Natalie Tena
Molotov Jukebox are a self-described 'Gypstep' band fronted by actress Natalia Tena (best known for her role at Tonks in Harry Potter).
Combining a huge rage on influences from jazz and reggae to rock and dubstep, the band are truly unique, fronted by Natalia and her accordian.
We recently caught up with the star, and chatted about Harry Potter, the band's career, balancing that with acting and much more.
-Molotov Jukebox's new single 'Get Ready' is out next month. Are you excited to get it out there?
Yeah man! We did a live video version of it a few weekends ago. Remember that Sunday when it was boiling? We were at the Old Queen's Head, and we were so hot! We basically had to take off most of our clothes, we were sweating so much. I think it's going to be good.
-Earlier this year you also released your Double Dare EP. How's the reaction been to that?
I think it's been really good. The thing is, there were some things that we learnt from the last EP that we're hoping the new one that we're recording soon will be much better! That's what I think - that EP was a learning curve, you know what I mean?
-Yeah. So, has work begun on the follow-up?
Yeah, I think's gonna be really good. [Laughing]I'm quite excited!
-Is there any news on when we can expect that, or is it just whenever it's done?
You know what, I'm not sure yet, cos we're still thinking about when to do it. We're hopefully going to do a tour in Brazil in January, so at the moment we're working on that, getting us flown over. We went there last year, and we did a tour that was kinda unplanned - but it worked! They loved us there, man, they went for it.
This year, we're hoping it'll be a bigger, better tour. During that cold month of January when everyone's doing resolutions, no-one's got any money and nobody goes out, in that dead month we can go out, be hot and get our vibe back.
-Is it surreal that you'll be heading to Brazil for the second time, when you haven't really broken here on the same level?
I mean, it is strange, but it's good to do two things. During the cold months in England when it's a bit deader - especially for acting too with my acting stuff - it's good to use that month. Rather than just sit around - go somewhere and write music somewhere else.
-Well it's been a great year for you already, with the Glastonbury show this summer. How was it getting to play such a legendary festival?
[Laughing]It was chaos! I mean, it was amazing, but we had six gigs over four days! This Glastonbury, unfortunately, was very rainy and muddy. My Glastonbury consisted of a lot of walking in the mud, and carrying a lot of equipment. I remember it being very knackering.
My favourite was the last stage, the closing of the festival really, at the Hub, the big ball, at 4 in the morning. That was a very insane gig. There were lots of crazy people there, the dregs of the entire festival having it.
-Also this year, you've been nominated for the Best Breakthrough Artist at the UK Festival Awards.
[Laughing]I know man, I can't believe it. I mean, we are the underdogs. The fact that we've been nominated is quite a massive thing for us, just cos of the other artists on that - Jessie J, XX. If we win, I don't know what I'm gonna do - I'll have to jump around a lot. I dunno, maybe punch myself in the face - I'll be so excited!
-It must be amazing to see yourself being named alongside the likes of Jessie J and Ed Sheeran.
Yeah, especially as these people are very much in our musical eyesight, and they've done a lot of main stages. We did one this year, in Kendal, but other than that, we haven't done all the main stages like a lot of them have.
-Kendal Calling does seem to give great opportunities to acts breaking through, do you agree?
Yes, definitely! I love Kendal, it was great. Actually, all the festivals that we know and love this year were very rainy, like Glastonbury and Secret Garden.
Kendal, which is in the North so you'd expect it to be cold and wet, was beautiful. It was so lovely! We played at 5 or 6 in the afternoon, and people were just sitting, picnicking. By the end of our set, we had a massive crowd dancing - that made my day really.
-From what I've heard, your sound seems to take influence from 2 Tone ska, reggae, that kinda scene. Is that something you embrace in your sound?
Yeah, I think so, but I don't think we've really thought about it to that kinda degree. I think it was more that we just wrote stuff that we liked, and different people in the band brought their own stuff. We don't sit down to make "this kinda song", it's just "Oh, this sounds good - can we try that." It's a melting pot really.
-A lot of people will know you mainly from your film career. Have you noticed any crossover yet, or is it not quite at that stage?
