An Interview with Amo Amo
As a local LA County radio station, KXSC looks to support and uplift acts in the SoCal area. Los Angeles psychedelic pop outfit Amo Amo recently got on the phone for an interview with one of our DJs, J Shruthi. The band has nearly three million plays on Spotify, and has experience with multiple well-known acts including a prior gig as the backing band for Lux Prima. You can find them on social media at @amoamomusic.
--
With everything kind of shut down due to COVID - How has it been promoting [your music]?
[Amo Amo vocalist] Love Femme: We all needed to take a break. When everything started it was really unsettling and really isolating. I think we really just prioritized our emotional wellness and mental health. So much of what we do as musicians is just create music. Having to do promotion and pay attention to COVID all in the digital realm can be kind of overwhelming. We just got onto a new label, and we have a great PR and Management team - I’m really thankful to have a lot of people on our side to help us navigate.
Your group Amo Amo, where does the name come from - how did you come up with it?
LF: We came up with that name when we made our first record - we had had another band name but it was under a trademark. We had to figure out a new name so we ended up brainstorming on a big piece of paper in the kitchen. I had a song I had written called “Amo Amo” - we liked the sound of it. It kind of brought about the sense of what we really wanted the band to be about - consciousness, kindness and deeper thinking. We wanted to spread a message of love, inclusivity and unity. It was really cool to have to all sit down and decide what this band was about.
Your music has lots of psychedelic reggae influences; what attracted you to those musical influences?
LF: We are all independent - kind of like session musicians. Lots of the reggae vibes come from Omar and Alex - everyone’s tastes melt together. We have to try and find our own sound and be our own thing. We are certainly inspired by all different sorts of music but I wanna be more creative. It's about trying to do things differently and trying to create a more original way of playing.
Was there a collaborative spirit when it came to the making of this EP?
LF: For sure! We are mostly a live band - so we kind of had to reign it in. We can easily play three hours at a time and just get kind of weird. So basically what we’ll do is just have something recording, and play jams. We usually take a house and turn it into a studio for about a week to write our songs. We hatch little snippets of what we think could be a song and just elaborate on that. Getting it to a two/three minute song that can be on the radio has been a challenge - not in a bad way. We’ve been a band for three years now, so we have these psychic moments where we just look at each other and realize, that’s us, that’s it.
I saw in an interview that you prefer performing to writing and singing; with everything being shut down, have you been finding other ways to channel your creative energy?
LF: Honestly, all these protests and things happening really aligns with our message. We’ve been going to these protests and thinking about how we can actively be a part of encouraging positive necessary social change. We’ve been trying to educate ourselves on what we can do to help these different communities. What’s going on is really important; I can be a musician but I’m also a citizen of this earth, so the music ego kind of takes a back seat at the moment.
On a recent Insta post, you made an announcement that all the proceeds from Bandcamp will be donated to support the #BLM movement. Why was it important for you as a band to take that step?
LF: We are so inspired by black music - from Aretha Franklin to Stevie Wonder to Bob Marley. It's endless what these amazing people have given us over the years, and we are so thankful for that. We have a song coming out on the EP “Meteor Martyr” and it’s about how someone can be so inspired by someone’s art, music, or talent, and still not be able to see that person as a person with feelings and needs. We all have different life experiences, but we are all here. We all need the same amount of respect and acknowledgement for who we are as individuals. Black people are so damn important - they don’t just matter - they are magical, necessary, incredible people. These are members of our earth and society, and we have to take care of each other.
When you decided to create this EP, what did you want to achieve with it?
LF: This EP is inspired by coexistence, cooperation, and awareness. We wanted to make dance music that wasn’t about drinking. There’s a lot of amazing songs out there, but the content and the lyrics can sometimes seem pretty empty. We wanted to make dance music that people could move to — not only with their bodies but also something that could unify the mind. We wanted to talk about what we like to talk about. We love nature. There’s a lot of peace and beauty in nature. We wrote a lot of this EP on a writing retreat in Grassvalley, California so we were just having a good time and hanging out in the woods.
What was your most memorable-stand out- moment in the process of making this EP?
LF: For me, it has really been about getting to know these really cool guys that I get to play music with. We’ve been through so much together - being in a band is not easy. It's like a family - like a marriage - it’s really holding a lot of space for each other. I remember singing “Canta” and it just flew out - it was amazing! We had our writing challenges as far as lyrics go, but we really persevered. I feel so honored to create this music with these people that I really care about. As time goes on, and we get to experience more together, we are in a more cohesive creative space; that really shows in the lyrics and the consciousness of it all. I’m really proud of it!
Your EP Canta is coming out June 19th - how do you plan on celebrating?
LF: By giving a lot of money to Black Lives Matter! People should contribute however they can. This music is such a safe space for us, and it brings us so much joy. Everyone comes to this planet to have a good time. People may ask, why is all this suffering going on? But there’s also joy and so many beautiful days to be had here. I just want to celebrate by lifting people up - showing up and doing the work. I want to help make this a cooler place for everyone. What’s the point of having an amazing house if you don’t have a decent planet to put it on? We’re not ever trying to be preachy, but we really feel this shit. So yeah - I’m going to celebrate by learning, listening, and donating - and continuing to go to protests.
Canta will be released on June 19th on Pacific Standard Records.
- J Sruthi, DJ