One day when I was 10, my grandmother asked me, “Natalie, do you want to play pan?”
I agreed not knowing what she was talking about and when I went into her living room, I found out she had steelpans in her house.
What she told me about the instrument was that it originated in Trinidad. It is a very, I would say, colorful instrument. When I say colorful, I don’t mean literally. I mean the sounds the instrument makes — it can be colorful and it can also be very melancholy.
This for me was an unknown talent. I didn’t know that I would be so good at this instrument until I started playing. And just the fact that the instrument originated in a country where my family is from has made me much more interested in my family’s culture.
It’s such a good thing when you know your culture and when you carry it on for generations. But I would definitely say that’s what also adds to the nerves because for some people, when they realize this instrument was passed down by multiple other generations, they tend to get very nervous because they feel like, oh, I have to do the best I can.
I don’t think there's any such thing as perfect.. And I would say that you don’t have to worry about perfecting it. You just have to worry about: What about the way you’re playing it makes it different from everyone else and makes you stand out?
I was always very much into music. I just didn’t realize how much I was into music until I started playing this instrument. I’m really blessed that my grandmother introduced me to it.