Interview with Kendra Amalie

1. Please describe your path towards music making, where did start?

I was influenced from an early age. My mom was a full-time musician-singer-songwriter and there was always music making and refining going on in our home. As a young person I took piano lessons and the teacher lived in the apartment downstairs. In addition to weekly lessons, she’d call and start guiding me on the answering machine if I was practicing something the wrong way. As a kid, playing piano felt like a chore but as I approached teenage I took up electric guitar, inspired by every band on the lineup for Woodstock ‘99. I wanted to go so bad but my mom said no. I took guitar lessons for a couple years and learned pentatonic blues rock. My teacher lived across the street from Dave Grohl’s parents, and I seem to remember the tour bus being parked in the driveway once. That was awesome. At home, I put song ideas down on my mom’s 4-track, screaming into a pillow to achieve a certain vocal quality before recording, a practice I now regret. I dabbled in the rave scene for a bit which I think may continue to influence some of the production decisions I make today. I paused on the music thing for a while and had a short career doing other stuff, then one day saw a showcase of 8-bit artists and took up music again, making beats on a Gameboy with LSDJ.  It was a slow dive into experimental music. I started listening to Jandek and soon I was conducting all kinds of experiments - dissonant tunings, contact mics, loop tapes, water glass percussion, culling sounds out of broken electronics. It was a lonely time. At a certain point I started to become emotionally distressed but also started making friends or finding people to be around and music became more collaborative. This was a significant period about 7 years to which, at some point, I owe much elaboration. I moved around a lot, tried different things, and kept making music. It seems like I’ve completed 1 lap around and I’m back at the acoustic guitar thing. That brings us up to date.

2. Many artists draw certain inspirations from either reality that surrounds them or shape their musical form from the elements they have used in practice or creating their own output. How did it work in your case?

It’s hard to pinpoint where the inspiration comes from. An inspired piece of music or art seems to be the result of repetition, practice, and luck. The creation process seems subconscious for me. I’ll write, sometimes not exactly sure where what I’m saying is coming from, then undergo a mad process of examination and re-arrangement, trying to shape a piece with a certain wit and flow to create a tickle in my brain. Looking back I can see that music I’ve made in the past was inspired by pain whereas music I make now is inspired by something else, though the happy process of arrangement seems to be about the same.

3. I cannot help to think that beyond the humble form of psychedelia, rock, folk, improvisation and other elements in your music stands a really powerful, almost transgressive spirit that radiates both through music form itself but also in lyrics. How do you feel about this?

Thanks for the compliment. I feel pretty good about that. I’m always learning from others, but in a lot of ways I’m self-taught. Another thing is that I don’t have much interest in old music, so I think my creative intelligence is biting off of a style that bit off a style before it and so on. Maybe these are some reasons why my music can seem transgressive or unrecognizable. I’m not sure. 

4. How do you feel about working with others and how did it shape what you are doing now?

I’ve worked with others in many different contexts! I am grateful for each experience which has helped me develop strength, character, patience, perspective, and intuition. I endured an extremely long period of intense negative emotions so looking back I’m especially grateful for each interaction or relationship that offered a glimpse of pleasure, comfort, or joy. Life is all about making connections that help develop our collective understanding, and using that understanding to help improve the experience of our short lives here together on this massive old planet. Life should also be about ensuring the welfare of future generations. May we work together with great energy.

5. Please tell us about the lyrics and the process of creating them.

First I have an instrument at hand and come up with a musical phrase, then sometimes words will come in response. It’s often a subconscious message that comes through, which is at some point analyzed and hopefully sculpted into something meaningful, logical, and clever. Kind of like dream interpretation I guess.

6. How does it feel to be an independent artist, releasing your own music?

It’s hard for me to avoid picking apart the concept of an independent artist. The exchange of art is rarely independent. Everyone is together. Artists are often supported by their fans, other artists, people that go to shows, people that interact on social media, and/or by the people they collaborate with. Sometimes artists are supported by people like you amplifying our voices. Some artists are lucky enough to be supported by their friends, family, and community. There are also artists supported independent labels, and I’m so very grateful to be in this position right now! Like holy fuck! Even independent labels are complex operations involving many people working long, hard, thankless hours, and investing so much to help advance the careers of their artists. Many people come together to make it happen, it’s an incredible demonstration of collaboration. Music is a social exchange of energies and resources. It blows my mind that people care to put the time in. It takes so much to put out just one record, or put on just one live show. Support takes different forms to help us along every step of the way. Today I’m supported more than I have ever been, by fans, by my label, Beyond Beyond is Beyond, and people like you that care to take an interest in my story. I’m overflowing with gratitude and hope to give back any way I can. It’s beautiful to take time to see one another.  I owe so much to the people that showed up in my life. 

7. Any plans for the future?

Gonna keep making music that encourages us to open our minds and hearts, music that helps us realize our ecstatic human potential.

Kendra's website