Natalia ‘Saw Lady’® Paruz has spent two decades bringing the rare art form of playing music on a carpenter’s saw to audiences around the world. Yes a real saw! The instrument she plays is known as a musical saw  or singing saw. She performed with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra,  Royal Air Moroccan Symphony Orchestra, Manhattan Chamber Orchestra and many more. You may have seen her TV appearances on Good Morning America, Good Day New York, VH1 Behind the Music & more. Film appearances in The Heart is a Drum Machine and Dummy. Her music featured in the soundtracks of films such as HBO’s Emmy winning The Jinx, Time Out of Mind, I Sell The Dead, Miss Stevens & more. You can also catch her performing at the Times Square & Union Square subway stations in New York City.

1. (Bionic Buzz) We are all about people’s passions. Where did your passion for music come from? Was it a certain album you heard? A live performance you saw that made you want to start a band? Or was it just natural for you as a kid?

(Natalia) My mother was a concert pianist. She told me that when she was pregnant with me, whenever she played the piano I used to kick her stomach in rhythm to the music. So I guess my love affair with music started before I was even born…  At age 5 I learned to play recorder, then piano, guitar and I sang in a choir in elementary school, but throughout my childhood I was actually more into dance than music. It was actually a car accident that lead me to the musical saw.

2. How and when did you learn that a saw can be a musical instrument? What is the history of this unique instrument?

I was a professional dancer, but one night returning home from Lincoln Center I was hit by a car. That accident put an end to my dance career. Needless to say, I was devastated. I have dedicated my life to dance, and now what was I going to do? To cheer me up, my parents took me on a trip to Austria. You see, as a kid I loved the movie ‘The Sound of Music’. I watched it 14 times! So, my parents took me to the country where this film was made. While there we attended a show for tourists. One of the acts was… a musical saw player! Now I have never seen nor heard of a musical saw before. This was totally new to me, and it blew me away. I thought the sound was phenomenal – spiritual, angelic and different from any sound I heard before, but what really appealed to me was the visual – not the fact that it is a tool, but the fact that the whole instrument moved and the sawist’s upper body along with it. It was like a dance! The musical saw is one of very few instruments where the entire instrument moves (unlike a violin for example, where only the bow moves but the body of the violin never changes shape) and changes shape constantly as you play it.

The history of the saw as a musical instrument is very interesting:  As far as we know it started about 300 years ago when steel saws became affordably available. Lumberjacks at different parts of the world came across the musical capabilities of their tool when by chance a small chunk of wood detached from a tree being cut and hit a saw. To begin with the saw was a folk instrument but later on it was taken on by priests and missionaries who used it to teach the melodies of hymns to congregations in remote places. Circus clowns adopted the instrument and at the turn of the 19th into 20th century the saw reached its heyday in Vaudeville shows. The art form experienced a decline after WWII, but I am happy to say that it is now making a comeback! More details of the history can be heard in my TED talk https://youtu.be/PW_aZCOJE_8 (talk starts at 2:32 after the demonstration).

3. What was people’s first reaction when you started performing with it in public?

A funny reaction was when people in the audience asked one another if the sound is coming from the saw or if I am singing (the sound of the saw is very similar to an opera singer singing without words) and they started debating on the subject, until I demonstrated that I’m playing with my mouth shut or alternately that I’m playing while talking to them. People would put their ear to the blade to see if the sound was really coming out of it.
Also they all wanted to touch the instrument for some reason.

4. It has a very unique sound, I can see how it is perfect for movie sound tracks. How did film companies first found out about you?

The first movie I did was ‘Dummy’ with Adrian Brody. It is one of only three movies where I can actually be seen playing and not only heard on the soundtrack. The director of this movie, Greg Pritikin, saw me playing in the subway and reach out to me.
Mike Cahill, the director of ‘Another Earth’, walked by me when I was playing at the Union Square subway station and stopped in his tracks. He was inspired by my sound to write a musical saw part into a scene in his movie. I had a great time not only recording Scott Munson’s gorgeous music for this movie but also coaching actor William Mapother in miming playing a saw for the scene. He did a great job!
Oren Moverman, director of ‘Time Out of Mind’ staring Richard Gere saw me playing at Grand Central Station. He took my card and held on to it for about 15 years, thinking that he wants me in a movie of his and just waiting for the right one to come along. You can hear my saw in a scene where Richard Gere, who plays a homeless person, wonders around Grand Central Station.
Today film makers find me mostly from word of mouth and through
http://www.MusicalSawMusic.com which is a remote recording service via the internet, but I owe it all to the NYC subway!

4. Any future projects or concerts we should know about?

A new movie coming out later this year is the 3rd one where I can actually be seen on screen and not just heard on the soundtrack: ‘Scenes from the Underground’ directed by Eric Swiz. A new play by Carrie Robbins is in the works with my saw on the soundtrack. Composer Eyal Bat wrote a gorgeous piece for choir and musical saw which we’ll premier in Israel with the ‘Sirenot’ ensemble conducted by Shosh Lagil. I have also started writing short ghost stories for children that read like the musical saw sounds. I’ll be looking for a publisher and for someone who might like to stage them for TV, so if anyone is interested – please let me know. And I have two music videos on the horizon, continuing in the style of my tribute to the Leonard Bernstein centennial style
https://youtu.be/V6FjAHMP7tg taking classical music and giving it a twist.

5. Where can everyone follow your journey on social media / website?

Website: http://www.SawLady.com
Facebook: Natalia Saw Lady Paruz https://www.facebook.com/Natalia-Saw-Lady-Paruz-musical-saw-player-129253832734/
Instagram: @TheSawLady https://www.instagram.com/thesawlady/