Natalie Vermeer is sugar and spice and all things nice.
Not only is this multi-talented lady a member of Vancouver indie music sweethearts, The Good News, she’s also an elementary school teacher, seller of organic goods, and maker of piñatas for Paul Anthony’s Talent Time.
Sad Mag talked with this lovely woman over milkshakes about weird transit experiences, bailing friends out, and pouring her feelings into paper mache.
Sad Mag: Where are you from?
Natalie Vermeer: Chilliwack – where many good ones are from!
SM: Valley girls represent! When did you move to Vancouver?
NV: Summer of 2003.
SM: What’s your day job?
NV: I’m an ESL/Music/P.E. Teacher/Librarian at a primary school. Also, I package raw organic snacks. I’d like to start teaching piano again once I move my piano. Just putting that out there!
SM: A Chilliwack girl and a librarian – we are two peas in a pod! Tell me, how do you know Paul Anthony?
NV: A number of summers ago, he introduced my band, The Good News, at the Railway. He told some inappropriate jokes to the crowd and then he carried my keyboard for me. He’s been a lovely friend ever since.
SM: How did you start making piñatas for Talent Time?
NV: It was the night before the first Talent Time ever and Paul didn’t have a piñata! I couldn’t believe it. So I got right on making something. I had it by a heater and hairdryer all night to try get the layers dry in time. It wasn’t even sealed up by the time the show started! But at least it had money inside!
SM: What was the first piñata you made for Talent Time?
NV: Yeah, um, so because of time constraints, the first piñata was a blue ball. Mighty desperate – I mean, creative – I mean, practical!
SM: How do you decide what the piñata should be of that month?
NV: Lately there have been themes to the shows so that totally helps. For a while it just seemed like I could do anything, so I’d get suggestions from friends when needed. My friend Ben suggested a baby so I did that for the show the mini mariachis were on. When I went through a bit of a vegan baking obsession, I made a cupcake. When I felt I shouldn’t continue an on/off relationship, I made a dead horse head. This piñata-making thing has become a great outlet for me!
SM: What’s been your weirdest piñata experience?
NV: There’s the, ahem, one of the times Paul had to hold the piñata as it broke off the rope right away and then my friend Phil smashed Paul’s face rather than the piñata. I guess that’s not weird so much as painful. How about the fact that I was never asked any questions when I was on the bus, holding a piñata [that looked like a baby] in a blanket? I’ve gotten more strange looks about a keyboard stand!
SM: Have you ever gone on stage to break any of your own piñatas?
NV: No way. It’s hard enough to witness when they don’t smash within a nice span of time. I want my piñata to succeed, as in stay on the rope long enough, but I don’t want to be any more involved with it after it’s made!
SM: What do you like best about Talent Time?
NV: It’s great for short attention spans. I love the variety and quick pace. And the enthusiastic and eclectic crowd is amazing. I’ve run into Brittany whom I met in Japan four years ago and Kim who I played in a band with years ago… you never know who you are going to see at Talent Time – on stage or in the crowd!
You can see Natalie’s latest creation at the next Paul Anthony’s Talent Time on December 1st at the Biltmore. Also, you can listen to her band, The Good News, here.
Feature photograph by Evil Patrick Shannon.