Local artist, Ame speaks about experiences, new music | News, Sports, Jobs

Amelia, known on Spotify and various media platforms as performer “Ame,” is described as a sultry, R&B/pop artist. Now based in NYC, she blends her upbringing and life experience into her authentic sound, creating something completely new in the music world today. She aims to create a sound that makes you want to move, feel sexy and be empowered.

Despite just releasing her last song, “Me & Somebody’s Son,” Ame has been hard at work creating her next hit.

“Let Me Love” is described as her ode to Virgos. The song is about relationships with people who don’t necessarily let you in and treat them as they should be treated.

Ame released “Me & Somebody’s Son” in November 2022 as a glimpse to the crazy dating scene she experienced in New York. She describes the song as, “a new dance pop meets R&B track that is all about being single and the constant dating and crazy stories that can go along with that. It represents New York’s hectic dating culture and all the crazy stories that come with it.”

PHOTO PROVIDED
Ame performed as the opening act during San Diego Pride in July 2022.

She wrote both songs with the help of Paul Couture, a multi-genre music producer and songwriter based in New York.

Originally from Austin, Texas, Couture has an extensive list of individuals he’s worked with. He began his journey in the world of production in 2012 when he produced the viral hit “Love is Overrated” for Malibu hip hop artist, Shwayze. His unique output of material continued throughout 2012-13 as he worked with artists like Akon, LMFAO and Jackie Cruz (Orange is the New Black), as well as Chelsea Handlers’ “Are You There Vodka?”

Couture earned production and writing credits on releases from prominent artists such as Skrillex, Wiz Khalifa, Maliibu Miitch, A Boogie Wit da Hoodie and Ludacris.

He had his breakthrough year in 2019, collaborating with imprisoned New York icon Max B and co-executive producing the critically acclaimed “Coke Wave 4” mixtape alongside Moroccan rapper French Montana.

Ame was enthusiastic about working with Couture, having met him in a bar in New York coincidentally. They spoke briefly about their respective music careers, but hadn’t tried to work together immediately. They kept in touch and built a friendship.

“Eventually, once I was signed to a label and able to be taken seriously, I presented him with the concept for ‘Me & Somebody’s Son’ as well as ‘Let Me Love’ that will come out later. He loved it and we started working together,” she said.

Couture had just built his own studio in New York, so they had a place to record. She claims that the experience was well worth the cost.

“It took around four hours to record ‘Me & Somebody’s Son.’ He was building the beat in real time. I learned so much about music, recording, the process and songwriting in those four hours. We moved things around and wrote on the fly. I learned more there than in my four years of college — working with someone who really knows what they’re doing was cool,” said Ame.

She first got involved in New York during her time in Philadelphia. She was doing theater there and decided to try going to New York for auditions. She started by taking the bus, a relatively cheap and easy way to get in and out of the city.

“I would wake up at 4 a.m., get to New York by 5:30, go and sign up for auditions all day and then wait around until they started at 10 a.m. After that I would just hang out until the bus came to pick me up at 6 p.m.,” said Ame.

This, she claims, is how she started loving New York. She chose to move there after realizing she was spending so much time there during the week anyway — it just made sense. She’d been teaching in Philadelphia at the time, and figured she could do that from anywhere.

Growing up in the local community, Ame has attributed much of her musical determination and finding her voice to her family and environment she was raised in.

“I actually grew up singing at church with my dad and his worship dance. My dad (Bruce Wallace) was the pastor at East Main Street United Methodist Church, the Castenea and Laurel Run churches, too. I grew up singing with him and his church band,” Ame explained.

Her parents, she claims, have been her biggest supporters. Despite not traveling much outside of Lock Haven, Ame says they’ve always been there to nudge her along.

“They’ve always been there pushing me to be my best, even when I was really young. I remember one time I came home I hadn’t gotten a part in a show. All my friends got a part. Their response to that totally uplifted me and helped me push through and keep auditioning,” she said.

