Amanda Kaletsky
This week, we have the pleasure to feature a very talented artist: Amanda Kaletsky.
Born in the small New England town of Bethany, CT, Amanda was surrounded by a love of music from her parents and friends from an early age.
At 4 years old, Amanda began classical violin classes and by the age of 13 had taught herself both the piano and guitar.
Amanda developed her vocal skills with the nationally recognized Elm Citys Girls Choir from eighth-grade until the end of high school.
Armed with years of classical training, Amanda eventually focused her skills on singing and songwriting, which quickly moved to the center of her life, exploding when she reached the University of Delaware in Fall 2002.
One year later, Amanda won the Battle for Life competition, a battle of the bands benefit concert for children in Africa (previous winner was fellow Newark, DE band and current Wind-Up recording artist, Omnisoul). That night became an even more significant turning point in her career, as Amanda was introduced to producer Ritchie Rubini (The Caulfields).
Amanda's close collaboration with Ritchie Rubini has so far resulted in the release of 2 EPs.
Amanda's first EP, Wait, was released in 2005, and quickly sold out of its first run.
The second EP, Between You & Me, was recently released to rave reviews from Hawaii to London.
At 23 years old Amanda stands alone among the new surge of female singer-songwriters, offering a fresh new voice that rests on her natural musical talent.
Influences from the Supremes to Radiohead have blended together to form a unique and powerful artist. Amandas musical style caters towards pop, but is elevated by her honest and unique lyrics, balanced with refreshing melodies.
You can find more info about Amanda on her personal website, blog and MySpace profile.
Amanda was very kind with all of us donating one of her best songs: Everything Lies.
If you want to buy some more songs you can find them on Amie Street.
Below is a short interview we had with Amanda.
How long have you been singing? when did you decide you wanted to become an artist?
I started to take classical violin lessons when I was four and have been singing since before that—I knew how to read music before I knew how to read. I didn’t really take singing seriously until I was 13 when I had a small choir part in a play at the Schubert Theater (New Haven). From that moment on, I knew I wanted to sing and perform, and joined the Elm City Girls Choir a few months later. Around the same time I began teaching myself piano and guitar and started to write. Towards the end of high school, people around me started to take my songwriting seriously, so I did too. It was during college (the land of open-mics) that I started to really feel comfortable about pursuing this as a career.
Do you write both lyrics and music for your songs?
Yes, I write both the lyrics and music for my songs. I think being an only child I’ve always been used to doing things myself, and I find it comforting to sit alone and sort through my emotions for a song. Recently, though, I’ve started collaborating a little, which has helped my own writing. I had been in a writer’s block for a couple of months, when my producer and a good friend wrote some music and asked me to write the lyrics. It forced me to go about my writing differently and has helped me tap into another side of my emotions.
What does inspire you? what artists did influence you the most?
My biggest inspiration is the people around me, watching their emotions and how they handle situations. I try to take it all in. I also love watching other musicians. There are some amazing musicians out there right now that inspire me to be a better artist. I’ve been lucky enough to be exposed to lots of different kinds of music, and I think that’s really crucial in developing your own sound. I’m really inspired by artists like Carole King and Sarah Mclachlan, and bands like Radiohead, who have this amazing knack of taking a basic idea and twisting it in a way no one else would think to do. I’m also really moved by classics like Nat King Cole and the simplicity of that era.
Thanks to the Internet, things are starting to change in the music industry, it seems like there's a lot more space for artists to get out and build their own success. How do you feel about it?
I think the internet’s been a bit of a double-edged sword. With sites like MySpace, AmieStreet (I’m up to 22 Yen on the Japanese site!), and internet radio stations, you can reach people you never would have been able to get to before. It’s a great time to be a musician, because there are more ways than ever to get your music out there and connect with other artists and spam bots. The other side though, is that anyone with a guitar and a microphone can put their music out there, so things have gotten a bit diluted. There’s a lot of music to sort through, and you have to hope people don’t get frustrated. The record labels definitely have their work cut out for them!
What do you think about Music Milker?
I’ve always loved cows! No, but seriously, I’m really moooved by the moooriad of mooosic that’s on this amooozing site.
Thanks to Amanda for taking part in Music Milker!
