A Conversation with Natalie Rushdie
Listening to Aled Jones and Russell Watson converse you can immediately sense a connection and friendship between the two. They have both been instrumental artists in the development of the classical crossover genre and have had careers most singers only dream about. In Natalie’s words to Aled, “I think every single person in the UK has grown up with your voice,” and it’s true, what’s a Christmas without ‘Walking in the Air’ anyways? Likewise, since Russell Watson exploded onto the scene with his album ‘The Voice’ he has continued to dominate; Classic FM named him the best-selling classical male singer of the last 25 years.
The conversation today is conducted by Natalie Rushdie a lovely soprano who is currently exploring the wonderful world of jazz. Natalie has met Aled before and has performed at some of the same venues as Russell.
“I was reading about you on Wikipedia today and I noticed that you did the Rugby league challenge cup as well and that was your big breakthrough,” she begins to Russell.
“If it’s on Wikipedia, it’s probably not true,” he interjects.
“Oh really? No!” Natalie exclaims.
“They’ve got nothing right, my place of birth, my date of birth, how many records I’ve sold, the year I released my first record…”
“He’s actually a baritone as well,” Aled chimes in.
“Yeah I am,” Russell agrees and immediately launches into “I was born on a wandering star…”
Natalie: Oh no! Cause I was thinking well, I’ve holidayed with Aled so I’ve got something in common with him and I was like what do I have in common with Russell? And now you’re telling me it’s not true.
Russell: No, I did sing at the Rugby Cup Final but it was two years after the release of the first record. Which Wikipedia says was 2001 but it’s actually the year before. Someone needs to put that right, I’ve just not got around to it.”
Natalie suggests changing his birthdate as well and they joke about Russell looking eighteen. “Well, he definitely acts like an eighteen-year-old,” Aled says and without missing a beat Russel counter’s, “Well you’d know all about that because you act like one as well.”
“Was it like this the whole time you were recording?” Natalie wonders.
“Uh.. no,” Russell says as they all laugh.
Aled assures, “As you know it’s always a bit more serious when you are recording.
We’ve only been on stage once together when we launched the new album and that was a hell of a lot of fun. It was just brilliant to be able to connect with someone else on stage as well. There were a lot of looks and a lot of laughter and also, I can see how excited Russ gets with the music and that, of course, rubs off on you as well. We’re both professionals, we both care about what we do. We both want to move people when we sing, so to be able to do it with someone else is great.”
“It’s good as well because you know, Aled’s a really funny guy and I’m even funnier so,” Russell says and Aled quickly dissolves into laughter.
Aled: “This is what I have to put up with now you know?”
It’s hard to pinpoint when and where they first met when Natalie questions them.
“Was it the Albert Hall?” Aled ponders.
After some consideration, Russell agrees. “I think it was in the Albert Hall, wasn’t it? Was it like the ‘Big Sing’ or ‘Remembrance’?”
“Yeah it was either the ‘Big Sing’ or ‘Remembrance’ or it was one of those Brits or something like that. I can’t remember. We spent quite a lot of time backstage in the ballroom in the Royal Albert Hall.”
After the initial meeting, they bumped into each other quite often. “It’s a relatively small group of us who do all of this sort of music,” Natalie remarks but it’s still a big change from when they started.
Aled: There’s more people doing it now than when we started 20 years ago. What do you think Rus?
Russell: Well, 18-20 years when we first started out there was probably a queue of maybe 2-3 and now there’s probably 2 or 3 different new ones appearing every week. Some of them work and some of them don’t. So, the original records that we made were kind of like the opening of the floodgates for a new kind of era of classical crossover artists but the great thing is that after all these years, me and him are still here. That’s a testament first of all to our fan base but also secondly, on both our parts, to business acumen. A lot of people coming into the music industry don’t realize that it’s not just about singing.
As an audience, we’ve watched Aled and Russell together many times on Songs of Praise and other events but when did the idea of ‘In Harmony’ come about?
