Amethyst Michelle Q&A: The Whole Band
Q: How did you guys all meet and what made you all want to pursue music?
Amethyst Michelle, Lead Singer: I’ve been a songwriter and musician my whole life. Since I was a little kid I knew that I wanted to be a rock star, whatever that meant. I went to school for music business and was kind of starting to think about how I was going to make a career out of my passion. At the end of my time in college, I met Tanner. He auditioned for a project that I was working on because his wife, Kallen, was like you need to be friends with Amethyst, so you need to go audition for this project. After Tanner's audition, I realized that he was probably the best musician I was ever going to meet. I decided that this solo project was now going to become a band and we've been working on it ever since.
Tanner, Lead Guitarist: I knew music was always going to be a large part of my life, but, after high school, I was in this period of my life where I wasn’t going to make music into a career. My wife was encouraging me to do this project so I took a chance. It’s been really fun, we work on things together, and it’s been so freeing to have like an outlet, so I'm very grateful to have this.
Patrick, Bassist: Amethyst had invited me out to a show at Double Wide, and I was blown away. I just remember thinking, “Man, I want to play bass for them.” I knew at the time they didn't have a bass guitarist and I happened to play bass. So I kept going to shows and we ended up becoming friends. I filled in on bass for them a few times and eventually became the full-time bassist. It's been super cool because they made a really big impression on me and it was cool to get to be a part of it.
Christian, Drummer: I have known Patrick for a few years before joining. After a month or two while he was a fill bassist, he invited me to a show. I loved them and I started going to all their shows with or without Patrick. Eventually, they were calling for a new drummer and hosting auditions, and Patrick told me I should try out anyway, so I'm glad I did.
Patrick: All of my friends are here.
Amethyst: For a little bit of context, we didn't know that Patrick or Christian wanted to join the band, so we were actively searching for a bassist and drummer like the entire time that they knew us. Patrick was like dropping hints by buying new gear and I just like it went right over my head. Had we known they both wanted to be in we wouldn’t have been searching! It’s kind of funny, but even though we’ve had a bit of a roundabout it’s been really fun. We care a lot about community and we care a lot about the friendship we have together. It didn’t start that way- we were definitely professionals first, but now I would lay my life down for them. We fit very well together, so creating with them and working with them has helped fulfill a part of my 13-year-old self’s dream.
Q: What does creating a song together look like for Amethyst Michelle? Can you explain the collaboration process?
Amethyst: So it kind of starts with me, I have a song that I've either pre-written or I'm in the process of writing and I’ll pass it to Tanner. Tanner messes with it and writes a bunch of parts to it and then we come together as a full band and write the rest of it out.
Tanner: Yeah, Amethyst usually comes with a voice memo of her singing and playing on her guitar. I’ll listen to it, and I’ll musically take it all apart by writing new chords, inserting an interlude, crafting a solo, I’ll map out where I want a drum fill, and so on. I’ll share it and anticipate a lot of feedback. Amethyst always has a clear vision for the song and we are always talking about, how we want the song to make people feel. We want to draw that specific reaction out of them through the music.
Amethyst: Yeah, like our song “Forget” was supposed to be nostalgic and how we could express that sonically. “Shut The Hell Up” was supposed to be moody. When it came to “Where Have The Angels Gone?” I wanted it to sound desperate. Tanner’s so good at taking whatever emotion I want to focus on and creating that ambiance for me. It's sick we make a good team.
Q: Would you say that your live renditions of your songs are pretty accurate to how they're being recorded or have you guys creatively expanded each work in the recording process?
Amethyst: I think we played all of those songs live enough that they each kind of already evolved. Because when we first started playing live, those songs didn't sound like how they do now. After like several months and like 30 gigs later, they had kind of evolved and taken a life of their own. We're kind of experimenting with a couple of new songs in the set that are doing the same thing. One right now is “Collector's Edition”. We're not recording that until we feel like it has communicated to the audience what we want it to. Once it’s evolved enough, there's always stuff to change or add, but they’re pretty accurate to what we do live.
Q: How do you go about crafting your lyrics?
Amethyst: It kind of depends… I would say each song probably has about 100 drafts. For example, we’ll have a chorus that used to be a verse or a bridge that gets completely scrapped. Songwriting is a huge outlet because I feel that communicating in person is very difficult; I get a lot of anxiety. When the song is finished, it kind of helps me understand things because emotions are so complex. There are so many parts to one feeling, and if I can break it down into one statement, I feel like I've accurately at least communicated a part of it.
Q: Are there any particular themes that you find yourself writing about the most?
Amethyst: Yes, isolation. In the past, I have felt very isolated. I don't feel that way as much anymore. I think that it's really important to be introspective and honest with yourself about who you are and where you're at in life. “Forget” is a very good example of this. I wrote that a long time ago when I was feeling like, like very sure that people would forget about me. Now several years later, I know that that's not true, but it was true for me then. I focus on being honest about who I am, where I’m at, and what is real to me.
Q: So you mentioned that you guys went to Pennsylvania which was back in October to record your upcoming album. So talk to me about your trip. What was it like going out there?
