Name: Amber Nicholson

Nationality: American
Occupation: Singer, songwriter, educator
Current release: Amber Nicholson's Far Away Dreaming is out now.

If you enjoyed this interview with Amber Nicholson and would like to stay up to date with her music, visit her official website. She is also on Instagram.



When did you start writing/producing/playing music and what or who were your early passions and influences? What was it about music and/or sound that drew you to it?

I started piano lessons when I was in kindergarten and fell in love with all types of music. It was empowering for me and still is. Writing came much later in college.

When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you’re listening and how does it influence your approach to creativity?

Instrumental music helps me relax and focus. Music with vocals requires a lot of active listening for me.

If it’s something I like I’ll start singing along, mimicking the attitude and seeing how it feels in my throat, head and body so that I can replicate it later on my own.

How would you describe your development as an artist in terms of interests and your approach to creativity?

There’s the famous quote from Picasso “Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist”. This was my approach for a long time, wanting to learn about what came before me.

Eventually this approach felt restrictive and I needed to try creating something that was completely my own without worrying if I was doing it correctly.

Tell me a bit about your sense of identity and how it influences both your preferences as a listener and your creativity as an artist, please.

Anything is fair game to me as far as listening or creating at this point.

Since my preferences are mostly traditional, my music is going to funnel into a familiar sound even if the initial inspiration is more abstract.

What would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and art?

The more I mature into myself, the more I want to connect with people through my art.

So when I sit down to write a song I’m thinking about how I can be honest about who I am and express myself to others in a way that isn’t redundant.

How would you describe your views on topics like originality and innovation versus perfection and timelessness in music? Are you interested in a “music of the future” or “continuing a tradition”?

I’m definitely interested in continuing a tradition. I feel happy to keep the types of music I love going, but through a modern perspective.

Terms like perfection and timelessness are subjective so I’m not too concerned with those aspects anymore.

Over the course of your development, what have been your most important instruments and tools - and what are the most promising strategies for working with them?

I grew up playing on my grandmother’s Steinway, a baby grand, which was a beautiful instrument to learn on. For gigs I love my Nord keyboard.

But regardless of any equipment, discipline and consistency have been the most important things in my development.

Take us through a day in your life, from a possible morning routine through to your work, please.

I’m a night owl by nature, but mornings are really useful when it comes to harnessing creativity. On a perfect morning I would carve out time to practice or write.

Later in the afternoon I’ll be working with my students, teaching them what I’ve learned about piano and voice. Or if it's the weekend I’ll be preparing for a performance later that evening.

I’m fortunate that my schedule is completely centered around all things music in my local bubble, I do not take it for granted.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of a piece, live performance or album that’s particularly dear to you, please?

On my song “Oh (Where Are You)” the piano part came first to me, which laid the foundation to shape the melody and lyrics around my feelings that day.

When I took it into the studio I knew I wanted gentle instrumentation. A cello, upright bass, acoustic guitar and subtle drums rounded it out nicely.

I don’t write parts for the other musicians - I love hearing what they naturally want to contribute.

Listening can be both a solitary and a communal activity. Likewise, creating music can be private or collaborative. Can you talk about your preferences in this regard and how these constellations influence creative results?

I prefer to write my songs alone and then take them to other musicians when they’re almost complete.

Playing live with a group is where the real development takes place, so I might need to go back and adjust lyrics or chords once I get a better idea of how the song feels with the band.

How do your work and your creativity relate to the world and what is the role of music in society?

Music can be used for so many different purposes. For me it’s about self expression and an emotional release.

Art can be a way of dealing with the big topics in life: Life, loss, death, love, pain, and many more. In which way and on which occasions has music - both your own or that of others - contributed to your understanding of these questions?

I tend to write music once I’ve reached a conclusion on how I feel about something.

All of these experiences are inevitable. It's vital and validating for me to turn them into opportunities for self expression.

How do you see the connection between music and science and what can these two fields reveal about each other?

I see science as a tool to help understand what happens in our bodies and brains when we hear and experience music, whether we’re creating or listening.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn’t or wouldn’t in more ‘mundane’ tasks?

In order to write or perform music you have to master some fairly mundane tasks first (scales, literacy, etc). Once you can find the joy in that it's going to spill over into other areas.

From time to time there are stretches where I feel musically uninspired and want to throw myself into other hobbies. For me it's about just being curious and learning with no pressure involved. I always come back to music, but that’s probably because of my personal desire to write and record.

I would never want to place a limit on what is or isn’t considered exciting or art to someone.

Music is vibration in the air, captured by our eardrums. From your perspective as a creator and listener, do you have an explanation how it is able to transmit such diverse and potentially deep messages?

I think it's about communicating passion more so than receiving literal vibrations in an eardrum.

I also think about Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony being written after he had been deaf for nearly a decade. So I would say it goes back to the brain more, and our undeniably human need to form deep connections.