Meet Amava, your new favorite pop powerhouse. From Nashville, Tennessee, Amava has proved that Nashville has more to offer than just country artists. We sat down with her (Over facetime of course) to discuss her progression as an artist, her biggest inspirations and the release of her newest single “Fever dream”.
Small Talks: First of all I wanted to thank you for taking the time to talk to us! Can you give us a little introduction?
Amava: Hi, I’m Amava. I’m a pop artist originally from the Pacific-Northwest and I am 23 years old.
Small Talks: Where does the name “Amava” come from?
Amava: I know I didn’t want to go by my actual name, Madison Slicker,
because I wanted to create this elevation of myself and who I was so
when choosing a name, I wanted something that immediately resonated
with me, as Madison. There was a bunch of names I was looking at but
none really felt like they stuck except for this one and I was kind of
sitting with it for a few weeks and when I was on a road trip with my
best friend Norina, she was taking this name that I really liked and
kind of trying different variations of it and she said “what about
Amava?” and I pretty much said right there “that’s it.” It felt pretty
much right immediately and I feel that I’ve really grown into the name
as who I actually am and not like this alter ego.
Small Talks: Since the release of your double single “Blush/Waves” in 2018, how do you feel you’ve grown as an artist?
Amava: When “Blush”/“Waves” came out I already knew who I wanted to be as
an artist but I felt like I had big shoes to fill in order to be Amava
and not just Madison acting as Amava. “Waves” was actually the second
song I ever wrote for myself as Amava, and I was really proud of it
since it sounded how I wanted to sound at the time. Since those songs
came out in 2018, I took a year off from releasing music, and then
released “Bodybag” this year. I feel like the time away from releasing
music was very important to my growth as a writer, and allowed me to
come into my own as an artist. Around that same time I also started
taking vocal lessons and I think that really paid off.
Small Talks: Who are some of your biggest inspirations, in or outside of music?
Amava: I’m constantly so inspired by all the powerhouse pop girls out
there right now, it’s incredible to see their work ethic and the drive
they have within their artistry. I’m always looking up to people like
Dua Lipa, Charli XCX, Phoebe Bridgers, Sasha Sloan and then of course,
Lorde. Outside of music, I look to a lot of forms of art for
inspiration like visual art, fashion, cinematography, and creative
writing. As an artist, I’m a very visual person and constantly looking
to the arts and the people behind those works for inspiration.
Small Talks: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never listened to your music before?
Amava: I would say my music is unashamedly pop, and music you can dance to
in the dark. All of my writing comes from a place of high emotion, so
when I write I usually try to finish the song the same day I start it
since I am an immediate satisfaction person. I want the feeling that
inspired the song to be consistent throughout and not change, or morph
if I try to write it over multiple sittings. I want every song to
sound different from one another because each song comes from a
different feeling, and I want to reflect those unique experiences in
each song. My aim with my writing is to share the full range of
emotions I went through while writing the song.
Small Talks: Going along with that, do you feel that being in Nashville has influenced your sound?
Amava: When I first came to Nashville back when I was 18, I was actually
writing singer-songwriter style music and that quickly changed as my
musical taste expanded and was influenced by all the different sounds
coming out of Nashville. Nashville is obviously very well known for
Country music but there are these amazing hubs of different genres all
throughout the city. There are these incredible pop artists, producers
and writers here and we all kind of influence each other and it’s a
vibrant little community here.
Small Talks: You have very strong branding, how does this play into your music process as an artist?
Amava: As I was saying before, I’m very much a visual person and I want the way I represent myself to also represent the music I write. I’m
never afraid to be a little left of center when it comes to what I
wear or what I put out there because I feel like fashion and makeup
are some of the most enjoyable parts of my image, and I feel like that
expression is very much in line with the energy of my music. I’m not
afraid to go overboard with the glitter, pastel makeup, or graphic
eye-liner. I wore this amazing, gigantic tulle dress for my first show
back in February, and I really want to continue experiment with
fashion as I get more and more opportunities to do so. I just want to
be over the top all the time with what I wear and how I wear it, and I
want that to show.
Small Talks: Your new single “Fever Dream” drops this Friday, can you tell us about the writing + recording process?
Amava: It was actually the first song I wrote on my own after a 10 month
writer’s block and I started it on my acoustic guitar back in the
summer of 2019. I had the line “I miss our fever dream”, and as I was
expanding on that, it kind of turned into a song about longing. I
describe it as my breakup song with the summer and how I can’t handle
bad situations without a little self-sabotage, like cutting my hair or
selling off everything I own. It’s kind of about misery but in the
warmest times. The amazing producers I worked with really took it to
the next level by creating a track that felt like that sort of “sad
but happy” feeling that I wanted to encapsulate.
Small Talks: Do you have any goals for 2020?
Amava: Right now, one of those goals is to write as much as I possibly can
while I have all this time, and to try and push boundaries while I
can. I’ve been writing a lot of different sounding songs and I want to
channel this nervous energy I have regarding the world right now into
my writing. I also want to create a lot of new content for my upcoming
releases, and am learning how to use a video editing software so I can
be more involved in that process. I have some of my favorite songs
planned to be released in the summer, and I really want to make those
releases special in all the ways I can.
Small Talks: Anything else you would like to add?
Amava: ‘Fever Dream’ out Friday!!! I’m so excited and I’m really looking
forward to that being out there! Also, stay at home if you have the
privilege to and help flatten the curve! Also, get some sunshine if
you can, a lot of us are not getting enough Vitamin D right now. <3
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