Interview by Carol Wright | Photographer: Nick Pumphrey
Nathan Ball is a singer-songwriter with a clear perspective. He does not make music for fame but because of his love for it, and that has allowed listeners to flock to his emotional and introspective songs. Ball talked to NYOTA about his EP Lost Track of Time, going on tour with Faithless, and his advice for aspiring singers.
Cornwall is known for its beaches, castles, and pasties, among other things. Living there, does the connection to nature help you feel more connected to your creative and musical side?
Cornwall is a special place, for sure. It’s an unbelievably inspiring little corner of the world. The landscapes, the storms, the people- it’s hard not to feel inspired by them all. I think that’s probably why so many creative people live down here. It’s definitely played a huge part in my songwriting and has influenced my latest EP in a big way.
Was it common to see people playing instruments or performing around where you grew up?
Not really, to be honest. At school, a lot of people were performing and starting to form bands, but I wouldn’t say I was surrounded by it while growing up. I picked up a guitar when I was about 13 and formed a band with some mates pretty much straight away.
When you’re working on a song do you start with the instrumental or the lyrics first?
It depends really, usually the instrumental kicks things off, but sometimes I’ll have a lyric idea in mind which dictates the instrumental and the direction the song is going to go in.
Tell our readers about your EP, Lost Track of Time. What story is the project telling?
There’s a lot of themes running through the EP, there’s stories of love, loss and hopefulness. I never really think about the themes of it until after, I was walking around Brighton before a show the other day and listened to the EP in full and felt like it’s a bit of a rollercoaster. “Cover to Cover,” “Rise Up Again” and “Lover’s Game” feel like they come from a place of heartbreak but then “Stateline” feels very hopeful and touches on the innocence of youth and young love.
I love the lines “Stood by the old sign and I found an / old line I’d written for you” in your song “Stateline.” When you’re on tour do you often find yourself thinking of the memories certain spots hold as you travel place to place?
Absolutely. I’ve become fascinated by the feeling of nostalgia and feel like I attach emotive feelings to certain places, then when I’m listening to a song or writing a song, it immediately transports me back to that place and that feeling. I think that’s why Stateline feels like such a special song for me, as I wrote it whilst on tour with some friends in Australia last year and every time I sing it I can feel every feeling I was going through at the time on that tour.
The last song you released before the full EP came out was “Rise Up Again.” Why was it important for you to get out that message of hope and resilience?
“Rise Up Again” feels like a really important one for me, as it’s a song about a friend of mine who was going through a really tough time. It was written through the feeling of wanting to let him know I was there for him, but also the fact that in order to get through that dark patch he was going through, it was something he kind of needed to take on himself. It’s definitely a song of hope for me as he made it through and is in a much better place now, but it’s hard seeing people you love go through things like that.
Has being on tour with Faithless given you a new appreciation for your music and how it can connect with audiences?
Yeah for sure, I’ve learnt so much from being on tour with them and being surrounded by such incredible musicians. The main thing for me is seeing what connects with the audiences in such a huge way and gets me thinking about which parts of certain songs of mine take the audience to a different place. The most interesting thing for me is that both mine and Faithless’ music is very emotive, but it’s played in such a different style and I’ve loved the experience of seeing thousands of people sing along to every word and jump for about an hour and a half!
What advice do you have for aspiring singers?
Just write songs that mean something to you and don’t go chasing what you think might be a hit. The songs I get to sing every night on tour all mean so much to me and it gives me the greatest joy being able to sing them to other people and seeing what they mean to them. Also just enjoy it, it’s the greatest job in the world so don’t put too much pressure on it.
This story first ran in Issue 38: The Music Issue. Read more from the issue here.
