Amy Allen – Photo by Josefina Santos
I love finding artists that are a little different. I also enjoy getting to chat with them as well. In the case of Amy Allen, the Brooklyn singer/songwriter/artist, it was a great get-to-know-you session. We had the opportunity to chat about her upcoming EP, Get Me Outta Here!, and listening to her songs being played by other artists. And after speaking with this young up and coming artists, there are big things coming for Amy Allen.
So without any additional pomp and circumstance, here is Amy Allen!
Lemonade Magazine: Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us! Most of our readers are just getting to know you. Could you please tell us a bit about yourself?
Amy Allen: Hey! Ya, so my name is Amy Allen, I’m a singer/songwriter/artist, and I currently live in Brooklyn, NY. I started playing electric bass when I was nine to be in my older sister’s all-girl rock band, but then fell in love with electric guitar and songwriting in middle school. Now I front a 4-piece indie/pop/rock group and I’m releasing a 6-track EP called Get Me Outta Here! inspired by different rock groups I was raised on ranging from The Cure to No Doubt.
LM: Well, awesome! It is nice to meet you! So you’ve been writing songs for other artists for a while. So as a songwriter what is it like hearing your music being played by others?
AA: I love getting to perform my own songs, but hearing someone else sing a song I wrote is a completely different sense of fulfillment. It’s amazing to have someone else feel emotionally moved by one of your songs to the point that they choose to record, release and perform it. Also crazy to hear another person’s interpretation of your melodies and lyrics. Songs can have so many different meanings and emotional responses, and I never realized the beauty in that until I started writing for other artists.
LM: Music is the language of emotions for sure! The upcoming EP, Get Me Outta Here!, is a bit of a coming out party as a singer/songwriter. When did you decided that the time was right for you to step into the limelight?
Amy Allen – Photo by Josefina Santos
AA: Ah, well, I’ve released records in the past under the name Amy & The Engine, but in the past year and a half – during which I wrote a LOT of songs – I really began to find my voice and figure out what I wanted to say in my music. Feels like the right time to put out my first record under my name.
LM: So you have this wonderful balance of dark, brooding lyrics blended with highly energetic pop vibes. What inspired this dichotomy?
AA: I’ve always found that my favorite songs that feel both genuine and timeless are usually ones that aren’t so easily interpreted during the first listen. Not every sad lyric has to live inside a ballad, and vice versa. I love when a heartbreaking lyric can exist within a beautiful, even sometimes uplifting soundscape.
LM: Well, you’ve found a wonderful balance and it is stellar. Get Me Outta Here! is filled with a bunch of fun, summery anthems. I know it is like trying to pick a favorite child! But if you had to pick one, what is your favorite track and why?
AA: All the songs on the record mean a lot to me personally and are pretty accurate representations of specific phases I was in over the past year and half, but the one that still hits closest to home for me is “I Had You”, which will be coming out this summer!
I feel like I will always be able to listen to that song and remember the exact room I was in when I wrote it and who I was singing it to in my head when I was playing it start to finish for the first time in my bedroom. I also feel like the sentiment of “I had love, love that I wanted to give, but you didn’t want it” is a feeling that we can all relate to at most times in our lives, whether we feel it with romantic relationships, friendships, etc. Just the want to be needed and to be apart of something bigger than yourself, but to be kept at arm’s length.
LM: “I Had You” is brilliant and we can’t wait for people to hear it. With the EP out soon, is there a tour in the works to support your new music? And we are secretly hoping you will make a Pacific Northwest swing!
AA: We will be touring the East Coast of the US this summer and we hope the rest of the country in 2018!
LM: Looking forward to it! Thank you again!
You can check out Amy Allen’s latest single, “Chasing Jenny”, below on SoundCloud. Also you can pick up the singles, “Chasing Jenny” and “Get Me Outta Here!” on iTunes now!
