Electronic duo, Simon and Clarice, better known as AMETHYSTS, have made tremendous success in the music world climbing the charts on music platforms, such as Tradiio. The Suffolk locals’ chemistry between each other bleeds into magic on the tracks, “Alone,” and “Wreckers,” amongst showcasing their talent with their recent cover of Calvin Harris + Disciples’, “How Deep is Your Love?,” which is a beautiful version of vocals supporting each other, intertwined between guitar riffs. AMETHYSTS are creating their own voice, as a new artist, with their innovation, inspiration, and creativity that swirls around more than the electronic genre, but of an emotional depiction into audible waves. I had the pleasure of asking the duo some questions about their latest session on BBC Essex Introducing, new music, and the sound they are creating for the world.
I know you guys just finished up on BBC Essex Introducing, which is exciting- how was that session?
Simon: It was great thanks, fun little interview as well. It was a little stressful cause we normally play with lots of reverb and use a lot of drum loops and guitar effects, but this session was completely stripped back; just acoustic guitar and vocals and no effects.
We have another session coming up with BBC Suffolk Introducing towards the end of the month which we’ll be playing with more of our full set up. We’re filming it as well!
Being a fresh new artist, what do you feel that you need to show new listeners about Amethysts?
Clarice: We want to be perceived as having a new fresh sound. We have a lot of influences in a range of genres, both old and new and we like to bring them all together when we write.
How did Amethysts come to be?
Clarice: The two of us have played in bands together for a few years now, but we had never written together before. We used to get a lot of comments on how we bring out the best in each other musically when performing so we decided to try writing together to to see what we could achieve as a duo.
One night we started jamming around some new ideas together and after some red wine and Simon playing silly guitar solos we came out with “Alone.”
Being a duo, are there any disadvantages that have made you think outside of the box musically?
Simon: Definitely for our first few live shows we’ve had to think how we can represent our sound well. We’re basically running samplers, synths and drums all into a looper and building up the tracks live (which is exciting [be]cause one bad loop and the whole song is screwed haha!)
We have been offered quite a few gigs up and down the country recently which we are starting to put together a full live band for, So this will all be coming together in the new year.
I really enjoyed your Calvin Harris cover, “How Deep is your love.” How did you guys decide to arrange that song? What made you guys choose this particular track?
Simon: We’ve actually had the guys from BBC Suffolk ask why we chose this song (I don’t think Richard is a big fan of the original). We basically wanted to take the original and reinvent it and make it more us. We swapped the main riff in the song for a guitar, and tried to give the whole track a more ethereal atmospheric feel.
Your music seems to put a listener at ease, but also carries a vast amount of depth emotionally, such as on the track “Wreckers”- was that the initial goal when constructing your songs?
Clarice: Without sounding sappy, we love emotional music. Simon went to see Bon Iver live at Wembley and I think he might have cried at one point… We always try to find a balance between having a good hook and an interesting blend of instrumentation whilst also capturing an emotional depth within the song.
What are your guys’ musical influences?
Fleetwood Mac, Bon Iver (We’re covering Perth in our BBC Suffolk Introducing session), London Grammar, Mura Masa, Radiohead, Rhodes, Daughter, Ben Howard, FKA Twigs, James Blake.
Is there a particular direction you strive to take with your music?
Simon: We just want to make music that intrigues people and that people want to listen to over and over again because they either feel a connection with the song themselves or simply just like the feel of it. Knowing people appreciate and enjoy the music you make can feel so special.
I know there are only a couple of tracks available that define your sound, so what can be said about upcoming releases?
Clarice: We’ve got a new single we’re working on at the moment that we’re hoping to release in the new year. We feel it is already achieving what we wanted it to by having that balance between the emotional depth and a catchy hook so people can relate to it well.
Is there a particular piece of equipment that you cannot be without?
Simon: I have a bit of a guitar pedal obsession, I have an addiction to buying guitar pedals, so I could say we definitely can’t do without my pedalboard… but that would be a lie. We do all our own production, so If we didn’t have the computer in the music room, we would be very stuck.
Anything else the world should know about Amethysts?
Clarice: A lot of people have been very confused by our name; we called ourselves Amethysts because Amethyst is both mine and Simon’s birthstone.
Discover more of AMETHYSTS and support them on Tradiio.
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