It was several months back that we had the pleasure of talking with international recording star, AMARU. Renowned for his endless creativity as a writer, singer, filmmaker, actor and more, just a few of his recent career highlights include having his new “I Got The Blues” music video win Best Music Video at the Gangtok International Film Festival in India. His video for “Gentle Giant” also ranked #1 in the Direct Monthly Online Film Festival, and he was welcomed as an Official Voting Member of the Grammy Awards! Ever the busy artist, Amaru was gracious with his time, and answered a few questions for us, in this brand new, exclusive interview…
MTS: We are so happy to welcome you back, Amaru! You’ve been up to a lot since we last spoke, but probably the biggest happening is your new single, “I Got the Blues.” What can you tell us about the single? What was the writing/recording process like, and is there a real person behind the story?
AMARU: Well, thank you for having me back, it’s much appreciated! Yes Michael, I very seldom do ‘nothing’, I’m always running around, keeping busy, always on the bread line, lol! Whether it’s in the studio working on my second album or on remixes or send my Instagram followers in a frenzy with some steamy pics and videos, I am always doing something. And so I released my new single ‘I Got The Blues’ not too long ago and it was one of those songs on the album that I thought deserved a proper release. It was written after a break-up, which left me in shambles, to say the very least. I have since bounced back, but songwriting is one of the ways I deal with certain issues, so I decided to turn flaw into fortune and hey presto, we have a new song on our hands! In addition to that I was heavily inspired by the work of the late B.B. King and Blues music in general when I wrote ‘I Got The Blues’. Another great musician that inspired the genre of this track was the late Prince. Many people may not know that he too was a stupendously gifted Blues guitarist. I wrote ‘I Got The Blues’ on a basic keyboard and I knew that I wanted a ‘bluesy guitar’, as I called it back then. Went to the studio and I basically sang the melody of the guitar to my co-producer Marcel van Ling, he played it on his Ibanez guitar and the rest is history.
MTS: The video for “I Got the Blues” won Best Music Video at the Gangtok International Film Festival this month. Congratulations! How did that come about?
AMARU: Thank you kindly. As an independent recording artist and small time filmmaker I do whatever I can to promote my music and the rest of my artistic body of work. There are so many film festivals who can assist in that promotion and the internet is a very useful tool in that respect. I submitted the music video for ‘I Got The Blues’ to a number of film festivals, all of which are IMDB qualified by the way and some of them have a monthly draw, some bi-monthly or annually. The Gangtok International Film Festival in India is a monthly film festival and they awarded my video the gold, so to speak and I am quite happy about that.
MTS: Do you think that music videos are an important part of promotion in this post-MTV world?
AMARU: I don’t think music videos these days tell the story about the song anymore, that’s for sure. In most music videos these days there is no relation between the lyrics and the visuals and I think that’s why the public has lost interest. It’s all about show and less about substance, if you will, at least that’s how I see it. For me the visuals have to match with the lyrical content and that’s what I always try to do in the production of my music videos. In this Youtube and Tiktok world we live in these days I do think that a music video can be a good promotional tool and the numbers on my videos on my official Youtube channel AMARU MUSIC don’t lie. I don’t bring in millions of views, but for an independent artist like myself tens of thousands are big!
MTS: Congratulations on your recent Voting Member status for the Grammys! What does that mean to you, and do you think that the Grammys are still the pinnacle of music awards? If so, why? if not, what is?
AMARU: YES, thank you! That is definitely a career highlight for me, considering that I am the first artist from my native country, I THINK, to ever become a voting member for the world famous Grammy Awards! What this means to me is that I can now contribute to the music community on a slightly higher level, I can let my voice be heard and I can help to shape the musical landscape in my own special way. I do think that the Grammy Awards are still the quintessential music award to this day and it is the dream of every recording artist to someday be awarded one of these, in my opinion they’re still very much coveted. To me they are the icing and the cherry on top of ones musical cake… and I love musical cake… LOL!
MTS: You had released a cookbook a while back…do you have any plans for a 2nd one, and what new recipe can you share with us?
AMARU: My cookbook “AMARU COOKS – A Touch Of Suriname Through Food & Anecdotes” was a finalist at the International Book Awards in California last year and I received my official certificate and documentation in the mail as proof. Man, I was very happy, despite the fact that I didn’t win, mind you! The book is doing well, I can’t complain and it is still in the running for another cookbook award. Those results will be announced in November of 2022 and I am not gonna lie to you Michael, I WANNA WIN!! Especially considering that my cookbook is the only available cookbook with recipes from my native country in the English language. In addition to that I am in the ‘Celebrity Chef’ category and I am up against one of the biggest South African artists, who has also written a cookbook… and again Michael: I WANNA WIN!! As far as new recipes are concerned, I am starting the production of season 13 of my award-winning cooking show on Youtube “Food & The Single Guy” this coming September. And as per me, I will try to dazzle you with not only recipes from the homeland, but also quick, easy and delicious pasta dishes, or salads… just good food! As far as plans for a new cookbook, I don’t have any yet, but who knows what the future holds!
MTS: Who do you look up to as an influence, not only over your music career, but on a personal level? Why?
AMARU: As a child I was exposed to an eclectic mix of singers, be it on the radio or the vinyl collection of my mother and the rest of the family. My earliest recollection of wanting to become a singer was when I saw the late Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton singing ‘Islands In The Stream’ on an awards show in the States. As a teenager and a child of the 80’s I was heavily inspired by Prince, Duran Duran, A-Ha, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Patti LaBelle and many others. And you couldn’t tell me that El DeBarge wasn’t my cousin, LOL! I even have pictures from way back when in which my immensely long hair was styled just like El’s. But when it comes to the vocals, I was and still am also very much in awe of the late Donny Hathaway, for instance. I cannot sing like him, although I try sometimes, but he is definitely one of my favorite male vocalists. I always tell folks “If I had ONE of Donny Hathaway’s vocal chords, I’d be a whore”, LOL! I’d have a truck load of groupies and no telling what I would be doing after a show and with whom… No but seriously, that man could sing his heart out with such ease. Peabo Bryson, Jeffrey Osborne and George Benson are other great singers that I admire. So I have learned a great deal from them, but I work with what I have, because that’s what I was blessed with and so far I’m making it work, not trying to compare myself to anybody, because we’re all unique.
MTS: Thank you, Amaru! We look forward to catching up with you again in the near future…
For more information about “I Got The Blues” visit https://www.amaru.nl/i-got-the-blues.
For more info on AMARU, please visit https://www.amaru.nl/.