The Explorer interviews Amy Kuney
Singer Amy Kuney sang at Moreau on March 18 and sat down with The Explorer to discuss herchildhood aspirations and experiences in a third world country.
April 3, 2009
THE EXPLORER: How’d you get involved with Moreau?
AMY KUNEY: My manager has been booking me at high schools for the last couple of months. I started doing universities but a lot of artists are doing universities, so we’ve been trying to go against the grain. A lot of times, I play for assemblies. One time, we made a mistake and I showed up at a pre-K. I walked in and they were so small, and I was like, “Oh no!” So I just had to make up some stuff, I just played piano and they fell asleep. The high school audiences are very receptive, though.
TE: How did you first get onto One Tree Hill?
AK: I played some songs for the writers of the show and we gave them my music. Mark Schwann said, “we want to use your stuff, we just have to find the right place.” It took them about a year.
TE: When did you start signing?
AK: I started singing seriously about four years ago, when I moved to California. I was living in Honduras. My dad’s a Baptist missionary and when I was 13 years old, we moved there for about 6 years.
TE: Have any of your Honduras experiences translated into your music?
AK: Most of them have. Between the ages of 13 and 19, which is when I lived there, were my molding years, when I grew up and become who I am. Spending those years there gave me a lot of things to write about.
TE: What are some examples of these experiences?
AK: Living in a third-world country changed a lot. I moved down there and I didn’t know the language or the culture. It made me grow up really fast. I was 13 living in the States, I was going to private school, playing soccer – I was doing everything most kids do. All of a sudden, I was living in Honduras. I didn’t know anyone, we had a house with 8 foot walls and razor wire around it, we had to have a body guard – just really intense things that made me grow up really fast. Also,when I was 17 years old, I was in Guatemala with some friends, and we were kidnapped and taken to a secluded area in the jungle. I was able to walk away from it. While I wasn’t hurt, it was an extremely traumatizing incident and that changed everything about me. Before this happened, I listened to what other people were writing, and I’d try to mock that –about friends and boys… I didn’t write about anything personal. After this happened, I had so much to write about.
TE: Where do you stand with your faith right now?
AK: When I came back to California, I stopped going to church because I was turned off by things I saw in Honduras. There are a lot of missionaries and spiritual people, but I don’t feel they should be representing God. I sort of broke off from the church thing, going every Wednesday and Sunday. I’ve been reading a lot of books about the Bible and Jesus and God. Right now, I’m just searching [for my beliefs.]
TE: What were some of your early aspirations (or did you always know you wanted to sing?)
AK: It’s kind of cheesy, but I’m originally from Tulsa, OK, and when I was about 12 years old, Hanson came out, and they’re from Tulsa. They started getting really big and everyone started freaking out, because no one famous has really come out of Tulsa. I saw that and I knew I wanted to do that. That’s when I started writing songs and dabbling in music.
TE: Do you have a special songwriting process?
AK: I have a notebook full of ideas and song titles. A lot of times, I start with the title and write around that. I have a recorder that I put melody ideas on and I just whip that out when I’m writing.
TE: What do you do when you get writers’ block?
AK: I stop writing. I’ll usually put it away and come back later. Or I’ll pick up a book or watch a movie that I think will help me. But I don’t believe in forcing it, because it’s not inspired, it’s just practice. I also have a rhyming dictionary, which helps.
TE: What do you see for yourself in your future?
AK: I want to keep touring. I’m touring with Kate Voegle this year. I’m trying to be on the road as much as possible and put out another album about a year and a half. I don’t try to plan out more than a year.
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