MC Tali does it her own way, writes Siena Yates

MC Tali is doing things her own way, writes Siena Yates

WAITING SEVEN

years between releases is a huge risk for any artist, but it’s an even bigger risk when you’re one of the few women in your genre and the only woman from your country doing what you do.

Yet Taranaki’s MC Tali, whose real name is Natalia Sheppard, has done exactly that in an effort to ensure her music is more authentically her.

Tali has been a staple in the New Zealand music industry and the international drum and bass scene for nearly 20 years and was the genre’s first female artist to land the cover of DJ Magazine.

She’s also about to release her first drum and bass album in seven years. Why the wait? Because Tali simply refused to be rushed.

“I wanted the process to feel really organic and for the next [album] I made to be one that was uncompromising and 100 per cent me,” she says.

On her last album, Keta, she says “the truth and honesty of who I really am was coming out” and she wanted to continue exploring a more moody, cinematic and “deep” sound.

With her album Love & Migration — out tomorrow — she says “it feels really right and I feel like I’ve done the music, and myself, justice by waiting seven years. This is my time.”

It’s not the first time Tali has risked losing her fan base with an extended absence — she left New Zealand to take on the London D&B scene in 2001 and when she returned 10 years later, she had to woo a new generation of fans.

But this time around there is less pressure, simply because she no longer feels there’s anything left to prove.

“I’ve done my yards and earned my stripes, I’ve had my frickin’ MeToo moments and I have slogged my guts out for my gender and for the music that I love and for my country, and regardless of whether that’s a commercial success or an underground success, to me, I don’t have anything to prove,” she says.

As far as she knows, Tali remains the only female D&B artist in New Zealand — save for one or two starting out. She’s also one of the few women in the genre worldwide who is still actively releasing records.

Which is why her mission now is to bring up more women to follow in her footsteps. To that end, she teaches part-time at Sylvia Park School, mentors at schools through the New Zealand Music Commission and gives private lessons and mentoring at her home.

“I’ve been doing this 18 years, I’m tired now. I wanted to bring other female artists through because I never had someone who could guide me or show me what to do or how to do it. You know, [men] try, but they really cannot give you the perspective for certain situations.”

And she says drum and bass, in particular, is still the thing that “gets my juices flowing”.

“The All Blacks run out on the field to Shapeshifter, and when kids go to festivals, who’s headlining, you know? Drum and bass just seem . . . universal — all ages, races, sizes, it doesn’t matter what you’re into or who you’re into, you have a place.”