Her parents weren’t the only ones in her corner. She has a huge support system throughout the local community, New York and in Philadelphia.

“My friends are huge supporters as well. I have a really big support system in New York — they’re like my family, too. Carly Bechdel and I grew up together. She’s a huge supporter for me. I recently got in touch with my birth family in Philly as well,” said Ame.

She learned that her aunt is a stylist who worked on a lot of different TV shows, and actually lives ten blocks away from her place in New York.

Ame’s aunt has created some of the fashion for her shows, citing the studio shots with her bangs being an outfit that her aunt had styled. She also typically styles Amelia for her shows and makes sure she looks good for premieres, the exception being the Pride events she’s performed at.

She remarked that she felt right at home during the Pride events. She had the opportunity this past summer to perform for San Diego Pride, New York City Pride and New Jersey Pride.

The entire experience, she says, was a mixture of exciting and scary. She opened for Snow Tha Product — a rapper from San Diego — at San Diego Pride. Ame was happy to admit that she’d been a fan of hers before she started doing music herself and described being able to open for her and for Gaia as “an incredible experience.”

“(San Diego Pride) was nuts. You couldn’t see the end of the crowd. I would look out and I couldn’t see anything. Seeing the stage before the crowd was nerve wracking but amazing,” she said.

“When I got the call from my manager telling me I would possibly be playing these Pride Festivals, I burst into tears. I thought that was so amazing that I can enter into this space of love and acceptance as an ally and have everyone want to hear my music. I was constantly surrounded by the LGBTQ+ community for my whole childhood. They helped raise me and taught me a lot about myself, being an adult and growing up. “

Ame has done shows at Millbrook since she was 10 years old, and to her, her cast became her second family — her “Hairspray” cast especially. It was this experience with Millbrook during her youth that helped her thrive as well.

She got involved with Millbrook performances when they began holding auditions at the local churches. She describes her time there as “the pillar of her performance career.” She did musical theater for a long time afterwards — went to college for it, graduated, did tours — and only quit theater a few years ago when she felt there wasn’t as much variety.

With an extensive list of theater performances on her resume, Amelia has had quite the background with the stage even before her time as a musician. Rolling with the punches is something that every theater hand knows, and no doubt helps with her performances now.

“During my set, Me & Somebody’s Son was my second song, and the power on the whole stage went off mid-song. Lights, everything completely shut down. My dancers and I kept dancing until it kicked back on,” said Ame, “The crowd went wild — and by that point they’d caught on to the song and started singing along. It was a really incredible moment — I got to throw my jacket off and rock with the crowd. No one knew me and no one knew my song. Me & Somebody’s Son wasn’t even out yet — I’d just worked on it with Paul and started performing it during my sets.”

Though her career in New York is taking off, Ame still makes time to come home and find her center.

“I love the country. When I’m there I get to relax more and breathe. I wrote my song, “Focus” in Lock Haven. That was in a time when I was really unfocused in the city. I went home for the weekend, and went and sat near the High School. I wrote it in 20 minutes. Home brings a center of peace for me,” she said.

When she’s in Lock Haven, she said she feels totally alone. In New York, you can never be fully alone — there’s always someone nearby. Lock Haven is a great place to recharge.

“Growing up I would always say ‘I wanna be a popstar!’ but that sounds so childish. To be able to be here and discover a whole new life of music and finding myself through music? Getting to make connections and meet new people? It’s a very different world. I’m thankful. It’s difficult but it’s a lot of fun.”

Recently, Ame has landed a feature for “Me & Somebody’s Son” with female rapper Londynn B, from the Netflix show “Rhythm + Flow” with Cardi B and Chance the Rapper. The version of the song with this feature will be released soon.

Ame’s next song, “Let Me Love” will be released sometime in the next few months on various music platforms. A YouTube series titled “TBA: To Be Ame” is also in the works.

Keep an eye out for Ame’s songs and music videos on her social media!