An Interview with L.A. Weekly Songwriter of 2005, AM

For more about AM and his music, read here.

Michele M. Gardiner:
What made you decide to do remixes of your song 'Mainstay'?

AM:
Basically, I'm not ready to release another album yet; not that I don't have the songs. I've got enough songs for four more albums, but this record is my first and has steadily been gaining momentum (with no real distribution or promo behind it).

I wanted to give people here in L.A. something new and different that still pointed back to the first album. I was also lucky to have a couple of remixers on hand that were really excited about doing it. I'm really proud of it. I know nothing of the electronic world, so this was as much of an experiment for me as I'm sure it will be for those that hear them. I should also mention that the remix EP contains a CD-Rom version of the video so people can watch it on their computers.

MMG:
Regarding your video that debuted July 18th - was that your first? Can you tell me a bit about the making of it: location, concept, anything?

AM:
Yeah, that was my first real video. Locations were pretty much the streets of LA. It was total "run and gun," lo-fi style. Our budget
was...well...tiny, so we got creative. And I think it turned out really cool.

MMG:
I see from the messages on your web-site, (www.AMsounds.com) a lot of people found you due to your song, 'Losing You,' being on MTV's 'Real World,' Philadelphia. Has that changed your career at all?

AM:
It aired on the final episode of "Real World." When MTV contacted me about the song I was excited, but honestly didn't think many people would notice. Next thing I knew, people were e-mailing me left and right. I was selling albums and people were downloading the song like crazy; in fact, they still are. I guess I was wrong.

MMG:
Do you think the fact that you grew up in a relatively small, rural town somehow helped to create the artist you are?

AM:
I think growing up in a small town (after living in a bigger suburb--Tulsa, OK) and then moving down to Louisiana (at age 14) helped expand my musical horizons. In Tulsa it was about pure pop. Radio. Dad had all the 70's and early 80's gems. I think the first record I bought was Michael Jackson's "thriller." Not too interesting considering he sold millions - but when I moved to Louisiana I was exposed to the more rural sounds of blues, bluegrass, jazz and funk. All that stuff has worked its way into my music. I still write pop, but the groove element is pretty consistent.

MMG:
How old were you when you bought your first guitar?
What drove you to want to play rather than just listen?

AM:
A friend of mine once said to me as we watched the "Sweet Child o'
Mine" video from guns n' roses "Hey, wouldn't it be great to play guitar?" At that moment I asked my father for a guitar. He bought me one, and I've played ever since.

MMG:
Did you have one of those epiphany moments, where you just knew music was 'it' for you, or did it happen gradually?

AM:
I think I always kind of knew, but there were times when I questioned it. In college I was focused on school. Aside from a few musical projects where I was just a guitarist, I remained fairly out of the loop musically - but somehow I knew once school was over it would be time to dive into music full-time.

MMG:
Is there anything about your childhood, your past - other than listening to music - that you believe allows you to bare your soul to the world?

AM:
All the best songs come from painful memories. My childhood was actually very sturdy, and I have amazing parents. But everyone has pain in there life, and it's those moments that make a more lasting impression on you. Good memories come and go; painful ones stick around. So...nothing about my upbringing was tragic - but I've definitely been a victim of emotional abuse, deception and heartache which I believe everyone has at some point in their life. But I certainly know people with severe tragedy in their lives. That's not something I've had to go through, thankfully.

MMG:
I read that you studied philosophy. Was that during college in Louisiana? Why did you decide to study that subject, and would you say it influences your writing?

AM:
Yeah, at Loyola University in New Orleans. It was the only thing that interested me, probably because it was intense - and you get to read a lot of great books. It was the only subject that questioned existence and dealt with the real issues people think about. It deals with the stuff you're too afraid to think about... as does music (at least the music I tend to like). I always thought music and art was the place where you could say what you're too afraid to admit. That's why people love it so much; people love vulnerability because they feel they're not alone.

So, yeah, reading books definitely inspired me musically. I like to question things.

MMG:
I'm listening to your C.D. again, and again... and wonder if you can tell me why your songs so often focus on searching, waiting, running away, and, as you say, "watching all the moments adding up to nothing" Does it have anything to do with why you chose to study philosophy?