Natalie: Did you know that you were going to bring out an album or were you literally like let’s just see if it goes anywhere?
Aled: If we were ever going to do it, we were always going to bring out an album. We’re both very similar in the fact that it’s all or nothing.
Russell: It was really quite an organic way I think that whole process came about. It wasn’t something that was preconceived and thought about for a great period of time by a record company.
Still the full story beings with a little bit of wine and, in keeping with our social era, a text.
Aled: Basically, Russell was celebrating Classic FM’s 25th birthday and Rus was like the biggest classical selling male artist… which of course upset me a lot.
Russell: I was at home and I got a text from Al, saying ‘Congratulations’ on the Classic FM thing and I said ‘Cheers pal thanks very much, what are you up to?’ ‘Just having a glass of wine’ and I said, ‘We should do something together at some point’ and he said, ‘That’s weird because your ears must have been burning because I was talking about that to somebody the other night. I think it would be great if we did something together’ and I said, ‘Actually, I think it would be great if we did something together. So, it was really an organic way.
Aled: We got to talking about how we’d always wanted to do this album but either his diary hadn’t allowed it or mine and should we go for it? And we said, ‘Yes.’ I think we had one meeting as far as music and stuff and the album was more or less set up wasn’t it Rus?
Russell: Next thing we’ve got a deal with a major label and are planning a massive tour in the United Kingdom and the records are flying off the Amazon charts. So, it’s all kind of happened quickly from a really quick conversation at the first quarter of the year. Within a few months, we’ve got a record made and a tour planned for next year. It really has been possibly one of the quickest whirlwind projects I’ve ever been involved with.
Natalie: How did you choose the songs. Did you have a sort of pick out of a hat? Or was it one song for you, one song for you…
Aled: No, there were songs that we knew we’d have to do together because we’d sung them so often on our own. Songs like ‘How Great Thou Art’ and ‘You Raise Me Up’ are both really important songs for both of us in our own way.
There were also new songs they’d never done before such as ‘Cinema Paradiso’.
Aled: I couldn’t’ believe that Russell hadn’t recorded that or ‘Here’s to the Heroes’ and equally I knew that he had sung ‘Volare’ millions of times and you know, I never thought in a million years that I’d record ‘Volare’ on an album’ and now I have and I love it.
Some of the songs were suggested to them by their teams.
Aled: There’s an absolutely gorgeous song called ‘May the Good Lord Bless and Keep you’ and I don’t know about Rus but I love it because when you hear it once it feels like a song that’s lived with you all your life… It’s a real mixed bag.
Russell: The hymn medley, in particular, is stunning. From the arrangement all the way through to the vocal harmonies that were written for the both of us. That to me comes out as one of the standout tracks. It’s really, really special. I’m very proud of this record.
The good-natured exchange of wits throughout the interview leads Natalie to joke, “How long did it take you to record the album? I can imagine like a year?”
“No, it was really fast,” Aled says.
“Ridiculously fast,” Russell confirms.
Aled: Probably the shortest time I’ve ever done for vocals, to be honest with you. Three days each wasn’t it Russ or something like that?
“That’s insane,” Natalie marvels.
Russell: I think I did half of the record in one night, and the other half took me about three nights. So, it was pretty quick. I mean thankfully, we’d both done our homework and we were prepped and ready to go. It also helped that the producer Ian Tilley (who actually Aled introduced to me for the first time on this record) is just an absolute professional and a real perfectionist and a great vocal producer as well. So that just meant that the whole process ended up being so much quicker than I’m used to because, I mean being honest, you know you mentioned a year, and I’ve had records in the past that, that have taken not far off that… I would generally normally say ‘Six weeks. What you want me to make a record in six weeks? Are you serious?’ But this one was like six days and it sounds as good if not better than most of the vocal productions I’ve put out. So, [I’m] very pleased.
Aled: It’s all down to having to do the work beforehand because what’s lovely about this record is that we don’t’ just sing a verse each and then join in unison at the end. There are loads and loads of intricate harmonies. There’s a song written especially for us by Sir Karl Jenkins and that took me about 2 days to learn it.
