Check out our latest Writer’s Block interview with Amandi Music.
Boston, MA
“She Ain’t You” Remix – Chris Brown feat. SWV
“Block Party” – Lisa “Left Eye” Lopez
How did this musical journey begin for you Amandi?
I started song writing about seven years ago when I hooked with Polymer Music Group and Mass Appeal entertainment. About seven years ago we started a song writing team and that’s how I started really working as a songwriter in the industry. I’ve always been involved in music; I started playing saxophone and singing at the age of about nine. When I was about twelve or thirteen I wrote my first song for my church, and it continued into me being my own artist and I started writing my own material until I got into my later years when I decided I wanted to be more of a songwriter than an artist myself.
What deterred you from wanting to be an artist?
Well, there’s a lot of politics involved when it comes to artistry, when it comes to the music that I wanna make for myself I don’t like being boxed in by the rules and regulations of the industry. I feel like there’s music that I wanna create for myself [and] I don’t want anybody to dictate to me what I can and can’t do.
What’s the difference between that and writing for others?
When you’re a songwriter it’s a job so you write what you’re asked to write or you write based on the current climate of music and what its asking you for. But when it comes to you writing your own material you really don’t want anybody telling you what to do and that’s the only way you can keep it in its’ truest form so I put the artistry to the side.
Is Amandi Music more a songwriter than an artist?
I feel like every songwriter is an artist at heart because you have to start somewhere and I knew it was for a time period and I knew that the me work that I did as a song writer would give me more power as an artist so if I wanted to put out my own material out like I do now it would in return promote me as a songwriter and give me a bigger voice.
Has your approach worked the way you intended?
Yes because I have more attention than I would if I was just starting as an artist. There’s a million other artists out there that are trying to do the same thing and a lot of them may follow the gimmicks or the music trends instead of how they truly feel. I just took my time and said, ‘Okay, I’ll write for a little while until the writing builds up enough momentum on its own, until people are paying attention to me and wondering what’s going on with Amandi Music’, like, “You’re cutting great demos, when can we hear some of your own material?” Over the last three years I’ve started to do that again.
On Twitter @Amandimusic & Facebook: Amandi Music
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