Amethyst: For some context, we played a show with Flyleaf in April of last year, and, Josh, who is the husband of the lead singer, connected well with us and decided that he was going to take on our project. They live in Pennsylvania, and he has a home studio there which is tucked away in the mountains. So our entire week was spent there. We would wake up and go for a hike, drink some coffee, and then we’d go down into the basement and start creating. It was a really sweet time of connecting with our art and each other. I think that the seclusion of the moment was a catalyst for that.
Patrick: There’ve been certain points throughout our journey where I've kind of had this moment that “this is what we're going to look back on”. You kind of feel like you're making progress towards your dream. This trip was one of those moments. I felt like I was at camp with my best friends. Everyone was just so supportive and excited about this project, and we were giving it our all in a way that didn't feel like it was, you know, tearing us down.
Q: What was it like being able to open for Flyleaf? I know that that was their reunion with Lacey Sturm, so it must have been insane playing for a crowd of that magnitude.
Amethyst: Genuinely the craziest moment of our entire lives. We hadn’t played that many shows at that point, so we weren’t very sure if we were good. They started their reunion tour off with like a home show in Belton, so this was an opportunity for local musicians. We had so much fun! I mean, Sameer (Guitarist) was so kind! He let Tanner check out all of his gear. They were all so welcoming and they had so much to say. Lacey was super kind she talked to me a lot afterward about things we can be doing to grow; she was so gracious. They took time to interact with us, even though it was a day about them.
Q: Okay, so you guys have two new music videos out, all beautifully made by Asper Studios, what aspects of the songs were you visually trying to convey in your videos?
Amethyst: I feel very passionate about “Forget”. I wrote that song because I felt like every relationship ends and when it does you're forgotten and you're alone. And that's it- which sucks. It’s a very real emotion that a lot of people face. They feel like “Oh, if this relationship that I'm in ends then I'm forgotten and I'm not as valuable.” If someone dies, you're worried that if you move on somehow you're not grieving them properly. There are so many layers to the ending of relationships and the value that they have in your life. I wanted to convey that emotion, that feeling of what happens if everybody leaves. In the music video, we have a group of friends on a trip, and as the sequence of the trip repeats a person disappears each time until I’m all alone. I want to be clear that I don't believe that now because there are very few people that I have personally forgotten. I think that people do make an impact on one another and no one is truly alone. I also want to acknowledge the people who are feeling that way and let them know that their isolation is seen, valued, and understood by someone else.
Our other music video was for our song “Shut the Hell Up”. It was kind of just a vibe. I felt less strongly about what I wanted to communicate. It was more just storyboarding these ideas of someone who has been left. They are all alone and the words that were shared with them are now meaningless. Yeah, I think there were two thoughts that I was trying to communicate with the song “If actions speak louder than words, I'll shut the hell up”. That like selfishness, I thought was well communicated in the lyrics. On the other hand, I wanted to communicate that words mean nothing if there's no follow-through. I wanted the music video to kind of emphasize that part.
Patrick: There's also visual imagery in the song as well. And the music video that kind of ties that in. And I think the overall feel of what you were talking about with how you're talking about the composition of the music video. It kind of felt like it had that dreamlike quality to it like a memory.
Q: Where did you guys shoot the video? Was it in Pennsylvania?
Patrick: Funny enough, those mountains are AI-generated. There are a lot of backroads by where I live so we shot almost the entire thing in Krum.
Q: When I go see an Amethyst Michelle show, I’m completely locked into the performance. Where does the stage presence come from? Is that something that comes naturally or has this been rehearsed and practiced and now it’s second nature?
Amethyst: I cried at so many shows! Especially when we were starting… I would get on stage and I would leave and I would stop and then I would go back inside because it was so overwhelming trying to put that on. I looked up to Flyleaf so much as a kid- I wanted to be a rocker so bad. My entire life I've been like “No, that's who I'm going to be”. I went to school for music and people were like, “This is this just like not who you are.” And I was like, “Yes, it is.” So it's this mix of I love being soft and genuine, but I want to be brave and strong. We practice our stage presence all the time. I practice it in the mirror constantly. We have rehearsals and have our stage plotted out.
Patrick: You know, we all care so much about giving people a good show because they're there to support us. We're there for them. We have to make sure that we're giving them a lot of what they are paying to see. So it's really, it's been a lot easier as we move forward to trust and to commit to that essentially.
Amethyst: Concerts are an opportunity for human connection. You're connecting to the people in the crowd. You're connecting to the song and the person in front of you. Our stage presence is all about how to continue communicating these emotions and feelings.
Tanner: It speaks to the community aspect of what we do. Our stage presence wasn’t something that came naturally. I mean, as a huge music nerd, everyone's always talking about a show being an experience and a big thing. I'm like, I just want to go to the show. I want you to play exactly like the album. So in the beginning, I didn't have any of that stage aura. When I came onto this project, I was inspired we're doing this, we're putting on this show or making a spectacle, and like, just having the people here changes everything. Like you’re allowed to have a little bit of fun.
Q: What does the rest of 2024 look like for Amethyst Michelle?
Patrick: We’re glad you asked!
Amethyst: We're in the middle of a 12-month campaign that we started in November with the release of “Forget”. We are releasing a new single and new music video every other month, as well as their videos behind the scenes videos and acoustic versions. So as we work on that, at the end of the 12 months we will release the full EP. So that's really exciting! We’ve got many shows coming up, so we want people to come out while they can.