AM:
Hmmm... Good question. I think all that stuff is what we do as humans. It's pretty vague, and I think people can appropriate those themes to their lives easily. After all, that is what pop music is: popular, easily applied.

MMG:
How has your music changed since coming to California? In your bio, you mention the pop sensibilities and songwriting being different here.
What do you mean? Why didn't you feel inspired to write songs in Louisiana?

AM:
In New Orleans there was not much of an outlet for pop music. Many musicians I knew in New Orleans are still there. Playing the same old
gigs. Being a pop songwriter, or wanting to be at that point, I figured I needed to go where pop thrived - but, more importantly, where anything could thrive. There is everything in LA. In New Orleans there is something very special musically that you can't find anywhere else, but that provincial nature dominates most of the scene: jazz, funk blues is where it's at...and that is what I like to go and see when I'm visiting back home. But pop music? Virtually nonexistent.

MMG:
You don't find the record industry here in L.A. confining?

AM:
Of course I do. The first year or so in LA is the most brutal. You quickly realize how the industry operates, and you're innocent idealism that you moved out here with is quickly destroyed. But that is also a crucial moment in being a musician. Knowing how fucked up the business is. Are you still willing to do it? That is when most people decide to stay in the game or pack it up and move back home.

MMG:
I read on a web-site that your producer Jamie Myerson said, 'I have a test when I decide to work with someone in any capacity. AM was willing to take the test.' (source:http://mountainrecords.com/index.asp)

So...I'm wondering, what was this test?

AM:
I think what Jamie meant was the desire to work hard and have a hand in your career. The days of some manager babysitting your career from stem to stern are way over; artists have to work these days and many give up when they're faced with that reality. You have to earn the right to have other people doing stuff for you. What are you doing for yourself? Why would someone want to invest their time and money in you if you don't work hard? That involves anything from booking shows, promoting, putting a band together...you know - the hustle.

MMG:
I'm amazed that you only recently started to write songs. You never wrote at all before - not even poetry? Did you do cover songs when you performed in Louisiana?

AM:
When I was a teenager (15, 16, 17), I played in a cover band in my
hometown of Mandeville, Louisiana. We played everything from the Beatles to Nirvana. I was just a guitarist then though. As I said, I've only been writing songs a short time (a few in New Orleans, but I couldn't even sing and play guitar at the same time). I only started seriously songwriting a few years ago. But I suppose those years in the cover band had some kind of subliminal influence though. I was really much more interested in guitar playing. The idea of songwriting at that age was foreign to me.

MMG:
Besides music, what are your other serious interests...anything else that gets you as excited?

AM:
My favorite thing to do, besides play and listen to music, is watch films - especially films from the 60's and 70's; that was a different caliber of film making. Everything was so...rich and cinematic - more artistic and soulful. It blows my mind how many amazing films were made during that period, and how many I still haven't seen. Thankfully, I have some friends with incredible taste in films from those periods and they are kind enough to make me lists.

MMG:
Which films in particular?

AM:
Kubrick's "Lolita," pretty much all Woody Allen-- his new one "Melinda and Melinda" is genius; all Nicholson ('Easy rider,' 'Cucko's Nest,' 'Carnal Knowledge' and 'Five Easy Pieces,' especially); Mike Nichol's "The Graduate"; Terrence Mallic "Days of Heaven," "Badlands"; Sam Peckinpah's "Straw Dogs"

As far as newer films I think "Melinda and Melinda" and "Closer" (Mike
Nichols) were my two favorites

I could go on forever, but those are some of the all time favorites.

MMG:
I heard you've been listening to Brazilian music lately.
Would you, or have you, blended Bossa Nova into your
music? I would love to hear what you'd do with that.

AM:
I actually have a song that'll be on the next album that has a
Bossa/Samba feel. I can't wait; however percussion itself is going to
Be fairly prominent on the new record. I'm still a pop writer, but now I'm a pop writer that is listening to Bossa so it will undoubtedly be reflected in my writing.

My favorite Bossa from that period are the bands that blended American pop with their own Bossa roots: Jorge Ben's "Quen Nega Esse" is a prime example - but then again I love Jobim's "intentional" style, too; well thought out compositions. Jorge Ben was more raw. Kind of like the difference between Lennon and Mcartney. The intentional verses the raw.