AMANDA EASTONAMANDA EASTON
By Nicky Baldrian
When Amanda
Easton's cd arrived on my door mat, the first thing I though was
WoW, what a classy looking lady. Upon hearing Amanda's
self-titled debut album for the first time I was left with a
satisfying taste of dance mixed with pure AOR and pop. What an
unusual mix I thought to myself so I decided to investigate
deeper(in case my ears were deceiving me) into the cd's grooves,
and in all honestly Amanda's record is hugely enjoyable, despite
the dancey grooves that accompany her songs. All you have to do
is look under the dance grooves and you will find pure AOR/POP
a'la Richard Marx. And the good news is that it works extremely
well and will most certainly satisfy the tastes of fans of the
aor/pop genre.
I also discovered a few mind-blowing facts about Amanda, which
led me to the conclusion that she is an honest and humble human
being waiting to be the worlds biggest star, so read on and make
sure you invest in Amanda's record. It's alarmingly good.
Nicky:- Tell me
about your acting history?
Amanda:- My first acting job was at three years of age. I played
a cow (a singing one of course) in the kindergarten annual play.
Couldn't get me off the stage after that!. My mum chose my middle
name (Clare) because of Clara Bow the silent screen actress and
I've been fascinated with the movies and theatre ever since I can
remember. From my big kindergarten debut I went on to lead roles
in every school play from then on, then went on to major in
theatre at university. I did a lot of co-op theatre after that
and small parts in independent movies and TV soaps. All through
this time I studied acting part time as well. When I was in Japan
I did a supporting role in a black comedy film. To be honest, as
much as I love acting, singing took over and has been my main
focus ever since. There are a few movie projects and potential
acting roles coming up though, and it is
something I would like to do more of and improve at!
Nicky:- What made
you choose to perform music as well as acting?
Amanda:- I don't think I chose singing - it chose me! I think
most singers sing because they have to. It kind of bubbles up
inside and you have to let it out! I found this out as a singing
cow at the age of three! I started studying classical piano when
I was seven and then a bit later guitar too, so I can't remember
music not ever being a big part of my life. I actually always
most wanted to be an actress, but the singing took over like a
parasite and I had no choice but to put all my focus there.
Ideally I would love to do both together, but at this stage of my
career I've found that my whole energy is needed to get where I
want to go as a singer/songwriter, so the acting gets dragged
along behind.
Nicky:-Out of the
two which would you say best represents who you are as a person?
Amanda:- I think the singing is most 'me'- singing involves a lot
of acting anyway. Imagine you've just been in a traffic jam for
an hour, you're running late, you walk through the door of a bar
and a smelly drunk guy breathes in your face and spills his beer
down your top...and you have to get up on stage and sing a love
song. To do that convincingly, you have to be a good actor. You
may have felt very loving when you wrote that song, but you don't
necessarily feel that way every time you sing it! This is lucky
for me, because with my current focus on my singing, I don't feel
like I'm missing out on anything - I get to act all the time and
be on stage as a singer anyway. Singing and acting are both
fantastic means of expression and anyone who knows me knows I
like nothing more than to express myself!
Nicky:- How did you get involved in the
tv series Home And Away and what was it like?
Amanda:- Home and
Away was fun! I never had a major role, but being in something
that so many people see in their living rooms all around the
world, every night, is pretty cool! We always got fed well (this
is an important criteria for me)! All the actors were great to
work with - actually the only tantrum I ever saw was from a
director who was having trouble with really noisy insects when we
were filming a caravan park scene. I got involved in 'Home and
Away' the traditional way - just auditioning through my agent.
Nicky:- Musically
what are your inspirations?
Amanda:- Longevity is really important to me - I look at people
like Tina Turner, Diana Ross and even Madonna and I envy that
fact that they are still doing what they love after so many
years. I want to have a worldwide recording and performing
career. I want to be in the position to be offered really
interesting musical projects and travelling everywhere to do
them. Ok I admit I do want to be a 'popstar' - but not in that
nasty manufactured way - I want to control my own destiny, write
and perform songs I love and if other people like it too, all the
better.
Nicky:- What was it
like working with Tom Cruise?
Amanda:-The first time I met him I think I just gaped. I wasn't
actually a huge fan beforehand, but in the flesh he has such
amazing 'star quality' or charisma or something indefinable that
makes him DAMN attractive, physical attributes aside. It's not as
if I got to know him really well, but he certainly came across
like a really down-to-earth, friendly person and watching him
doting on his kids was gorgeous! On set, because he was producer
and lead actor, he was very efficient and commanding in a very
professional way.
Nicky:- Tell me
about your new movie ?
Amanda:- My next movie project is called 'Second Best Bed'.
Nothing has been finalised yet but if all goes to plan, I will
play the lead role - a singer trying to make it in the sleazy
independent music scene - sound familiar? It's being described as
a musical road movie - lots of flashy characters, comedy and
drama, lots of new music. Of course there's a love story in there
too. Casting hasn't been finalised yet but hopefully it will
begin production later this year. A couple of my songs have been
chosen for the soundtrack too.
Nicky:- Tell me
about your time in Japan and what you did?
