Neon Ion is Natalie Sandtorv's dream project. The accomplished vocalist finally feels she has "landed on the right track in her musical universe" with her latest release Heart Echoes. And so do the reviewers.
/ 12/06/2020 / Kristian DugstadName: Natalie Sandtorv
Current with: Neon Ion – Heart Echoes (Album)
TONO member since: 2011
Who are you, Natalie Sandtorv?
Big question to start with! I am a vocalist and songwriter from Ålesund, who loves writing and performing music!
We'll get to Neon Ion right away, but many of you probably know your name from things you've done before. Can you tell us a little about your musical background?
I went to a cultural school for piano lessons as a child, and quit the day the teacher fell asleep during class. Then I started taking private singing lessons with singing teacher Solveig Håvik, who was a fantastic mentor for me throughout my adolescence. I mostly studied jazz and soul, and then I went to folk high school with a jazz major, and got a bachelor's degree in jazz at the Grieg Academy in Bergen. Then I had a few freelance years in Berlin, and Copenhagen, where I also got a master's degree at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Music Performance. Those two years were probably the most important for me in terms of education and further development. The tutors are all performing artists that I look up to, and they had a way of working with concepts and art that motivated me to dive deep, and find out who I am in all of this.
How would you describe your project Neon Ion to those who don't know it?
It is first and foremost the dream project I have wanted to do for many years. The music has a bit of everything, but the focus is on making exciting, energetic, and at the same time atmospheric music. The starting point was when I met producer Erlend Mokkelbost. I had some sketches that I didn't know how to take further. Some friends told me about Erlend, and at the first meeting it felt like I finally ended up on the right track in my musical universe.
I've seen Neon Ion described as "Jazz vocalist Natalie Sandtorv's new project." It makes me think about genre and identity. Are you aware of the expectations some listeners might have of you? Do you care?
Yeah, that's a strange thing. My background is in jazz music, and it's a big part of me.
But, to be completely honest, I don't feel the term jazz describes me correctly, as my thoughts automatically go to things like Ella Fitzgerald. I don't feel that term quite captures what I do. At the same time, if someone can listen to my music and associate it with jazz, then maybe there's something cool about that too. I think that if the audience is put off by reading it, then maybe it's just their loss if they don't dare to check out my music?
In May you released the album Heart Echoes, your first under the name Neon Ion. The album has received very good reviews – well deserved. How does that feel?
It felt like a mega pat on the back, and like confirmation that the feelings we had about the music when we made it resonated with others.
It is first and foremost the dream project I have wanted to do for many years.
Martin Vinje, who plays keys in your band, wrote on Facebook that the release was two years in the making. Can you tell us about the process?
I started sketching out some songs 2-3 years ago. It was at the same time that we finished a two-year tour with my previous project. And I quickly realized that the new direction didn't fit in with that band. So I went on an inspiration trip to California, drove around, wrote lyrics, and contemplated. Then I went to Ocean Sound in Giske, and made some demos. After a few months I met Erlend, and sent him the wrong demo by accident. It was a song I didn't want to use at all, but he insisted, and said: Give me a few hours. That song is on the record and is called Highways, and now I love it. The magic of it is that there was something in that sketch that I couldn't get out. But Erlend did. He knows exactly what I want to express in the songs, without me having to explain it. We started making songs in the studio, and traveled for a week to Piedmont in Italy, in Palazzo Stabile. Where we brought Ivan Blomqvist, who has also co-written many of the songs on the record, in addition to playing synth. Ole Mofjell also joined, and plays drums on most of it.
The process has been a dream from start to finish. I feel incredibly lucky to have found these people and am already working on making new music with them.
The result has been a unique musical experience that hovers between a number of different genres. So you have talented people with you both on stage and in the studio. How important has it been to have good sparring partners in the work of creating the musical fingerprint?
It has been alpha and omega. I could never have done this without Erlend and Ivan. In them I found like-minded people with very similar references and tastes, and who fill the roles where my knowledge and expertise are not sufficient. Then I can focus all my energy on what I do best, instead of stressing about creating a half-decent chord progression. But the roles also move a bit sideways. We all come up with production ideas, in addition to everyone working on the lyrics and melody. I don't take lightly how lucky I have been in this collaboration. Because I have also been through collaborations where you tear your hair out, where things go completely out of whack, and you can't make anything together.
Where and how did the music on Heart Echoes come about?
A little here and a little there, you could say. Oslo, Los Angeles, Italy, Berlin, and Giske.
