. I don’t want to spill too much, but there is lots of music on the way in 2025!
TF: Where can we catch Natty Lou live in the coming few months?
NATTY LOU: On 24th January, I will be playing at Lakota for ‘Rumble In The Jungle’. Lakota Bristol is a special venue to me because it’s the first club that I ever played at. It will be nice to be back, and I love the Rumble guys – they put on some great parties!
On 31st January, I will be playing at the ‘Hospitality Weekender’ in Bognor Regis for RUN DnB. I’ll be playing on Friday and staying the whole weekend to enjoy. I am excited to play for Hospital Records again. This year, I’ll be supporting Toronto is Broken on his UK tour in Swansea & London. I’ve got a track with TIB called ‘Altered States’ and it featured on his album, so I was so happy to get the call from him asking to support him on his tour.
There’s lots of shows yet to be announced. I’m really looking forward to seeing new countries, meeting new people and performing in 2025!
TF: Any interesting collaborations from Natty Lou that we can look forward to?
NATTY LOU: There’s lots of collaborations on the way with producers such as D*Minds, Deep Notion, Lateral, and with vocalists such as Nathan Smoker, Abi Rush, Coppa MC, Dread MC and Mila Falls.
My next release is INVOLVER’s remix of my track ‘Voltaic’ ft. Texas MC. INVOLVER is an incredibly talented producer from Ukraine. I’ve been playing the track as my last tune in my sets, and it’s had such a great response. Camo & Krooked and Dirtyphonics have supported the track in their sets, so go pre-save it now!
Follow Natty Lou on: Instagram | Spotify | Facebook
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