Interview: Natalie Pa’apa’a of Blue King Brown

Hi Natalie. What’s going on?
Today I’m excited to be involved in the filming of a little documentary for an anti-nuclear weapon movement. That’s what’s going on!

Tell me about that.
Basically, there’s a small crew who are putting this documentary together that chronicles the history of the nuclear weapon industry. At the moment they’re getting some artists in to add their voices about the nuclear issue. This is something that I am passionate about being informed about and through Blue King Brown we’re trying to raise awareness of many of the negative side effects of nuclear power. Australia is one of the biggest exporters of uranium in the world, and that uranium can be used to manufacture nuclear weapons, which, as we all know, are the most dangerous weapons on the planet.

Sounds like you’re rehearsing for the documentary!
Ha! We’re planning to talk for a while, so hopefully some of that will make it into the documentary.

I saw you give a similar spiel on [ABC TV’s] Q and A a couple of weeks ago. What was that experience like for you?
It was a great show. It was a really good experience for me because it was my first time being on a show like that. I was quite nervous beforehand thinking about being up against – or on the panel with – all of these people who appear regularly on TV shows. The turning point for me was when I realised that I actually do speak publicly quite a lot in this band and as a socially conscious musician. I found that once we started rolling I had the courage to voice my opinion on a lot of really important issues and I was so grateful for the opportunity to share my thoughts. Knowing that my thoughts are a reflection of the broader conscious community was a big part of that, and I very much wanted to speak about these issues on their behalf.

We’re lucky to have a program like that in Australia. It’s incredible that people like me can get on a panel and talk to our representatives and politicians and ask them the hard questions face-to-face, knowing that they have to answer. It’s a very democratic show – that kind of thing doesn’t happen in many countries.

Was it confronting to come up against people who disagreed with you?
No! Not at all. That’s the exciting part, because the opportunity to talk through issues is so important. I’m never a closed book when it comes to my opinion: I really like to hear what other people think and to be able to talk to them about it and then to have suggestions as to why they might consider thinking about it differently.

I heard you refer to yourself as a socially conscious musician a minute ago. Would you care to elaborate?
When we started out we were never going to be a band with a message. It wasn’t a pre-meditated thing at all. But when I put pen to paper, this is what comes out of me: it’s what I think about and what I’m passionate about. For me it’s who I am, and it’s who I’m going to be. At the same time, I don’t think that just because you’re a musician you have to be like me. You need to be true to yourself and your art and your inspiration.

What’s going on band-wise?
We’re in the studio at the moment. We’re having a writing period. We just got back from three month’s tour, so now that we’re home we’re mainly focusing on writing. It’s been a great start to the year. Now we’re only playing a small handful of shows, including Island Vibe, and we’re going to go to New Zealand for New Years Eve. But it’s all about the writing right now.

It was a long time between your first two albums. Can we expect a similar wait between two and three?
It was important for us to take our time between the first two albums. We went into the studio with the intention of writing and releasing an album in six months, but at the end of that period it wasn’t ready. We don’t want to bother ourselves with timelines, because once you release something you can’t take it back. Who knows for the timeframe for the next album. We just want to be happy with it!