Artist Spotlight: Amalie Bryde
Every artist is following their dream. It’s in the blueprint, to reach out and try satisfy an insatiable hunger for stardom and acclaim. Every journey is disparate, every desire is unique. Few, however, have had a pilgrimage as pure and persistent as Scandinavian Soulstress Amalie Bryde.
Born and raised in the depths of Denmark, Amalie now finds herself in London releasing her sophomore EP. Such a transformation cannot be done without drive, talent and courage, traits that Amalie lays bare in her story, her music and her character. Subtly sifting through Soul, Jazz and R&B, Amalie’s music is rich, emotive and idiosyncratic, texturally and melodically tenacious. Armed with a performance background, once the singer found the stylistic territory she wanted to invade, it was a conquering. A stunning vocalist and poignant writer, the Dane’s music swoons, sparkles and serenades.
June 10th saw Amalie unveil her second EP In & Out of Love, a five-pronged entrée of colour, expression and passion. The follow up to last year’s impressive Lay Down is a matured, focused body of work that sees Amalie thematically and vocally nuanced, with the self produced instrumentals brimming with depth and vibrancy.
In a refreshingly open interview, Amalie chats about her dazzling new EP, the ups and downs of artistic existence, and the inner struggles of self belief and empowerment.
Who are you listening to?
Denzel Curry, I loved his new album. I’m in a discover artist kind of mode myself. I love Pip Millett. The song I have on repeat right now is John Legend’s new song, that song makes me want to write.
What has your journey been to this point? How are you here, in London, with your second EP coming out?
I come from a small town in Denmark. I grew up in the countryside with no musical family. I was always the entertaining kid, I would make shows with my dolls. I started doing choirs in school and I loved singing so that drew me into music. When I was around 16 I started doing musicals and also liked to dance. I just loved performing. When I graduated college I moved to Copenhagen because I thought I was going to be a graphic designer, but instead I was offered a place at a dance school. I started dancing professionally so music was on hold for the moment. In that business I started meeting producers and realised how much I loved singing. I started being introduced to Soul and R&B and found my sweet spot. The producers I was working with in Copenhagen wanted me to do Pop or House and I didn’t get to explore as much as I’d like. The reason that I moved to London was because I wanted to perform everyday and I knew there was a big open mic scene here, I wanted to explore Jazz and Soul, and I wanted to meet my peers. I felt very alone in Copenhagen, I didn’t have a community or friends with the same ambitions. I wanted to have fun with music. People in Denmark used to tell me I only had one shot, but I want to grow, I want to build something. Now I call London home and I’m very glad I moved.
What you said there about finding your sound really resonates. It definitely epitomises you and suits you as a musician.
I make music that moves me physically, because of my dancing background. It’s very important to me that there is a groove. There is also a jazz influence. Lyrics are also very important to me.
Where does your passion to consistently create come from?
My upbringing. My mum is very creative but easily bored, she will paint for 5 months then get bored and she’s done with it, whereas my dad is the business mind of the family. He taught me about getting things done. He always said to us - “it’s not about being good, it’s about being the best”. He taught me to finish my work and always research everything thoroughly.
The UK R&B and Neo-Soul scenes right now are so crazy. Within that, it can be hard to stand out and find your pocket in which you can build an audience. How do you think you stand out from that?
The reason that I stand out is because I’m me. Everyone is unique. I’m trying to find the recipe the stand out, I’m trying to follow everyone’s advice on how to stand out. I can only do so much. I feel like I’m doing the right things, yet I don’t think I’ve received enough attention as I would have hoped for by now. It’s totally out of my control. I think it’s more important that I stay true to myself and be consistent. It’s easy to give up and say I’m tired of this. I’d say I stand out by not giving up. I really want to perform more too because that’s a way that I stand out.
Lyrically, you often explore themes like self-empowerment and femininity. Why do you choose those motifs?
It’s what’s on my mind, all the time. I’m a very reflective person, and at a time I was very much into stoicism which allowed me to see things more black and white. I often have those dialogues in my head, questioning why I can’t tell myself the things that I’m telling my friends; that they’re beautiful and strong. It’s a reflection of what’s going on at the moment in my life. For example, ‘Stranger Inside’ is actually about myself, getting to know myself because sometimes I’m saying things in my own head that I have no idea where it comes from because that’s not who I want to be.
How have you worked on perfecting your writing between the first to the second EP?
It comes with educating yourself and being continuously curious. Listening to and studying other artists too. I love this guy called Pat Patterson, who is a teacher at Berkley and has a lot of great YouTube videos, who invented object writing, which taught me a lot. English isn’t my first language, which in some ways I think benefits me as I have less restrictions, but the object writing taught me to tune in and translate my senses. It allows me to tell stories through my writing. Also, with the EP being self-produced it allows the sonics to add to the story. I tried to translate the lyricism into the production so it together becomes a story.
How are you feeling about the EP dropping?
I’m quite neutral. I’m not sure I understand that it’s coming out because I’ve been postponing this since November. Now it doesn’t feel real, I’m in the heat of the moment. I’m in the business mindset, I haven’t figured out if and how I’m going to celebrate.
Your inclusion of Svetlana on the project was refreshing! Why did you choose her and what did she bring to the track?
We met at an open mic and had been chatting for some time. I really wanted to collaborate and write with her. I love her writing, she’s so different. I invited her to my studio and we just tried to write something and this is what came out! There was no pressure. The idea of the track is that you yourself are enough, you don’t need boyfriends and romance. I really hope this EP can help me get in contact with more artists! I’d love to start doing more features.
What are you conveying with the EP?
The song’s keep swapping between being in love and not. It’s that whole back and forth feeling. It’s a reflection of life, and how everything is so up and down, but at the end of the day it’s all about finding the love within yourself and that everything will be okay. That’s why it ends like ’Like This, Like That’, it’s saying let’s just take life for what it is and enjoy it.
If you were introducing yourself to a new listener, what track would you play them?
I think Say What It Is because I think it showcases me as an artist, the vulnerability in my vocals and my vocal range.
What’s to come from you?
After the EP, I have my tour. After that, it’s mainly about collaboration. I have some stuff in my catalogue ready for release but I want to find a feature. The reason why I moved here in the first place was to be a part of something bigger, and I feel like it has been a lot about me so far. I want to be a part of something that reaches more people. I want to get back to the mentality I had when I moved to London which was about having fun, meeting people and celebrating others.