NATULA

NATULA is the pop project of Natasha Kozaily, a third culture kid from the Cayman Islands, with Lebanese roots, now residing in California.

[natulamusic-blog]

THE GOLDEN 30 TOUR

This year I turn 30 and it’s my golden year. An important milestone that I want to celebrate by giving back to a cause that I feel extremely passionate about.  

Between Oct 30th, 2015 and Oct 30th 2016, I plan on playing 30 house concerts in 30 different cities around the world with the goal of raising $30,000 for ShelterBox USA, a non-profit organization that’s on the ground and helping thousands of Syrian Refugees today.  

BUT WHY?

Right now there are over 16 million people in need of assistance inside and outside of Syria. This is the largest refugee migration since World War II. From the crisis, there are over 4 million refugees, three quarters of them being women and children, seeking safety and shelter across neighboring countries. Many are living in flimsy cramped makeshift shelters. The vast majority of fleeing families arrive with little more than the clothes on their backs. Many are injured from continuous bombing and shelling. They have no regular food and no income.

Music is what I know.  It’s the one thing in my life that I have to give and it can be a powerful tool to heal and make a difference in the world. If I can use my music to help spread awareness and raise money for the Syrian Refugee Crisis this year then that would be a dream come true.  

But I can’t do this alone. With your help I believe we can make a worthwhile contribution together.  

SO HOW CAN I HELP?

1. Invite me to your city and open up your home for a fundraising concert in your living room or garden!  I’ll bring the music and you invite all your friends and family!  It’s that easy!  You will receive the biggest hug from me and I might even write a song for you!

2. Attend a house concert listed in your city and donate to the cause in person.  Any and all dollar amounts are appreciated and welcomed.  All cash collected while on tour will be added to my JustGiving Page immediately.  

3. Can’t host or attend a concert? Donate online through my JustGiving Page wherever you are in the world! It’s simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?

1. Warm fuzzy feeling inside because you are an awesome human-being whose selfless contribution is going towards helping Syrian Refugees in need.  And trust me, they really need it.

2. Music! All donors will receive a digital download of my upcoming EP (to be released 2016) as well as exclusive updates, postcards and music videos from the road.  

3. A lifelong friendship and did I mention those warm fuzzy feelings? :)

HOW CAN I GET IN TOUCH WITH YOU?

Email me at [email protected] to help set up a house concert in your home, ask me a question or just say hello! :)

Thank you for your help and support in making this golden 30 dream possible!!!

With love + gratitude,

Natasha

[natulamusic-blog]

[natulamusic-blog]

GUNAKADEIT BECOMES NATULA

Dear friends and fans,

I’d like to take this opportunity to announce that I will no longer be using the moniker GUNAKADEIT as my artist name and these are my reasons...

The story behind Gunakadeit, a mythological sea-monster that saves a village from starving to death, has always been an inspiring and touching tale for me.  In my mind it serves as a symbol of all that is good in the world, even among the wickedness and suffering.  At the time it seemed like the perfect name to represent my feelings and music.  But the story of Gunakadeit comes from the indigenous Tlingit people of Alaska, and it belongs to them, not me.  

I realize how naive it was of me to assume I could use this name without fully understanding the context from which it came.  The concept of  “cultural appropriation” is a heated topic of debate at the moment and one that I personally find very hard and confusing to navigate in our modern world.  As a third culture kid, I grew up in an environment where cultural identity is not so black and white.  It’s blurry and adaptable and has left me feeling connected to more than one place and people as “home”.  I look at culture as something that unites us more than divides us.  But of course not everyone shares my view and that’s part of why this next step is important.

If we are going to thrive in this globalized world it will be impossible not to influence and inspire each other.  But to do this without harm means that there must be an initial exchange of understanding and respect before anything else.  Care must be taken to educate ourselves and each other on the cultural symbols, fashion, music, ideas that we adopt from one another.  If this is done then I think there can be a more productive dialogue that breeds a spirit of respect and unity as opposed to exploitation and division.  

In this regard I have to apologize to the Tlingit people for using the name Gunakadeit without fully educating myself about where this beautiful story came.  A few weeks ago, in an attempt to gain some deeper knowledge I reached out to the Goldbelt Heritage Foundation in Juneau, Alaska.  I received a very warm welcome and they were kind enough to lead me in the right direction for my research.  I learned that Gunakadeit is the Intellectual clan property of the Gaanax.adi and Gaanaxteidi clans of the Southeast of Alaska.  Outsiders and even clan members themselves are not allowed to use this name without permission from clan elders.  And younger generations of these clans are the ones who are chosen and entitled to learn about the stories from their elders. I can dig on that and I respect their feelings.

It might not be easy to change a name that I’ve spent the last 2 years branding and building, but it is easy for me to humbly pay my respect to these people and do what I think is right.  My gratitude goes out to them for taking their time to educate me on their customs and laws.  The story of Gunakadeit will continue to inspire me and I look forward to visiting Juneau one day and learning more about the beautiful Tlingit people.

