Celebrity Interview - Natasha Hamilton - Comments

Natasha Hamilton

Poster: Annabel Milnes-Smith 01/06/2006

FORMER ATOMIC KITTEN NATASHA HAMILTON TALKS TO ANNABEL MILNES-SMITH ABOUT HER ROLLER-COASTER RIDE BACK INTO THE LIMELIGHT.

When interviewing a celebrity who has well and truly conquered the cut-throat music business, it can sometimes be rather daunting. However, once in a while the journalist is not only overwhelmed by such raw and un-debatable talent, but also relieved not to have the task of battling with a prima donna attitude that often accompanies star status. How refreshing! Natasha Hamilton is, without a doubt, as down to earth as they come. For young, aspiring pop wannabes, Tash - as she is fondly known - has inspired many to realise their dreams. After taking the courageous decision to leave the safe enclaves of the chart-topping pop band Atomic Kitten to concentrate on her family, she has recently exploded back onto the scene. This came about after she appeared on BBC1's Just the Two of Us, which pairs celebrities with famous artists to compete in a duet singing showdown. Tash was paired with Holby City actor Mark Moraghan and the pair came second.
Says Tash, "All of a sudden, after a couple of years of bringing up my beautiful sons Josh and Harry, I was all of a sudden thrown back into the spotlight, partnered with the gorgeous Mark Moraghan. We had such a laugh on the show and I really did not want it to end, but making it all the way to the final was a really unexpected thrill, and I wouldn't swap the experience for the world. I've now re-found my passion for music and am dying to get back to work." To the sheer delight of her millions of fans, Natasha, as we have recently discovered, is now embarking on a career as a solo artist.
"I have just recorded a dance track called The Way You Move, which hopefully will be huge hit in all clubs all over Europe this summer, and in two weeks time I am going to record the video. It should be really funky and has lots of graphic styles on it, and is very fashion orientated. It's all very exciting. It's like my first official solo project. It's going to be lots of fun. I am really looking forward to it."
Natasha has well and truly thrown body and soul back into her music but what, we wonder, has become of her former band members?
"Liz is concentrating on her solo career. A couple of months back she had a top-five hit with Woman in Love. She's doing really well at the moment and promoting that all around Europe. Jenny has been doing a lot of television work, including a documentary for the BBC which is about the history of breasts..." (she says this with a schoolgirl giggle).
Natasha loves the Costa del Sol and has recently returned home after a well-earned break. Does she have any plans to perform here?
"Hopefully I will, as I am releasing this dance track. I should have a lot of PAs lined up in nightclubs throughout the summer."
One wonders, with Natasha's return as a solo artist, how she manages to juggle her time between performing and motherhood.
"Some days it is quite hard, but I have got a lot of help around me. My Mum and Dad do a lot of babysitting whilst I am at work, and because my Mum works in a school, she is always there at the same time that Josh is in school, so it kind of works really well. My best friend Keely also helps out a lot."
Unbelievably, with two children and a highly successful career behind her, Natasha is still only 23. Born in Liverpool she grew up in the Kensington area, and the City was well and truly cast into the limelight through the soap Brookside. I asked Natasha if she thought it depicted their way of life.
"No I wouldn't say it did at all. I think Brookside was very tongue-in-cheek. Let's face it, it was a fictional place, and they loved to dramatise a lot of events and situations."
Her love of singing and performing was initially inspired by the great Barry White. She joined Atomic Kitten, aged just 16. The band signed their first deal a year later and soon rose to fame with their debut hit Right Now hitting the top-10 in December 1999. It took another 13 months of hard work before the band released their worldwide smash hit Born Again. That was followed by huge success with a string of hit singles, two UK numbers ones and three albums. They also became the face of MTV Asia for 12 months, while collecting the first of many international awards.
At the beginning of 2004 Natasha realised that she was totally exhausted. Five years of 18-hour days and relentless travel was beginning to take its toll. Wisely, after much soul searching and endless discussions with her fellow band members, she decided to take a break. In April 2005 she prepared to return to her musical career, and began writing and recording her first solo songs. Since that time, it has become obvious that she is a force to be reckoned with.
Even though Natasha never seems to stop for second, going from one studio to another while also caring for her family, she still finds time for her charity work.
Recently named as the face of Fairy Non Bio, she is leading a national campaign - known as "Special Cuddles for Special Care Babies" - to fund the first-ever UK research into the psychological benefits of skin-to-skin care, a bonding technique particularly beneficial for mums with premature babies. The skin-to-skin-care method is simple and involves placing the baby in an upright position against a mother's bare chest. It is proven to have physical benefits for the baby, including an effective way of stabilising a baby's temperature and regulating breathing. It also helps a baby's cognitive, behavioral and motor development.
Natasha believes skin-to-skin care could play a vital role in helping mums to bond with their babies. Her son Harry was born a few weeks early and she understands how anxious mums can feel when they are not able to have physical contact with their baby straight away.
"It's a natural feeling for a mother to want to hold her baby after giving birth, and it can be very traumatic if a baby is taken away to be cared for in a special care baby unit. Skin-to-skin care is a simple but essential method and is beneficial for both mum and baby. It can help children establish a relationship with their mum and potentially build bonds with others in later life. I am so proud to be able to support the Fairy Non Bio campaign to try and make this more common practice in UK hospitals."
So what does the future hold for Tash? "I think the future will be quite bright. This year has been really productive. I have also just recorded my first solo album, which will be released in September. It is more like funky soul. Lots of heavy, fat guitar riffs, and bass guitar riff playing. It has really stretched my voice. The change in the way I sing has come along through natural progression. I started with Atomic Kitten, which was lots of pop music, but I have now grown up a bit more now, and funky soul has always been my passion. It just seemed the right way to go." For Natasha it certainly was the right way to go. Her spectacular and rapid return to the industry as a solo artist, together with the release of her debut album, will undoubtedly see the former Atomic Kitten once again back at the top of the charts - which she so richly deserves.

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