A little bit, because I had a film come out recently called You Instead, and that was done in four and a half days at T in the Park last year. I played the lead singer of the band, and co-wrote all the music.
So, there was a crossover there, cos I was kinda playing myself, cos I was a singer in the band doing festivals. It was great to be able to write music that was really different from my band.
It was almost easier, because when you're writing for your band there's always that pressure you won't to get it right so it's a bit scary. When you're writing music for another band, a fake band, and it had to be so rock, I had a lot of fun writing that kinda music.
-How's your career going in terms of the acting then?
Oh, it's good man, really good at the moment. I'm doing the second series of Game of Thrones, so I'm trying to balance that.
Soon I'm going to be doing a mocumentary, a small independent film called Super Bob. It's kind of a comic book vibe, and I love graphic novels so much. So, it's great - I get to do something I love!
-Has it been hard trying to balance the music and acting careers so far?
Yeah. It is, but then there's people that are amazing. My manager and agent are amazing, and my publishers as well. Trying to work those together, I've got a really good team that communicate really well with each other, me included. We all try to see where we can fit everything.
-To date, your most famous performance is probably as Tonks in Harry Potter. You didn't actually read the books beforehand, so did you grasp the enormity of it all?
No, I really had no idea! I finally read the Harry Potter book that I was auditioning for, the fifth one, after the third audition, when I finally understood what the hell was going on.
After that, I devoured all the books and the movies. I was like...wow! I can't believe I blagged getting this!
The same thing happened with Game of Thrones. I finished the first series, and when I went to Brazil I took all five books - there's four actual books, but the third is split into two. I was like...this is epic, I can't believe it.
You're kind of wondering, you know, is my character going to die, will they kill people?
-With those two, after you read them, did you think the portrayals were accurate?
The thing is, you do have a bit of license. I've noticed with both of them, you have to edit things. There's so many character in both things, you can't always put all of them in. If you do, they're only there in little bits, and other characters sometimes get given much more, but that's just the way it is.
-You've also done a lot of stage acting. Is being in that live environment something you enjoy, both in music and acting?
Yeah, definitely! With making a film and recording, I'm definitely getting better with age. When I was 19, I was so restless! I was always on my toes, cos there's so much waiting.
Then, as you get a bit older, you realise that you have to pace yourself - it's a process, and it's fine. That's why there's always been an instant love for the immediate performance vibe.
There's the intense rehearsal, then the intense show, where you get the instant feedback. Well, something bad things can happen, whatever - it's insant, whereas the filming and recording is more of a process. It's worth putting the love in cos then you get this amazing finished product, hopefully.
-Looking ahead, you have some support dates with The Kooks?
I haven't even thought about that - I'm going to Milan tomorrow! There's so much going on, I can't believe it's actually tomorrow. We'll get up at some immorally wrong time and go to Milan. We'll get ready to do a big gig, we'll be totally overwhelmed!
-How do you think your music will go down with their fanbase?
I think it will work. It's that two-way thing - obviously, we're quite different to them. But then, you see a lot of bands where they have a support act that's a bit like them, but a bit crapper. Have you noticed that?
It's kinda like a watered down version of what you'll get later. I think what's fun is having something that's completely different that's enjoyable anyway. So hopefully, even though they're going for a certain type of music, they'll still be able to dance and jive with us.
-What we can we expect from Molotov Jukebox in 2012 then?
Hopefully world domination! That's the plan, obviously. I want to do a tour, a European tour, massively. I want to do a UK tour, cos we've done the festivals.
They're good, a great medium to get your music out there, but a lot of people at festivals are off their faces. They stumble into your music half way through, and never hear the name of your band - sometimes you miss out on that.
Actually doing a tour with another band around England, and getting the real vibe of different towns and venues, that would be so massively, beautifully helpful.
-Well, best of luck with the world domination!
I need it, man. I need all the luck I can get.
-Thank you for taking the time to chat to me.
Thanks for ringing, man. Loads of love!
Female First - Alistair McGeorge
Molotov Jukebox are a self-described 'Gypstep' band fronted by actress Natalia Tena (best known for her role at Tonks in Harry Potter).
