Meet Natalie Livingston | Singer/Songwriter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Natalie Livingston and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Natalie, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
To be honest with you, I was never intending to pursue my original music as a career. I’m a professional vocalist and musician, but writing came into the picture much later. During the pandemic, I had downtime for the first time in my life. I was staying at my parents’ house that summer. I’m from southeastern New Hampshire, about 30 minutes from the coast. My hometown has a population of 6,500 people. There are so many trees between everyone’s houses that we don’t even know our neighbors, and there’s not a single stoplight. We were so isolated, and it was exactly what I needed after ending a relationship that broke my soul to a point that made me unsure if I would recover. I spent all my time outside and went on endless drives to pick up ice cream from a little window at a local shop, listening to music and trying to process the past year and a half. That July, Taylor Swift released folklore and my world was changed. I fell down the hole of fan theories about the characters, cried to the lyrics and let my soul bathe in the production. I was so inspired. I lived in the world of that album for the whole summer.
I eventually had to go back to school in the fall for my senior year, but that musical inspiration continued to nag at me. I studied at a conservatory, so I was used to my day being entirely booked from sun up to sun down. But now I had all this time because our ensemble activities were at a halt. I found myself wanting to pick up my guitar for the first time in years. I played through my favorite folk and country albums. I jotted down ideas and felt my soul come back to life. One night it all came to me, lyrics and melody all at once standing at the sink in my kitchen. I pulled up my notes app and started a voice memo, and thus Crying Shame was born. I kept writing and writing over a few months and eventually showed everything to my brother, Justin, who studied at Berklee for music production and engineering. He asked me “what do you think about making an EP?” I said “I don’t know how to do that, but I’m in.” I graduated in 2021, spent the summer working on the EP with Justin and our collaborator Tyler DeTulleo. We recorded all the vocals in a closet in my parents’ attic and the instruments remotely.
I moved to New York in August, released the EP in October, and wrote music as a fun little side project. I produced a house show in my apartment with my friend Kelsey and played my original music for a live audience for the first time. I called my mom that night as I was cleaning up and confided in her. I told her about my desire to put my everything into music. I was definitely fearful, considering I knew nothing about doing this professionally other than the writing and performing aspects, but she encouraged me to go for it and both her and my dad have been the utmost supportive. From there I started playing my shows across venues in New York and never looked back.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Well, I’m not exactly sure how I ended up with musical talent to be honest with you! My parents aren’t musically inclined, but they are avid listeners. I can’t remember a time where music wasn’t playing in our house growing up. I was raised on 80s hairbands, classic rock, 2000s pop and country. I’m from southeastern New Hampshire, about 30 minutes from the coast. My hometown has a population of 6,500 people and there’s not a single stoplight. This is some real grassroots stuff here!

I think I’m most proud of the community I’ve built in New York, both personally and artistically. They keep me inspired. I’m super excited about something new I’m working on that I can tell you more about soon… what I can say is that I’ve been conceptualizing it for the past year and its finally coming to fruition. It’s nostalgic and feral and glittery. It’s killing me to keep it a secret right now! Stay tuned, especially towards the end of July!

I was never intending to pursue my original music as a career. During the pandemic, I had downtime for the first time in my life. I was staying at my parents’ house that summer. We were isolated, and it was exactly what I needed after ending a relationship that broke my soul. I spent all my time outside and went on endless drives to pick up ice cream from a little window at a local shop. I listened to music and attempted to process the past year and a half and the global crisis we faced. That July, Taylor Swift released folklore and my world was changed. I fell down the hole of fan theories about the characters. I was so inspired. I lived in the world of that album for the whole summer.

I eventually had to go back to school in the fall for my senior year, but that musical inspiration continued to nag at me. I jotted down ideas and felt my soul come back to life. One night it all came to me, lyrics and melody all at once standing at the sink in my kitchen. I pulled up my notes app and started a voice memo, and thus Crying Shame was born, the first song I ever wrote. I kept writing and writing over a few months and eventually showed everything to my brother, Justin, who studied at Berklee for music production and engineering. He asked me “what do you think about making an EP?” I said “I don’t know how to do that, but I’m in.” I graduated in 2021, spent the summer working on the EP with Justin and our collaborator Tyler DeTulleo. We recorded all the vocals in a closet in my parents’ attic and the instruments remotely. I moved to New York in August, released the EP in October, started playing my shows across venues in New York and never looked back.

One of the most important lessons I’ve been taught in life (and this career) is to laugh. Having a sense of humor has saved me. I laugh so I don’t cry! When we really look at life as a whole, most of our failures won’t be remembered by anyone, even ourselves. Thinking of my life thus far, there are few bad days I can remember. I must acknowledge my immense privilege in these statements. There are much greater issues going on in the world than a song not receiving as many streams as you’d hoped, or film from a cover shoot going sour. We’re allowed to express our feelings of defeat while also being grateful for the ability to bounce back.

I’ve also realized I am awful at being anything but myself! I’m not capable of being something I’m not. I am way too honest of a person. When I was younger, I used to act in plays and musicals, but I was so bad at it. Truly terrible! I didn’t, and still don’t, understand how to be something other than what I am. What you see on stage with me is what you get in real life too. I have no desire to be put on a pedestal; I just want to give respect to and be respected by those who choose to indulge.

