AMARU – Independence Day (Official Music Video)

Exposed Vocals: Where are you from and how did you get your start in the music industry?

AMARU: I’m from a small South American country called The Republic of Suriname. If you can find Brazil on the map, you can find my country too, since we’re all the way up north on the continent. I have shown an interest in music at the age of four or five and my late grandmother played a key role in that interest. She sang and played the guitar and the organ in our church and she would always take me aside after the Sunday morning service while she played something, a traditional hymn or something, and she would encourage me to sing along with her. It wasn’t until I saw famous country singers Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton on TV that I knew I was going to “sing with Kenny and Dolly”, as I apparently told my mother.

Exposed Vocals: When it comes to mainstream music, who are some of the people who have inspired you as an artist and why?

AMARU: My taste in music is very eclectic. I listen to a variety of artists and I’m not only interested in great voices and excellent vocal prowess, I’m also interested in showmanship and how the artist inspires and motivates me to do better, so to speak. Having said that, I can tell you that I enjoyed most of my mom’s collection, which included country music from Sue Thompson and Jim Reeves to soul gems such as Otis Redding, Brook Benton and many others. As a child of the eighties, I still love that era, which I thought was a great era for music, compared to the present day. I am a big fan of Madonna’s work, I think she is a very exciting and highly entertaining artist. I am also a massive fan of Jody Watley, some of us will remember her from the group Shalamar and from her numerous hits as a solo artist. Gloria Estefan is also a dear favorite of mine and you could not tell me, growing up as a teen, that I wasn’t El Debarge, Bobby Brown, Simon Le Bon (from Duran Duran) or Morten Harket (from A-Ha)… In my head I was ALL of these guys wrapped in one, LOL!

Exposed Vocals: Are you working on any new projects at the moment? If so, tell us about it!

AMARU: Well, I have just released my new single “Independence Day”, which is an up-tempo urban dance track about the relationship I never had with my biological father. This is my most personal work to date and I really didn’t want people to jump off the Tallahassee Bridge after listening to the track, so I decided not to write a ballad! My intention with “Independence Day” is to make people think while they’re shaking their “groove thang”, you know? In addition to that, the song could also be interpreted as a break-up song, the ending of a relationship between two lovers. As we speak, I’m in the process of mixing and mastering a new song, which I will most probably release soon after “Independence Day” fizzles out. It’s a salsa track called “Pa’ Mi Gente (For My People)” and I wrote it as a special tribute and homage to my Latin people and in honor of my South American roots.

Exposed Vocals: What sets you aside from other artists? What makes you so unique?

AMARU: I’m not your typical pop artist and by that I mean I don’t look, sound or behave like pop stars as we know them today. I write my own songs, I don’t just sing other people’s songs. And when it comes to songwriting, not only do I write cohesive songs (as opposed to putting meaningless and hollow phrases together and pass that off as a song, like many do these days), I try to write from the heart and I draw from my own experiences, which in turn makes it a little easier to sing. I am very hands on when it comes to the production of my songs, I direct all my music videos and I have the last word when it comes to post production. You see, I don’t fit the so called mold to be considered a typical pop artist. That is why, back in 2007, I decided to create my own opportunities and go about my artistic life the way I saw fit. I approach things the way I want to, I have to be satisfied with what I deliver and up until now I have been. What I find with today’s artists is that many of them just wanna be famous or make a quick buck… that’s not me, I want longevity in my career and I’d like to think that I’m on my way.

Exposed Vocals: Is your family musical?

AMARU: Actually… yes, they are. I have mentioned the musical abilities of my late grandmother earlier, but I come from a very large family and one of my mother’s late brothers was a popular club singer. My mom’s cousin, Spence, was a bona fide eighties pop artist who enjoyed success all over the world with his funky soulful music, my late grandfather, on my mother’s side, was also a musician and he was quite well known in his heyday, as he performed all the place with his band.

Exposed Vocals: Were you influenced by old records & tapes? Which ones?

