Meet Amie Blu, the South London singer who welcomes you with open arms

According to 21-year-old Amie Blue, emotional honesty is at the heart of her music.

“I think it shows how honest I want to be, how vulnerable I want to be and that I want to find people who can constantly identify with me in that,” she explains about her debut feature film project. how we losewhich arrives this Friday (July 19).

From the first listen, it’s clear that the South Londoner is a master at playing guitar-driven soul that can break your heart in seconds (see the rousing “Who’s He Gonna Take Home”).

She has also received great recognition from the London Gospel Community Choir. She told RS UK about the time she was thrown in at the deep end and one of her very first performances with the group was when she was a child spending Mother’s Day with her family.

Having also performed with the venerable Flames Collective, it now seems like the time has come for Amie to step forward and establish herself as a bold musical voice of her own.

Hey, Amie! How has your day been so far?

I’ve just come back from a singing lesson. When I first started in music, I found it hard to understand how important it is to look after your voice and how much work you have to put in to do it. So I need to learn how to be confident with my voice, but also the idea of ​​projection. I sing quite quietly because I sing a lot with the voice in my head, so I needed to learn how to project and go beyond that area. Singing lessons are just so useful.

You mentioned that you sing with the voice in your head. Are your songs an extension of that? There are some pretty personal themes in there.

When I’ve written songs, I take some time to figure out how to approach them and record them as vulnerable as possible when singing them in my head voice. When I have my chest voice, I think it conveys more confidence.

What does your first mixtape say about you as an artist?

I think it shows that I’m constantly evolving and just trying to move forward. I also think it shows how honest I want to be, how vulnerable I want to be as well, and how I want to constantly find people who can relate to me. Because I really struggle with writing something from someone else’s perspective. So I always want to be honest and I think anyone else can hear that and feel the honesty in these songs.

You touch on themes like toxic relationships and jealousy. Given the personal nature of your music, was it cathartic to process that in the music?

It may sound cliché, but music is real therapy for me. I often don’t really understand how I feel or why I feel that way. Then I put it into a song and get so much clarity about the situation or my own closure. When I don’t get that from other people, it just feels great.

Who are your musical influences?

It’s weird because when I was growing up my dad listened to a lot of rap and he was always explaining to me how important storytelling was, people like Eminem and Biggie. And my mom was really into Justin Timberlake and Alicia Keys, so I guess the melodies came from there.

When I was writing this project, I was listening to a lot of The Beatles and Billy Joel. I worked with a team of producers who were also happy to share what they were listening to with me and that was a big help.

What was your first notable experience in music?

Honestly, my earliest memory is when my family went to lunch for Mother’s Day and the London Gospel Community Choir sang at this restaurant. My dad asked the restaurant owner if I could sing and I didn’t necessarily want to be embarrassed but the song was “If I Ain’t Got You” by Alicia Keys and I did the chorus and thought that was it.

But the choir wanted me to continue and one of the members ended up being my singing teacher for a year or two. The validation and affirmation they gave me when they asked me to keep singing was just good, especially at that age. My dad always encouraged me to do things like that.

As far as gigs go, I’ve done shows with Mahalia, who is wonderful, I’ve done support slots with Christine & The Queens, I’ve done a show at Glastonbury and now I’m looking forward to my show at London’s Omeara later this year and the Deaf Institute in Manchester. I can’t wait.

And finally, this is our PlayNext series where you can introduce yourself to our readers. If you were put in an elevator, how would you describe your music for the duration of that ride?

I would say my name is Amie Blu. I make mostly sad music, but it’s really honest and very personal. And you should listen to it!