So You Think You Can Dance’s Natalie Bassingthwaighte has quit her band, Rogue Traders.
“As Nat’s career choices are taking her in new and exciting directions, she won’t be able to be a part of the Rogue Traders,” James Ash told the Herald Sun.
Bassingthwaighte will focus on her first solo album with commitments for a second series of Dance later this year.
Sony BMG sources denied any acrimony, with Ash saying the split was done “with a deep love and respect.”
When Rogue Traders first released Voodoo Child Bassingthwaighte’s identity was kept under wraps, given she was still a feature performer on Neighbours.
Her new horror flick Prey is due out this year.
Source: news.com.au
Rubin is no longer hot? Undoubtedly he is the most successful rock producer in the last 30 years. I’d name his credits here but it would easily exceed the maximum, not many producers can choose the bands they work with and getting a tap off him is like a gift from the musical gods.
He has re-invented bands more times than any other person in his field.
As for Pharrell – Timberlake, Britney Spears, The Neptune’s (three Grammys for his work there), Stefani, Kayne West, Kelis, Ole Dirty Bastard, Beyonce, Snoop Dog, The Hives, Madonna, and thats just off the top of my head.
Timbaland yikes! hottest producer on the planet right now. Brandy, Xhibit, Lil Kim, Ludacris, Aliyah, J-lo, Nelly Furtado, Pussycat dolls, JT, Bjork, Duran Duran, Chris Cornell, Madonna, man! SO mannny more.
If we had guys like that down here we would be VERY lucky.
Nats primary audience will be Aus and secondary UK, so budget wouldnt even cover a US producers lunch order.
My bet is she will end up over-exposed (or Deltaitis we call it) and will make more a name from hosting than being a solo artist.
Credible? someone who makes great music, a lot of money (through mechanical rights and back-ends), people beg to work with them and turns people into international acts. Australia don’t have any of those. Rogue Traders were always a “lego” band.
Fangera, Australia has “zero credible producers”? Define “credible”!
Finding a producer for a solo album for Nat is not a problem at all. Money talks. Inevitably they’ll go for a “name” producer from overseas, but that’s no guarantee of a better record. Look at Missy Higgins’ first album – The Smiths’ producer, Norah Jones’ mixer, and the result was so sterile and bland it arguably hindered the record’s long-term success. Rubin, Pharrell, Timbaland? They’re not the be-all and end-all of producers. Indeed, despite Timbaland’s obvious talent for synthesising ’80s pop into R&B, they’re all simply flavours of the month. Remember when Rick Rubin was the hottest thing on the block with the first Beastie Boys album and then, only a few years later, was slumming it with The Cult?
RT were indeed big in the UK – big enough to have a #3 chart single (higher than in Australia), and big enough to have a feature song in arguably THE hottest drama show in the country (Doctor Who).
My guess is that she’s simply seen the writing on the wall for Rogue Traders – much as they’re great fun, their second album with her seemed to simply be desperately trying to re-do the sound and vibe of the first. On the second she started writing songs – in a band that already had clearly defined songwriters.
J-bar yeah she did want out, and you just stated one reason why yourself, too full a plate. And there was other reasons you wouldn’t have seen on TV hits or written in TV Week.
WIht talk of so many new musicals in Australia over the next 18 months, maybe she is hoping to get back on the stage
Nat never wanted to be out before SYTYCD. They had a second album to promote and extensive touring. She has often been quoted as saying that she would be releasing a solo album next, so that Rogue Traders would take a break but it seemed like she didn’t rule out returning to Rogue Traders in the future. This may not actually be a new story. Maybe they are just reporting the same stuff that Nat and James have discussed before. However, with further commitments to SYTYCD I can see how it would be extremely difficult for her to also keep recording new music and touring with Rogue Traders anytme soon and maybe the boys don’t want to sit around for a year waiting for her to be available. Fair enough too.
I’m very upset over this. Although I was a RT fan before Nat, I thought that when she joined the band, it was a perfect match.
She wanted to be out before SYTYCD, but some “things” happened.
Problem now is a producer for the Solo Album, RT ain’t that big in UK so the pull for a UK producer wont be there and Australia has ZERO credible producers, that is zero compared to the Rubins, Pharrells and Timbalands of the States, after all this is Nats Aussie attempt at a Fergie/Stefani type breakout. It’s a very big long shot, VERY big.
We shall wait and see.