Our recent conversation with a versatile artist ‘åMBe’

Today on our Hot Seat we have a versatile artist åMBe . Due to her sheer talent she has been able to get attentions of the critics and appreciation from her fans as qell. Here is our conversation with her about her life and music.

Twist Online : First of all tell us about the start of your professional career?
åMBe :  Both of my parents are professional musicians, so I never really had a question or a second thought about “who I was going to be, as well as who I wanted to become”. I don’t remember, but my parents swear that I was the one to decide that my main instrument was going to be violin. Thank God though. I started to learn the violin at the age of 4. Simultaneously I started to study piano, as a second instrument. My parents had no doubt that I was doomed to do music professionally.

I was sent to a special music school for gifted children – a boarding school in Kharkov in Ukraine. I was the youngest child to ever attend the school. And, apparently, the loneliest. I was not even 6 years old when I started to live without my parents, 5 days a week, seeing them only on weekends. For a few years my mom almost literally lived on a train between Russia and Ukraine, just to see me for an hour and bring me some food from home.

There were some children in my school who lived in the same city and they lived at their homes with their parents.. We called them “the rich”. I remember myself among the other “proletariat” stealing some bread from our dinning room.. 🙂 We also were known to steal apples from a local grocery store. But don’t tell on me, please.

Almost right away I started to compose some music and songs. When I was 7 I won the International contest of young composers in Kiev. It seems I’ve been going downhill ever since. LOL.

Twist Online : Who or what inspired you as an artist growing up?
åMBe : In my parents home my father was always playing some avant-garde jazz records. My mother was listening more to pop music like Michael Jackson, Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder and also some classical music from both sides. Personally, i loved Rachmaninoff the most. And Michael Jackson.
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Twist Online : Tell us about your recent release?
åMBe :  “Enemy of the People” is an 8 track album that  we really put all of our heart into. We have been able to be just purely creative, with no limits, no dos and don’ts. The main idea of  my producer was to let me be the most ME that I could possibly be. The most artistic and musical self I have ever been before and even more than I guessed that I could be. I went through some painful periods when I couldn’t write at all. Whatever song I started just seemed to be not good enough and not myself enough. But I’ve learned a lot about out-of-the-box thinking, and discovered a truly new dimension of my creativity.

I love this album endlessly. And it has nothing to do with it being mine. On the contrary, I am always so full of self-doubts and questioning “if i am good enough”, and wondering if an artist next door is doing it so much better than me, so that I just need to go and become a janitor. I am still questioning myself this way quite often.. 🙂
I only hope that my modest attempt to share this little inner universe might be of interest to someone else in this world.

Twist Online : I recently came across your video ‘IDCNM (I Don’t Care No More)’ and it was so touching. What was the inspiration behind this?
åMBe :  Smile:) Well, originally I wrote and recorded this song with just violins and minimal piano accompaniment, as an acoustic song. I was a little upset with someone I was very close to, and I wanted to sort of manifest the idea that I didn’t need anyone at all to do what I want to do and to be what I want to be 🙂 The feeling  was sort of like: screw them all, i don’t care any more. But of course, and as usual, it’s clearly the opposite of how my real feelings were. 🙂 I recorded myself playing about 60 tracks of live violins and violas, starting with just one violin pizzicato and then developing it into a full chamber orchestra. Just in my own bedroom in one night.
Then, the next day I showed it to my producer and he wanted to do something with it. I was very skeptical, (of course,since so much of my pride was put into it :)) But he tried something cool, putting some electronic influenced drums there with the my violin. I was at the same time blown away as I was taken aback. We started to experiment with synths, drums and rhythms, even changing the time signature completely from a ¾ waltz to a straight 4/4 feel.  We also playing around with resampling and manipulating the already recorded violins. Then it became a totally new creation with a life of its own. And we called it “IDCNM” but we also left the original name in parenthesis. It was really cool to see how the song came all the way from minstrel magic to ethereal electronic.
Twist Online : What is your favorite music genre?
åMBe : I would not be answering correctly and speaking the truth trying to answer this question. I love what moves me, and it’s not about the name of it and in which box it sits.

Twist Online : A blend of classic and modern music in your work makes you unique. Is it natural or time earned?
åMBe : I think it’s just naturally coming from my genetic makeup, my father was a classical pianist and composer, and my mother was a trained pianist and singer as well. It also comes from my musical education, that is mostly very traditional. Although, I remember my younger self secretly hating it in my school, and only enjoying listening to Sting and Pat Metheny, and improvising by myself in complete darkness, playing on the piano and singing, sitting in my room.

Twist Online : What are your future goals as a music artist?
åMBe : I would like to have a chance to share my music with the world and to get people to really love it, that would be pretty awesome. 🙂
We have a video coming in the next couple of weeks, then a couple more singles and videos, leading to a full album drop on ADIM Records in late September-October. The name of the album is going to be “Enemy Of The People”, and this name has a whole family story behind it..
We also plan to start touring America and Europe in early 2017. And of course, writing the new album, making new videos, and getting ready to play bigger and bigger shows.

Twist Online : How active are you on social media ? What’s the best way to follow you?
åMBe : I do have an Instagram twitter and facebook.. I love checking and posting some pictures and posts.. though i’m not considered to be good enough at social media networking for nowadays:) It’s ambemusic on facebook, instagram, twitter and soundcloud:
https://www.facebook.com/aMBeMusic
https://twitter.com/ambemusic
https://www.instagram.com/ambemusic
https://soundcloud.com/ambemusic