I’ve spent a lot of time contemplating balance in this career too. Normally when we think of balance, we think of 50/50, or equal distribution, right? However, not everything is of equal weight. Some things take longer than others, some moments are more important or more urgent. One of my favorite stand-up specials, Jigsaw by Daniel Sloss, explains it perfectly, I highly recommend watching. There are going to be plenty of people who will exit your life due to your different balances. There will be people who don’t understand what you’re working on. A lot of people don’t like what they don’t understand. However, that balance is sacred to you. Everyone has their own balance they’re working on, and I know they wouldn’t like it if we came over and criticized them for putting a majority of their energy into the things they love, even if it seems delusional from the outside. No one has to understand the way we live our lives because it’s not for them, its for us! If they don’t like it, they can look away.

I’ve found the people who are most drawn to my music are the ones society sometimes sees as “too much,” which is usually women and queer people. Funny how we are always drawn to each other… We find each other where the music is blasting, the outfits are extravagant and the vibes are euphoric. I’ve spent my whole life disrupting people’s expectations of “normal” by just being myself. Why stop now? Putting on shows helps me facilitate meetings for the bold, dramatic, misunderstood. We know what it’s like to be an outcast, so we make sure that everyone who comes feels welcomed.

My shows have been named “The Melancholy Disco,” which is a place we go to celebrate life despite the challenges and misfortunes we face. As I interact with fans on social media leading up to the show, I remind them that even if they come alone, they will leave with new friends, and I am proud to say that’s how it always pans out! We slap on our platforms, paint on our glitter, and prepare to dance and sing the night away to feral anthems like Reuben. I always say “You’ll never, ever be lonely at the Melancholy Disco,” and I know the Disco Darlings would concur.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh my goodness, where to begin? Excuse my virgo as I get into this. What I always do when my friends come to visit New York is ask them what they want from the trip. Do they want to check out the city as a potential place to live? Do they want to have a restful weekend? Or do they want to be an absolute menace and go home with one thousand crazy pictures in their camera roll? To expose myself and my friends, we tend to lean towards the third option.

A day in Brooklyn: grab bagels and coffee at Nook in Williamsburg, the head to Urban Jungle by L Train Vintage for some thrifting. Definitely do not go in there with an empty stomach because you will be digging. Then, take a a little walk to Friends NYC, which is one of my favorite small businesses. There’s lots of cute kitschy stuff. Then I’d head back home for an afternoon pitstop (I live in Bushwick), have some lunch, and get ready to hit the town. I’d grab a slice at Roberta’s, go dancing at Elsewhere, and then finish the night off at Carousel, a bar that is something out of a 70s dream.

For a day in Manhattan: Central park is always a must. It’s a great mid-day activity. I also love taking people to the MET, especially if it’s spring and they like fashion because The Costume Institute is open at that time. If you’re looking to spend the day downtown, I often bring guests to the Friends Apartment (where they shot all the external footage, on Bedford Street in the Village) and watch the performers in Washington Square Park. For my Swifties, I’ll make sure we hit Cornelia Street, walk past Electric Lady Studios, go to Housing Works Book Store (where the All Too Well music video was filmed), and grab a drink at Lovers of Today, which is a bar that “Delicate” is rumored to be about. If you end up in the East Village, you can get the most life changing ramen at Ivan Ramen.

If you fancy a classy evening, I cannot recommend The Roxy enough. The Tribeca bar is part of a mid century-inspired sunken in lounge with sexy leather armchairs and couches, all facing a stage where you can be graced by the piano talents of Michael Garin. Grab a drink there, go across the street and have some of the city’s best Italian food at Petrarca, then head back to The Roxy for a show at The Django, a jazzn club downstairs that looks straight out of Paris, You will not be sorry!

Can you tell I’m a Virgo? Ha! This is barely scratching the surface of what New York has to offer.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There have been so many people that have supported me throughout my artistic journey! I must first and foremost give a special thank you to my parents. They are the most selfless people I know. Growing up they were at every show, even if it was a five minute performance in my school’s cafeteria. They’ve sacrificed so much to help my brother and I follow our dreams. Speaking of my brother Justin, he’s another very important person I need to shout out. Had it not been for him, I would have never recorded my music and been inspired to step into my most authentic self. Collaborating with him has been one of the greatest gifts of my life.

I must also shout out one of my voice teachers, Larry Raiken, for daring me to be great. Throughout college, my voice lessons were my saving grace every week. I could always count on Larry’s support. He believes in me so much. He is the Tony Bennett to my Lady Gaga. Not only did he teach me how to care for my instrument, but he taught me how to care for my soul. Not only is he one of the world’s greatest talents, but one of the world’s greatest friends.

I want to give a shoutout to some of my favorite artists–Taylor Jenkins Reid for writing books that have inspired me to write honestly, Maisie Peters for creating music that has become the soundtrack of my life, Daniel Sloss for sharing the same dark sense of humor as me and using it to challenge the way we view the world, ourselves and each other, and Amy Sherman-Palladino for imagining a woman as fabulous, fearless and funny as Midge Maisel. Without her, I’m not sure I would be nearly as unapologetic as I am now.

Lastly, I would like to thank the Disco Darlings for listening to my music, taking time out of their week and money out of their paycheck to come to one of my shows! I am so grateful to be a part of such a thoughtful, welcoming and generous community. I can’t wait for us to share one million more memories together!

Website: http://www.natalieplivingston.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natalieplivingston/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@natalieplivingston

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@natalieplivingston?lang=en

Image Credits
Alexa Jae Photography
Liana Glennon