Amanda:- It's hard to condense my Japanese experience into a few
paragraphs or minutes, but I'll try! I was singing with a
soul/rock band about 6 nights a week and song-writing with a guy
I met there too. Even more than usual I lived as a night owl. I
worked in a couple of different clubs and in some them, we didn't
start playing till after midnight and sometimes finished at 6am -
so it was a very strange lifestyle. There were hostesses at some
of the clubs too which was a real eye-opener for me. The whole
thing about a very male-dominated culture was hard to take at
times. The Japanese people I met would often say 'oh you are
strong woman, maybe you won't be able to find husband!'. I'd take
it as a compliment. Most Western women would be considered
'strong'. I saw a lot of the seedier side of Japan, including the
yakuza (mafia) who of course run a lot of the entertainment
scene. When I did get to travel around though, I saw a lot of
beauty in the country and even though I've travelled
a lot around Europe, the US and Asia, Japan would have to be the
most intriguing, mysterious and beautiful place I have ever seen.
I still keep in touch with friends I made there.
Nicky:-Tell me
about your current band line up and what you have achieved so
far?
Amanda:- The live band consists of guitar, bass, drums and
keyboards and it's a different line-up depending on who's
available! The guitarist, David Goesch, is pretty much the only
constant member, because I also co-write with him and he plays on
a lot of the recordings. One of my producers, Michael Carpenter,
also sometimes plays bass or drums. But because it is a 'solo'
rather than a 'band' project, the guys who I perform with don't
necessarily play on the recordings. And even though the
recordings have a lot of samples and electronic stuff happening,
I really wanted it to be 'real' when we play live. I've been
lucky always to have great players, so although we rock harder
live, it ends up sounding just like CD, only better I think! I
think we've played
just about every room in Sydney, as a band, including
universities and some festivals, but the next step is to play to
support the first single, when it gets released.
Nicky:- What is
your fondest memory?
Amanda:- Luckily for me, I can say there have been plenty.
Sometimes it's the small things that mean the most. I remember
the first time David Goesch and I performed these songs to an
audience. We had a pretty important gig coming up and hadn't
'aired' the songs yet. I don't like it when songs are virgins -
they need to have their cherries popped to really be good live!
So we just turned up at a local pub which supports original music
and asked if we could just get up and play - just David with his
acoustic guitar, and me. Well the band that was already there
just started playing along with us even though of course they had
never heard the songs before. And the audience even started
singing along even though THEY'd never heard the songs before. I
was so inspired - I think I was walking on air for two days after
that!
Nicky:- Tell me
about your debut album?
Amanda:- Well it's been about two years in the making and was
only ever meant to be a bunch of demos, but the producers did
such a great job,everybody encouraged me to release it
independently, in a bid to attract the attention of a major
label. I'm right in the middle of negotiating the distribution
deal now, so it's not actually on the market yet...but not far
away. I'll get to go into acting mode again in the next few
weeks, while we make the film clip for the first single. The
concept of the film clip is inspired by the German movie 'Run
Lola Run'.
Nicky:- What has
the reaction been toward the album?
Amanda:- So far it's been great - it's very scary letting the
fruits of your blood, sweat and tears out into the world for
everybody to comment on, but the advance copies we've given to
reviewers, industry people and even friends, has been better than
I ever hoped for!
Nicky:- Do you play
live?
Amanda:- Performing live is where it's at, for me. I see
recording as a necessity to get the music to a wide audience, but
it's when I'm actually on stage in front of an audience that I'm
in my element. Because I'm a professional singer, I perform live
at least 4 times a week. But I play about 3 times a month
promoting my current music. It's hard to play music to people
that they are not familiar with, but our audiences and gradually
growing and when the album comes out, hopefully we'll play more
and more and in bigger and better venues.
Nicky:- What is
your dream?
Amanda:- My dream has changed, well, grown, every year. I
remember when it was my dream just to get one gig, that is that
someone would actually pay me to sing. I've been able to make a
living from singing now for a few years. Now it is to have a
recording career that is successful in many places around the
world and of course tour everywhere with my band. Assuming I
achieve that, I know that I will want to develop my acting career
too. I want to be in the position that other artists I admire
will want to work with me too i.e. George Michael will ring me
and say 'G'day Mandy, how would you like to do a duet with me for
my next album?' Meanwhile I will have a few houses in different
parts of the world where I will live with the people I love, lots
of cats and dogs and exotic animals and be very generous to my
family and friends. I don't want much!
Nicky:- What is the
scene like for rock music in Australia?
Amanda:- A lot of people complain about the rock scene here.
Apparently in the 80s it was great - there were hundreds of great
venues that were always packed out and bands like INXS and
Midnight Oil become successful by playing live. This is not the
way so much now. Dance music has taken over to a large extent and
a lot of people go to clubs instead of live venues. But rock is
still probably the most popular genre in this country - at least
from a record-buying point of view. Australia is such a small
country population-wise that most artists look to overseas
markets pretty quickly. Even if you have a number one single
here, doesn't mean you can even live off your music. With the
internet and communication improvements in general, I see music
as less belonging to the country of the artist, as to the whole
world!
Nicky:- What is
next for Amanda Easton?
Amanda:- Well, I'm in negotiations for something really
interesting, pretty much as we speak - I promise I'll let you
know if it comes off - but it's not definite yet so I have to be
vague. Apart from that there is the first single release,
followed, of course, by world domination!
Nicky:- Finally
anything you would like to say to your fans here in the UK and
Europe?
Amanda:- I'd like to say that I really want to come and visit you
in person - it's been my aim for a while to get over to the UK
and Europe and do a tour, so I hope you'll come out to see me
when I'm there. I'm also trying to get to Popkomm in Germany this
year. Until then, please visit me at www.amandaeaston.com, join my mailing list and drop me a
line!