Natalie Hughes "Crowd of Creatures"

Natalie Hughes is an illustrator from Norfolk, England. She graduated in 2009 from the University of Gloucestershire and is currently looking to find a publisher for her children's book, she is also available for commissions  (nat@nataliehughes.co.uk). With TYT she speaks about her favorite creatures, never getting bored and why it is fun being allowed to act like a kid. 

http://www.nataliehughes.co.uk/

I adore your crowd of creatures. How do you create your favorite creatures? 

Natalie: Thank you so much! I start off by doing a bit of research.. looking at lots of photos, making a few sketches and getting an idea of its basic shape. Next I draw out the character in my own style, scan it in and add colour and texture using Photoshop. Since uni I've been collecting/creating scanned in textures which I collage together.

What is the best part about being an illustrator? 

Natalie: The best thing about being an illustrator is never being bored. I always have something to do and a new illustration to plan. The other best thing is being allowed to still act like I'm a kid...being an illustrator means you can use your imagination... writing stories and designing characters is always fun. I have a valid excuse for still reading children's books !

Where do you get your inspiration from? 

Natalie: Travel is my main inspiration. When I can't go travelling I day dream about travelling.. the thought of all the endless possibilities out there, all the different people,cultures and places to see. I'm really inspired by the natural world too.I had a really nice childhood surrounded by pets and trips to the countryside, I think this had a massive impact on me. When I need a bit of inspiration I watch movies..I'm obsessed with movies!

Do you have favorite illustrators you'd like to collaborate with? 

Natalie: I've got quite a few collaborations in the works..including a charity colouring book called the Oh GOSH Project.  Off the top of my head some mega talented illustrators who I'd love to work with are James Burlinson or Bart Aalbers . I'd love to collaborate with an animator too, it would be great to see my characters come to life! In my dreams I'd work with Shaun Tan or I'd go back in time and collaborate with Charley Harper or Edward Gorey!

Can you remember the first creature you ever illustrated?

Natalie: I can't really remember, but I do remember the first drawing I did which I was proud of. I did a drawing of a wicked witch, with shelves behind her piled up with bottles of colourful potions. I wonder if I still have it..... and I wonder if I saw it now whether I'd recognise any of my style in it!

http://www.nataliehughes.co.uk/

http://www.nataliehughes.co.uk/

http://www.nataliehughes.co.uk/

Olivia Broadfield "Always about the melodies"

I recently discoverd Olivia Broadfield's music. British singer/songwriter Olivia combines electro-pop and smart lyrics, her new album is due out in Spring 2011.  The singer/songwriter from England started piano lessons at age six, some of Olivia's natural abilities might have come from her maternal grandfather who played guitar in the swing-era. With tradeyourtalent Olivia speaks about her new album, being faithful to what she loves and why she would like to record a duet with Shakira. 

You have been working on your second album. What is your new album going to sound like? 

It's going to sound different, quite different, which scares me! You can't stay the same as an artist but you have to make sure that when you evolve, you try and keep the fans you just made. It's much more organic, the songs feel more like ermmm songs and nothing is hidden, there are still some big beautiful sounds, but they come from harps and strings, whereas on the first album they came from synths and pads. While it sounds different, I still wanted to stay faithful to what I love about writing, which is melody, always about the melodies.

What inspires you to your songs? 

Everything, nothing. I am asked this question a lot and as yet I am still trying to find an answer that truly reflects how I feel about writing. Songs can come to me from nowhere or from the deepest parts of me, so that it feels like they came from nowhere until I sit and reflect and think uh oh, is that really how I feel!? I try not to analyse the process to much for fear of losing its simplicity.

 When are you most creative? 

You mean time of the day...time of the month!? I think it's an as and when rule with me, I can write a song if someone asks me to, I can write a song if I'm a bit bored, or sometimes it's like an itch I need to scratch. It's a total mixed bag really, sun makes me creative, as does snow, day...night, happiness...sadness. That's not to say I walk round being super creative 24/7, some days it's like getting blood out of a stone!

When did you know you wanted to become a musician? 

Hmmm, when I started getting good at it! I always loved music but I think I was a nervous beginner, I always thought I was just alright until people started telling me otherwise, until TV shows started using my music, until I got a manager, until Vagrant wanted to sign me. I had the faith that I could be good but it took a while, believe me, I have some bad albums from when I was 19 floating around out there, my sister keeps threatening to sell them on ebay...sisters are kind of mean...

If you could record a duet with another artist, who would you choose? 

Shakira, Shakira! God I love her, she is just so brilliant and also totally random, "I feel abused like a coffee machine in an office"..."lucky that my breasts are small and humble so you don't confuse them with mountains"...I'm not sure I've ever truly made it until I can write like that! Plus she has nice hair...

Olivia Broadfield "Daydreams"

first single from her Olivia's new album due out in Spring 2011

http://www.oliviabroadfield.com/

Singer/Songwriter Helen Austin "Sing until your head feels light"

She hasn't always been performing popular music. Singer/songwriter Helen Austin from Middlesex, United Kingdom,  started out playing the flute at the national level. Helen just released her new Album "Treehouse". Her self-produced music videos get over half a million viewers online, recently her song "Love is" aired on the CW's famous One Tree Hill. She has also written songs for fundraising occasions such as "Relay" written to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay For Life event. With tradeyourtalent she speaks about her second career and how she creates her best songs.

What inspires you to your songs?

All sorts of things. I used to just write about my own experiences but that had potential to get me in trouble. So I started writing about characters from books and movies. A lot of the time I just sit down and start writing and see what words come out of my mouth and take it from there.

Has it been difficult getting to where you are now? 

Yes and No. This is my 2nd career, my first was as a stand up comedian, so I knew what to expect in the amount of work and time it takes to get a career going. But there is a lot of hard work and a lot of it is tedious administrative stuff. I am surprised I have got as far as I have in the last 2 years but I work really hard at this because I really want it to work.

When do you know, you've just finished a great song? 

When it writes itself. The ones that take a long time to write don't flow like the ones that I write in 30mins. Obviously there is some lyric tweaking but my best songs have come to me very quickly. And then there are surprises when people like a song that you thought was just ok.

If you could give advice to young artists with just a couple of lyrics, what would you sing to them? 

oooh... hard one... here's what I can think of now...

Write what you know

You'll feel it when it's right

Work until your hands hurt

And sing until your head feels light

How's that?

For more on Helen

Website: http://www.helenaustin.com   Blog: http://helenaustin.wordpress.com/