AMARU: Of course I was! Do you know what was going through my mind as a child, seeing all my mother’s LP’s and all these famous faces on the sleeves…?! I was preparing myself for NOW, lol! I said “someday that will be me”… and here we are! Which ones? Well, I just mentioned some of them.

Exposed Vocals: How do you feel about the internet in the music business?

AMARU: I’m conflicted about the internet and the music business. While on one hand it’s very convenient for artists like myself to independently release their music, it’s also not very profitable when you consider that your tracks are sold at .99 cents a track or sometimes even less than that. And people don’t really buy music like that anymore, you know. I mean, I remember a time when you would just camp in front of the record store to wait for the release of a new record… the minute the industry decided to switch to digital music, that’s when the game changed… and not really for the better. While it’s very convenient to have access to your favorite music 24/7, financially it’s not really generating a lot of revenue, I can tell you that much. And the late Prince, may he rest in peace, said it best. He said in an interview once, and I’m paraphrasing, that he is still waiting for ONE artist to step forward to claim that that have gotten rich from selling digital downloads.

Exposed Vocals: Are you currently making a sustainable and profitable living off your music?

AMARU: HAH… Well, I have to do other things besides music to pay the bills, but I am working my ass off, I can tell you that much!

Exposed Vocals: Do you think that how much you receive for your music is fair?

AMARU: Well, when you consider how much it costs to make ONE single, and I’m speaking as an independent artist, I don’t know how much it costs if you’re signed to a huge label, it’s not very cost effective to me to have your work priced at .99 cents. And some people may argue that it is very fair, considering that all you get is an mp3 and not the CD with artwork and all of that, but I feel differently about that. The price of setting up the single or the album for distribution, the costs of the photo shoot for the artwork… all of those costs come out of your budget and if you don’t tour or do some live gigs every now and again, you will not break even. So it’s a catch 22 as far as I’m concerned. On one hand you have to opportunity to release your music within minutes and people worldwide can have access to it rather quickly. On the other hand people don’t really spend their money on buying music anymore, so many of us don’t sell as many units as we’d like to, unless we have some kind of a supplemental income. And at .99 cents per mp3 you will need some extra resources… unless you’re with a big label, I think…

Exposed Vocals: What changes would you like to see to the music industry to allow you to make a living from your music?

AMARU: First I would like to see people make REAL music again… there’s too much garbage on the radio that passes for music these days and people rely heavily on Autotune. If you cannot sing in the booth, chances are you’re not gonna cut the mustard live. And there are plenty of Youtube videos about these big label “stars” that sound pitch perfect on the record, but when you hear them live you wanna kill yourself. In addition to that, the industry has to create more opportunities for emerging talent. Give them a decent recording contract, allow them to grow WITH you, assist them on their path and don’t just sign them to your label because they look “cute” or “sexy” and they can carry a tune, only to use them as a tax write off, so to speak. Allow them to write their own material, for instance. You see, when you write a hit song, that’s where your money comes from and unfortunately for new artists, they’re not getting the opportunity to have their own songs released, at least not as much as they did back in the eighties, for instance. You would see a couple of songs on a debut album that were written by the artist themselves. These days I don’t see that as often anymore. And something else that seems to be a sign of the times, is that people change two lines in the original song and they get “songwriter credit”. Stuff like that annoys me, you know? In my opinion and judging by what I see and hear, labels are too focused on the money and how they can utilize the artist to generate as much money for them (the label)… They’re not quite focused on the long term development of artists anymore, so it seems. You have to be “prefabricated” and “ready to be launched” when you approach them…

Exposed Vocals: Is there anyone you’d like to acknowledge for offering financial or emotional support?

AMARU: Well, I fund most every aspect of my career, but my mother has been there for me always, so I’d like to give her honorable mention here!
I have certain family members and dear friends that support my artistic endeavors and applaud me for my tenacity and perseverance. And how can I not mention my online following (i.e. Youtube friends, Twitter followers, Facebook peeps).

Exposed Vocals: Any last words?

AMARU: Go and BUY my new single “Independence Day” now… Make sure to check out the video on my website and share it on ALL your social feeds! OH… and thanks for having me again here on “Exposed Vocals”.