BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Natalya Aynsley is a Russian-born Australian pianist doing what we can’t get enough of: spreading the love for screen music.
And she’s drawing in quite the audience with her self-produced shows. After her popular Worlds Connected performance dedicated to Final Fantasy soundtracks, Natalya put on a show featuring Joe Hisaishi’s ridiculously magical Studio Ghibli scores — and it tours Australia in 2019-20.
We wanted to learn more about Natalya’s obsession with Japanese pop culture — and also get the scoop on her appointment as a Madman Anime Festival ambassador, and her hugely popular YouTube channel.
Natalya, you’ve spent much of your music career promoting the compositions we can hear in games and film — particularly Japanese media productions. Why do you like to play music that is written for the digital world?
The compositions for the digital media, especially the video game platforms, have really come into their own in the last couple of decades. The rapid advances in technology have allowed professionally recorded orchestral works and world-class musicians the chance to be exposed to a previously somewhat inaccessible demographic.
My concerts create an opportunity for these incredible compositions to be heard in a completely different setting, allowing the fans of these films and video games to experience their favourite music or a piece of childhood nostalgia amongst like-minded people.
We’ve had a chat about your Ghibli concert, which sounds like it was a huge success — and it’s toured throughout 2019-2020. What sorts of people turn up to listen to you, and what’s the vibe like at one of your shows?
My most recent concert Natalya Plays: Studio Ghibli – Chopin Style has definitely attracted a whole mixed bag in terms of demographic! There were Ghibli fans; there were Chopin fans; there were people who knew nothing about either, but came to my previous concert and loved it, so they decided to give this one a go. I also invited world-renowned Australian pianist Simon Tedeschi to come along — and he absolutely loved it!
I remember the vibe at my 2018 Worlds Connected video game concert, where people were very vocal — they laughed loudly, they applauded everything, and in general engaged a lot. This time around, the audience as a whole seemed a lot more reserved, so much so that I was sure they weren’t enjoying anything I was doing, at first! During intermission, I got a whole heap of text messages from friends saying how much they were loving the concert so far, as well as how much everyone around them was into it too!
I think most of the audience members didn’t quite know what to expect, and they certainly weren’t expecting me to get up and ask them questions as well as share my very strong opinions on the state of our planet. By the second act, everyone relaxed a bit, and they realised they had permission to laugh at my silly jokes and more than a handful of sarcastic comments.
As a pianist, what do you most hope your listeners will gain from hearing you play? Do you want them to hear you as a performer, or to visualise the films or games when you perform the soundtracks?
Most of the music I play wasn’t written for piano initially, so those who know the original piece might hear the underlying nostalgic melodies familiar to them and imagine the scenes this music leapt out of.
My hope is that, if the audience members are listening to this music for the first time, I can successfully convey the appropriate feeling to them. As I continue to develop my concerts conceptually, in the future I hope to work directly with the original producers of these films and video games.
While I am able to obtain the licence to perform this music legally, the strict copyright laws do not allow for any visual imagery usage. My goal within the next few years is to secure the rights to be able to show scenes directly from the original games and films, just like you can experience at an official Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy concert, for instance.
I think the visuals really add another layer, especially to those who have never seen the films or played the games. A picture is worth a thousand words, after all!
I’m interested in your YouTube channel, where you have a popular series of your own videos — filming yourself playing movie soundtracks. How did this all start? Have you seen a strong demand for piano arrangements?
My YouTube channel began by accident as a test video, playing a few seconds of a classical piece I knew to test the audio and video quality of my very first smartphone! I uploaded it to share with my friends on Facebook, and they asked for more.
A couple of videos later, I uploaded a beautiful piano piece from a little-known film called The Fountain — and almost overnight, I had a few thousand views. So that’s really how it all began.
My point of difference starting out was to play the music I liked, even if it wasn’t mainstream or hardly anyone has heard of it. Piano covers on YouTube are much sought-after, especially piano tutorials. I get asked to create tutorials time and again, but so far I haven’t really felt any passion to make them. As a result, my channel is nowhere near as popular as those that give the public exactly what they want. However, this way, I’ve been able to stay true to myself and be happy with the work I was consistently producing.
YouTube for me has really taken a back seat in the last couple of years since I started focusing on my real-life solo career. But moving forward, I would love to find a balance that works for me.
It’s very humbling and wonderful to know there are people on the other side of the globe who are affected by my music, and the positive comments and messages I get regularly are a testament to that.
In addition to your musical interests, you’re also a festival ambassador for Madman Anime Festival. (Congratulations, btw.) Talk us through what this means and what’s involved.
I contacted Madman a few months ago to discuss potential sponsorship opportunities for my future concerts, and they invited me to perform at the 2019 Madman Anime Festivals — starting with Melbourne in September, as a featured artist — and eventually appointed me as one of their festival ambassadors.
As someone representing the festival and ultimately the Madman brand, it essentially means creating social media awareness and excitement. Madman are very excited to have me perform on both days of the festival weekend, where I play a selection from my Studio Ghibli concert, as well as a couple of Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts favourites from my 2018 Worlds Connected concert.
What are your big dreams for the future of your career in the screen music industry?
My big dreams are quite big! Just one aspect of my career would involve doing these concerts, but on a larger scale: bigger theatres, a 100-piece orchestra, visuals, pyrotechnics (why the hell not?), dancers, singers — the list goes on.
On a more immediate and manageable scale, I’d like to look into international touring once I do a couple of national tours.
I’d love the opportunity to perform as a soloist with the official Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy and similar international tours, one day — great film composer tours such as Hans Zimmer’s concert, or Danny Elfman’s Music from the Films of Tim Burton. Any of those would be just lovely!
As a kid, I wanted to grow up to be a composer — specifically for video games. I’d love to go back to school and study composition so I can explore this passion I’ve always carried with me.
Before we let you go: what’s your favourite video game, and how do you make sure your hands aren’t tired after playing it and practising piano?
Kingdom Hearts has and will always be my favourite game of all time. Unless something even more amazing comes along, but let’s face it: Final Fantasy, Disney, and amazing music all rolled into one? That’s a tough gig to beat!
I only just got back to playing the latest Kingdom Hearts III after taking a few months off to practice for the Ghibli concert. My hands don’t really get tired playing the piano, it’s more the act of sitting up straight for hours on end with no back support that’s exhausting! Playing video games on the couch is definitely a little bit comfier.
I can’t wait for my first Adelaide Hills winter to be over, though, so I can practice piano without always having to thaw my hands in hot water first!
Images supplied.