Russell: Two days is that all? That took me two years to learn!
Aled: When you actually hear the harmonies working together it was such a pleasant surprise – it was more than I expected it ever to be.
Russell admits to having doubts initially about the track. “When I first heard the track it obviously wasn’t complete and I thought, ‘I wonder if this is going to work’ and then when it was all done with music and everything put together… it’s like ‘yeah this is genius’.”
Natalie: Were you in the studio together at this point?
Russell: We were together on one or two occasions but predominately – it’s just not plausible for us to both be singing in the studio at exactly the same time.”
Aled: There was no time to be doing that on all the tracks. It was nice to do it on a couple but if we had had the luxury of more time then we might have hung out a lot longer… I’ve always been pretty quick in the studio. I don’t really like using the big flashy studios to record, I just find it puts loads of pressure on me. We both work in really small studios and that’s how we like it. It’s all about getting it done.
Still, even Aled can’t quite beat his younger self.
Aled: Although I pride myself on being quick now, I’m not as quick as when I was a kid. When I was a kid we’d go into a church and 4 hours later I’d have thirteen songs done. I’m not that quick anymore!
Natalie: It’s always interesting to listen and learn from your colleagues. I find that as a classical performer you’re always by yourself and then you have an orchestra behind. Do you find having two of you onstage that you’ve learned anything?
Aled: Russell’s a good mover. He moves a load more than I do on stage. And also, we’ve both realized we’ve been doing all the work all these years when it’s much easier when you just do 50 percent.
Russell: I tell you in all seriousness one of the things I noted from Aled, and I think it’s probably down to his training as a choirboy. His diction is so precise and so clear. I’ve picked up on quite a bit of that and thought I might just throw a little bit of this [in] myself rather than just keeping it so blended and smooth. I’ve started to emphasize a few words so that was one of the things I picked up from him straight away. As Aled will tell you I’m a natural mimic, so it won’t take long before I’ll be able to do his voice and my voice and I won’t need Aled for the next record.
Natalie: There are a lot of faith-based songs on this album. How important is that to you and do you feel that you gravitate towards a message that you’d want to leave with your audience?
Aled: Well for me, the moments always happen in the music as far as the spirituality or a connection. I always feel at home singing the music that I do – but that doesn’t just happen with hymns. I still feel that there’s something in pieces like ‘You Raise Me Up’ or so-called secular songs as well, even ‘Cinema Paradiso’ which is a love song. The way the music has been composed it has an impact on you and your soul so that’s what you then give to the audience. Those are the reasons that I sing, that’s what makes it special.
Russell: From my perspective, the value of faith to me was a key element of helping me get through certainly my second illness. I think there’s a point in your life where you can look at faith and particularly when I’ve had two seriousness illness of the type I’ve had, and think ‘Why me?’ you can move away from faith or you can be in a position when you say, ‘You know what, I really need my faith right now. I really need help now to get through this specific difficult time.’ That was heightened during that period of time. But also, further from that, I think something that Aled just touched on as well, it’s something that’s built in you. It’s something that you can’t teach at a music school. You’ve either got it or you haven’t – and that is, I think the connection from your soul to the music. It’s all well and good being able to read a piece of music note for note, and sing it on stage technically brilliantly and correct but if you can’t infuse that soul and that passion into the music that it sometimes requires, I don’t know what it is, but the audience somehow knows.
Aled: This sort of music, everything thinks it’s easy to sing but I think you have to be 100 committed to it.
Russell: In some respects, it is easy to sing, but it is very, very difficult to deliver.
Natalie: In addition to the album you are doing quite an extensive tour, how are you guys preparing for that? Are there any sort of secrets you can share with your fans – anything different that there’s are two of you on stage?
Aled: Well it’s going to be a lot of fun. The key for me is that when we are on stage together, for us anyways, it feels like there is a real electricity and energy. As far as I’m concerned, I just want people to come and laugh a lot but also cry good tears as well and go away feeling moved. As far as preparing for the tour it’s so far away that no preparation [is] needed yet. We’ve put a little down payment on a little caravan that we’re going to be driving around.