Combining a huge rage on influences from jazz and reggae to rock and dubstep, the band are truly unique, fronted by Natalia and her accordian.
We recently caught up with the star, and chatted about Harry Potter, the band's career, balancing that with acting and much more.
-Molotov Jukebox's new single 'Get Ready' is out next month. Are you excited to get it out there?
Yeah man! We did a live video version of it a few weekends ago. Remember that Sunday when it was boiling? We were at the Old Queen's Head, and we were so hot! We basically had to take off most of our clothes, we were sweating so much. I think it's going to be good.
-Earlier this year you also released your Double Dare EP. How's the reaction been to that?
I think it's been really good. The thing is, there were some things that we learnt from the last EP that we're hoping the new one that we're recording soon will be much better! That's what I think - that EP was a learning curve, you know what I mean?
-Yeah. So, has work begun on the follow-up?
Yeah, I think's gonna be really good. [Laughing]I'm quite excited!
-Is there any news on when we can expect that, or is it just whenever it's done?
You know what, I'm not sure yet, cos we're still thinking about when to do it. We're hopefully going to do a tour in Brazil in January, so at the moment we're working on that, getting us flown over. We went there last year, and we did a tour that was kinda unplanned - but it worked! They loved us there, man, they went for it.
This year, we're hoping it'll be a bigger, better tour. During that cold month of January when everyone's doing resolutions, no-one's got any money and nobody goes out, in that dead month we can go out, be hot and get our vibe back.
-Is it surreal that you'll be heading to Brazil for the second time, when you haven't really broken here on the same level?
I mean, it is strange, but it's good to do two things. During the cold months in England when it's a bit deader - especially for acting too with my acting stuff - it's good to use that month. Rather than just sit around - go somewhere and write music somewhere else.
-Well it's been a great year for you already, with the Glastonbury show this summer. How was it getting to play such a legendary festival?
[Laughing]It was chaos! I mean, it was amazing, but we had six gigs over four days! This Glastonbury, unfortunately, was very rainy and muddy. My Glastonbury consisted of a lot of walking in the mud, and carrying a lot of equipment. I remember it being very knackering.
My favourite was the last stage, the closing of the festival really, at the Hub, the big ball, at 4 in the morning. That was a very insane gig. There were lots of crazy people there, the dregs of the entire festival having it.
-Also this year, you've been nominated for the Best Breakthrough Artist at the UK Festival Awards.
[Laughing]I know man, I can't believe it. I mean, we are the underdogs. The fact that we've been nominated is quite a massive thing for us, just cos of the other artists on that - Jessie J, XX. If we win, I don't know what I'm gonna do - I'll have to jump around a lot. I dunno, maybe punch myself in the face - I'll be so excited!
-It must be amazing to see yourself being named alongside the likes of Jessie J and Ed Sheeran.
Yeah, especially as these people are very much in our musical eyesight, and they've done a lot of main stages. We did one this year, in Kendal, but other than that, we haven't done all the main stages like a lot of them have.
-Kendal Calling does seem to give great opportunities to acts breaking through, do you agree?
Yes, definitely! I love Kendal, it was great. Actually, all the festivals that we know and love this year were very rainy, like Glastonbury and Secret Garden.
Kendal, which is in the North so you'd expect it to be cold and wet, was beautiful. It was so lovely! We played at 5 or 6 in the afternoon, and people were just sitting, picnicking. By the end of our set, we had a massive crowd dancing - that made my day really.
-From what I've heard, your sound seems to take influence from 2 Tone ska, reggae, that kinda scene. Is that something you embrace in your sound?
Yeah, I think so, but I don't think we've really thought about it to that kinda degree. I think it was more that we just wrote stuff that we liked, and different people in the band brought their own stuff. We don't sit down to make "this kinda song", it's just "Oh, this sounds good - can we try that." It's a melting pot really.
-A lot of people will know you mainly from your film career. Have you noticed any crossover yet, or is it not quite at that stage?
A little bit, because I had a film come out recently called You Instead, and that was done in four and a half days at T in the Park last year. I played the lead singer of the band, and co-wrote all the music.
Tagged in Harry Potter