I also want to thank all of you for showing such great love and support for my music and I can’t wait to continue sharing more with you.  All previous and future creations will be released under my new artist name NATULA.  It’s a latin word meaning ‘little daughter’ reminding me that no matter how old I grow I shall continue to look at the world with new eyes.  To remain young in spirit and full of undying hope.  To stay humble and hungry for all this world has to offer.  It reminds me to not take life so seriously and smile because even though NATULA sounds like the name of a star in the sky, it also sounds a little like Nutella and that’s awesome.

We never stop learning and I’m grateful for this opportunity to have learnt something new about myself and this crazy beautiful world we live in.

NATULA is coming to a city near you for my Golden 30 tour this year, so stay in touch and help me spread this good news!

With love always,

Natasha

[natulamusic-blog]

We interview Gunakadeit, the new San Deigo based singer songwriter whose debut single "South" is out now. Read more here.

[natulamusic-blog]

GUNAKADEIT Knows Where Life is Good

When your all out of answers and you have nothing left there is always a place where you find happiness in. GUNAKADEIT brings to us her euphoria in a the vehicle of a song. We fell in love with thi...

[natulamusic-blog]

Gunkadeit, aka Natasha Kozaily, tries out new approaches to pop music.

[natulamusic-blog]

BLOG LOVIN’

"...GUNAKADEIT’s sound is a cultural melting pot, a wild, new-age pop gem..." - Pigeons and Planes "South is incredibly enchanting with its crystalline vocals and avant-garde beauty." - I Heart Moosiq "...experimental folk-pop tune that hits all the right notes for my eardrums…" - Indie Shuffle "It sounds so experimental as folk pop can be, but you can't really put your finger on what makes it stand out. She's done what it takes to make us remember her name, though." - The 405 "...Kozaily makes this sort of folk inspired rippling electro-pop...this refusal to adapt to what’s expected." - Backseat Mafia "...her voice leaves a sense of mystery and intrigue, enticing us to listen to her tell more of her stories." - Vinyl Mag “South,” is an edgy track laden with experimental pop intrigue from a cautious build-up to piercing layered vocals" - Free Bike Valet "angelic drones...crash catchy pop jingles…" - Apparently Magazine

[natashakozaily]

Hey world, I’m spending these beautiful spring days writing new melodies + rhythms + harmonies + getting completely carried away. Next month is studio time and after that comes the best part when I get to share it with you! Until then, let’s keep loving each other. 💜

[rweplay]

GUNAKADEIT - “South”

That’s GUNAKADEIT, pronounced (goo-naka-date)

Video Directed by HOLYCHILD, who said “This song is so cool and interesting, so I was really inspired to create art alongside it. I really wanted to capture the world of the song: it’s like living in a dark paradise, where beauty exists but is masked by our own thoughts and inhibitions. That’s what I was attempting to show with the video, that the world is beautiful and fucked up and both are the same thing. We’re all just trying to get by and squeeze some life out of living.”

About GUNAKADEIT, who said “The battle inside of us to conform or rebel, to live mindlessly in our own dystopian realities without any courage to escape is the struggle between the characters. It’s an unusual world but a familiar world at the same time, both fluid and awkward in the way that makes you feel human.”

[jungleindierock]

GUNAKADEIT - Afterschool Special

Very funny dancing performance for the new video of GUNAKADEIT. The video was recorded at Salton Sea (Imperial and Riverside counties in California). Video directed by Jancarlo Beck.

GUNAKADEIT is the pop project of Natasha Kozaily, from the Cayman Islands, now residing in California.

Links: Tumblr  |  Soundcloud  |  Facebook  |  Twitter

[lannylieuarchive]

Gunakadeit (goo-naka-date) is the musical project of Natasha Kozaily. Kozaily’s music consists of upbeat pop beats and melodies intertwined with aspects of her rich cultural background. I first came across this project via Liz Nistico of HOLYCHILD who told me she had directed “South,” a music video for a friend of hers. So far, Kozaily has released two singles as Gunakadeit; “South” as the first one and the other one being, “After School Special,” a seemingly playful tune about the exploitation she experienced as a part of an affair she once had with a high school teacher. Hmm, pop music with a darker, underlying theme… sounds a little bit like what her friends, HOLYCHILD, do, right? Additionally, Kozaily has one of the loveliest and most unique voices I’ve heard in a while. Just listen to The Tiniest Elephant In The World, a song recorded before she gave birth to Gunakadeit.

With a new video on YouTube + more tour dates to be announced soon, I’m sure Gunakadeit will be releasing some more art for us in the near future. In the mean time, check out everything she has put out so far!

Links:

Facebook

SoundCloud

YouTube

[iheartmoosiq]

It’s always an uphill battle trying to figure out how to pronounce band names, and I’m at a loss for how I should pronounce Gunakadeit out loud. What I do know is that their single South is incredibly enchanting with its crystalline vocals and avant-garde beauty. There’s an undeniably Dirty Projectors/Amber Coffman and San Fermin vibe going on with the intriguing, magical experimental pop track and its baroque attributes. Today, the band released a video for the single, directed by Liz Nistico of HOLYCHILD.

[dangervillage-blog]

Under the Radar premiered Gunakadeit’s new “Afterschool Special” video today! 

Singer Natasha Kozaily said the video shoot was “an emotional experience for all of us and at the end I felt very liberated.”

Make sure to watch it!