Russell: You’re driving during the night aren’t you and I’m driving during the day?
Aled: Yeah, that’s right.
This tour kicks off September 17th of next year. Until then, Aled will continue his work as a radio and television presenter for Classic FM, BBC Radio Wales, and Songs of Praise. While Russell is finishing up his ‘Canzoni D’Amore tour.’
“We’ve got another 20 odd concerts left this year,” Russell says and then it’s time for a well-deserved rest. “I’m going to be focusing on seeing this year out and then having a really long, and long-awaited rest through the end of December, through January and February where I’m going to do absolutely nothing.” He’s ready to spend some time at home saying, “I don’t want to go anywhere.”
Aled: The show that we’re going to put on is going to be all singing and all dancing. It’s going to be a big show so we are going to invest a hell of a lot of time.
Natalie: Are you going to be dancing Aled?
Aled: Of course, we’re going to be dancing! Yeah.
Russell: Yes, we’ve got a strictly routine planned out and everything. Although Aled’s agreed that he’s doing the lifts.
Aled: I better get in the gym!
Natalie: How do you continue to develop your talents, do you both still have vocal coaches and how do you maintain good vocal health on the road?
Russell: I have a vocal coach and I see her when I can basically. She was around several weeks ago helping me get prepared for all the intricate harmonies that we had for the record. So, I used her for that making sure it was all right, and that I was figuring out all the right blends of voice and all the rest of it.
The coach is especially valuable after night after night on tour when bad habits can easily take root and notes that were easy suddenly take a bit more effort.
Russell: I just go on quickly visit my coach and she says “Oh you’re not doing this” or “You’re not doing that” and just clear something up more quickly. Vocal hygiene is a key element for me. Especially with the kind of material I’m singing which is kind of that high wire tenor stuff, that is really bloody taxing, especially when you are doing a 2-hour show of that type of repertoire and you’re doing 3-4 concerts a week. So vocal hygiene and looking after is really crucial. One of the biggest pieces of advice I give to any singer is, make sure the vocal folds are correctly hydrated. So, loads and loads of water during the day.
Natalie: You both have accomplished so much throughout your career, and I’m sure you’ve been asked this many times before, is there anything else you would like to do and you haven’t done?
Russell: I’ve had such a blessed music career for such a long time [that] there’s nothing really that I’m aspiring to. I think more than anything I just want to sustain and maintain my voice; keep the voice nice and strong and keep on doing what I’m doing. I’ll be happy with that.
Aled: For me, that’s a tricky one, I don’t really like planning ahead in that way because it sometimes leads to disappointment. I will say, I would like the album to do well here and then see where else we can take it. There’s already talk of us going out to Australia to tour. I’d love to have a crack at the US – I think we’d have a lot of fun there. But you know let’s just take one day at a time really. I’m so proud of the album and I’m just really looking forward to spending time with Rus on stage or television.
Ticket Details
https://InHarmony.lnk.to/TourPR
Aled’s Official Website: officialaledjones.com
Russell’s Official Website: russellwatson.com
Interview with many thanks to Natalie Rushdie, Corinna Ingram, and Kathryn nash
Natalie Rushdie
Known for her stunning classically-trained voice, last Summer Natalie debuted a new musical direction when she performed a series of sold-out concerts at Live at Zédel with a set that paid tribute to the great divas of Broadway and the West-End from Doris Day to Ella Fitzgerald and Judy Garland. This success was swiftly followed by an astonishing performance of The Long & Winding Road accompanied by a 76-piece orchestra at the world-famous London Coliseum which the 2300 strong audience rewarded with a standing ovation. Natalie counts members of the Royal Family among her many fans and she works closely with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme – regularly appearing at Buckingham Palace, St James Palace and Holyrood Palace with HRH Prince Phillip to make speeches and present the Gold awards.
Learn more at natalierushdie.com