Natural Self
Natural Self returns to Tru Thoughts with his heavy funk meets twisted hip hop production and new found vocal talents.
Natural Self is the ongoing project of Nathaniel Pearn, aka producer Keno-1. Pearn was originally inspired by the rhythmic force of The Bomb Squad’s productions for Public Enemy, and hip hop was the primary influence on his first forays into music. His hometown of Oxford was just near enough to London to pick up Tim Westwood’s then seminal Capital Rap Show floating across the airwaves. The beats he heard as a teenager led him forward, to the future hip hop of DJs Shadow and Krush, and back to its roots in the American funk of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. This sparked a keen appreciation of musical lineage as well as a sense of the possibilities of the future and would provide the foundation of everything that was to follow. Crate-digging culture introduced him to a whole world of music and broadened his horizons immeasurably.
2001 saw Natural Self’s production debut with the “Shakedown/The Soul step” single on Tru Thoughts. With seven years of DJing experience already under his belt by this time, he knew exactly how to work a dancefloor, and both tracks had a strikingly direct and confident sound. The characteristic combination of raw drums, polyrhythmic percussion and strident horns would become a signature style of the several singles that followed, notably in the mighty “Heavy Heavy”, the renowned collaboration with his good friend Nostalgia 77 (recorded as Keno-1 & The Hermit). Natural Self’s 2006 debut album ‘Let Peace Be The Ruler’ for Breakin’ Bread records saw the introduction of live recording into the Natural Self sound as well as a first full vocal production with Alice Russell on “I Don’t Need This Trouble”. The first Natural Self and Nostalgia 77 collaborative album “Gravity” – recorded as The Broken Keys for Tru Thoughts – also came out in 2006, to acclaim from the BBC 6Music Funk and Soul Show, among others. Combining the skills of the two producers, the album featured Natural Self’s first steps into singing.
Throughout this time, the demand for Natural Self’s services as a remixer was steadily rising, and he re-worked tracks for such artists as Nicole Willis, Quantic, Elizabeth Shepherd and the Canadian MC Abdominal. Natural Self’s skills as a DJ also saw him travel increasingly across the UK and Europe, as his style came to incorporate Latin and African music alongside the funk and hip hop that had played such a consistent role all along.
2008 saw Natural Self returning to Tru Thoughts to release his highly anticipated second solo album, entitled “The Art Of Vibration”. The new long player, which was released on 30th June, saw a further development of the continually distinctive productions, featuring experiments in electronic sound as well as collaborations with Abdominal and eminent UK soul singer Andreya Triana. The album was preceded by a 12” single, “The Rising”, featuring the vocals of Andreya Triana and Natural Self, gaining support and acclaim from Mark Lamarr (BBC Radio 2), Gilles Peterson (BBC Radio 1), Boca 45 and many other DJs and tastemakers around the world.
Wanting to push the sound of his last album into the live sphere, in late 2008 Natural Self assembled some of the best vocalists and most in-demand session players around to develop his musical imprint for an explosive live performance. Based around Pearn himself playing off Serato Scratch, the Natural Self Live experience is aimed straight at the dancefloor, and their first triumphant show saw them supporting Mr Scruff in Brighton to a packed crowd. It flows like a DJ set, but flips original versions of tracks with the input of horns, percussion and an MC. On percussion he is joined by Will Fry, who has previously played with revered producer Nathan Haines. On trumpet Scotty Baylis, who has shared the stage or jammed with the likes of Roy Ayers, Prince, Maceo Parker and as part of the 16bit Horns with Tru Thoughts’ very own Quantic Soul Orchestra. Multi-instrumenalist Ben Hadwen plays flute and sax, and MC Mystro brings energy and hype to the show. This British born MC has recorded with Skinnyman, The Nextmen and Braintax. The guest singers who have lent their magic to the band include Andreya Triana, who contributed to ‘The Art Of Vibration’ and has worked with Flying Lotus and Bonobo; and Elodie Rama, a previous Natural Self collaborator who also plays with France’s massively acclaimed Hocuspocus Crew. Natural Self Live’s Summer ’09 shows include Soundwave Festival in Croatia and – closer to home – Brighton Festival and the Llama Festival as well as Bataclan in Paris.
Following a lead vocal guest spot on DJ Food’s recent “One Man’s Weird Is Another Man’s World” EP, Natural Self will be releasing his upcoming album My Heart Beats Like A Drum featuring vocals from Elodie Rama – on 19th October 2009 on Tru Thoughts.
“It’s got quality written all over it” – Mark Lamarr (BBC Radio 2)
“Kooky chants, dirty brass and all kinds of wonky beats…Cracking.” – iDJ Magazine
“Encapsulates everything that is good about music and diversity right now. Go get.” – Pimp Magazine
“By rights this should be the LP that breaks this young man into the big time.” – Dom Servini – Shook Mag