There have been a number of processes going on in me during my master's degree, and the years of freelancing, that have led me to this. Lyrically, I have also worked a lot to try to create new images of ordinary things like love and feelings. Erlend's productions suddenly gave my lyrics meaning. Nothing became too banal or extravagant.
Do you have any equipment or tools that are indispensable in the writing process?
Travel and experiences are number one for me. NOPA's work apartments in Berlin and London have been a great help. There I have had a lot of peace to write. Or just be there and take in different experiences, and then write when I get home again. I am probably a very restless soul, and struggle to stay calm. This year is the first year in a long time where I have stayed in Norway for such a long time.
In addition, the sparring with Jazzland Recordings has been important to me throughout. Knowing that they have your back gives you a confidence and a calmness that is much more important to me than the best microphone or the best equipment.
We can't avoid a brief visit to the corona crisis: It can't possibly be the situation you want when planning an album release, right?
No, it felt a little bitter to end up in this pandemic, when you've spent two years producing and planning a release. But at the same time, there's nothing you can do about it. As a musician, you're used to having to think creatively, and you're used to things never going quite according to plan. I've been incredibly lucky, and have received lots of great offers for big live-stream productions, and other things that certainly wouldn't have come my way if I hadn't been involved with this album.
What consequences have the strict infection control measures had for you?
We've been working with a team in England, Bright Dead Things, who had set up a release concert, and we had some plans over there. The release tour in Norway was cancelled/postponed. And the vinyl presses weren't in use, so the vinyl is delayed. But it's coming this week, so that's nice! I was also going to London for a week to work with some new producers, and start on the next album.
How have you been spending your time lately?
I've been in Ocean Sound for two weeks and recorded an acoustic EP, with some of the songs from Heart Echoes, which we'll be releasing in the fall. I've also made a lot of new songs with Ivan and Erlend. I'm actually well underway with the next release!
We have actually played concerts, and have booked several more this summer. Including Salt here in Oslo on June 23, and Moldejazz in July.
This week I signed with the label Arctic Rights! It's insanely cool. I've also made a song there with producer Fartein Orestad that I'm trying to get released this summer.
Now society is gradually opening up again, and in the next few weeks you will be physically on stage again. First in Ålesund, then Oslo, before Moldejazz. What can the audience who will see you this summer expect?
I'm pushing hard, and bringing a bigger band with an extra vocalist and percussionist. It was actually something I was planning to wait a bit. But now I'm so excited that the concerts will be like a big exclamation point, and I think the audience needs a little extra energy from the stage after these months!
You'll see a band with insanely good musicians, I'm once again "very lucky" to have this group with me!
What are you most looking forward to as everyday life becomes less and less characterized by restraint and limitations?
Taking Heart Echoes abroad! Playing concerts in England, Germany, and hopefully the USA eventually.
I'm also really looking forward to getting started with songwriting in collaboration with Arctic Rights. In addition to writing for Neon Ion, I've developed a great love for writing for other artists. So there will be more writing sessions in LA, and London, among others.
Now that you have embarked on a new chapter in your career, what do you look back on as a career highlight so far?
It is difficult to ignore the talent award from Moldejazz and Sparebank1, and the commissioned work concert I did there in 2017. That concert was very special to me. When you as a performer forget time and place, and end up in a trance together with the audience, then you are satisfied. I had with me some of the most exciting musicians I know from the European jazz scene, and it was an experience sublime in itself. The concert opened many doors for me, and we got to tour with that project for two years.
Do you have any major musical experiences – as listeners – that have helped shape you?
I remember that when I saw The Core at Teaterfabrikken in Ålesund, where I worked as a young man, something changed in me. I think that must have been the first time I experienced getting a “kick” from a concert. The next day I started borrowing all the jazz CDs at the local library, and I was completely absorbed. They had an insanely good selection of Norwegian jazz because of the purchasing scheme!
The other experience that recently kicked off Neon Ion was when I saw Little Dragon live at Vega in Copenhagen. But there was a mixed feeling that this is absolutely fantastic, and a panicky feeling that why on earth don't I just make this type of music??? This is what I want!
Finally – Can you give us a tip for a Norwegian artist you listen to a lot these days?
I've been lucky enough to have the test press of Hedvig Mollestad's new album in the house! It's coming out these days, and it's insanely cool! She's just the coolest person and musician walking around on two legs in this country, so that's how it is. I was lucky enough to have her as a feat at a major concert I did in Berlin last summer!