Interview RSS The Exclusive MP3.com
Interview Podcast Audio Amp Fiddler
Afro Strut

His name is fresh in the ears of many, but Detroit-based singer, producer, and keyboardist Amp Fiddler has a resume that dwarfs many of his better-known brethren in the soul/funk game.

Fiddler has worked with the likes of George Clinton's Parliament and Funkadelic groups, the Brand New Heavies, and Fishbone, as well as his own 70s doo-wop group, Enchantment.

Fiddler is now two albums deep into a solo career that has seemed to draw on all of those experiences, mixing the electronic funk for which Detroit is Mecca with some buttery soul and R&B. Popular success in the US has so far eluded him, but DJs know him as the guy whose record is bound to elicit the obligatory, "Who was that you just played" question.

Fiddler spoke to MP3.com about the long delay in getting US distribution for his 2006 album, Afro Strut, focusing on long-term success, and taking his music on tour.

Hey, Amp. It's Jim Welte at MP3.com. How are you doing man? I'm good. How are you? Good. You got a few minutes? Yeah, I do. Absolutely. Cool man. I wanted to start off by asking, we just got a copy of [new album] Afro Strut, and I think it must be a little weird for you to have an album that you put together so long ago just finally getting released in the US. Is that kind of weird to you? I mean, you've been sitting on this for almost a year now. I don't feel it is weird, just different, I guess, 'cause I'm happy that they finally found a situation to present it here. So I'm kind of happy about it. Of course, as you said, it is kind of weird that it's taken so damn long, but it's just what it is to me. I just accept everything as it is. It's still going to be new to people here, so... That's all that matters. It's cool. Yeah, that's what's most important that it's happening to me. I'm happy about it. Right. It sounds like you just kind of take it as it is, but did it take you a while to get used to the fact that, you know, you have a sound or at least a style that has been getting a lot of attention in Europe and in the UK for quite some time but, you know, it's been hard for people in your home country and even in your hometown in Detroit to get at, just to find your stuff and to hear more about you. Has it taken you a little while to get used to that fact? I think that's the hardest part. It hasn't taken me a while to get used to it because it seems like my life has always been like this, period. It's always been a lot of work to get the exposure that I need to get out here, and that's every place, including Europe. Okay. And the work has been just as hard over there as it is for me here. So it's a struggle, and I just think that I just have to remain focused, and I've just been trying to stay true to myself and do whatever it takes to make it reach people and get exposed to people, performing and interviews like this with you. Absolutely, yeah. Now, I mean, I'm always curious for people like yourself who have a very distinct style that doesn't, you know, these days everything is so easily categorized and so easily labeled that when you don't fall into like an obvious bucket, this person sits right here and they sound just like this person. Ha, ha. You know, if you have a distinctive sound or sound where you can't just say, 'This person equals this person,' kind of a thing. It makes it a little bit harder for you to get the word out. It does. Now, I think that's the thing that makes it a little difficult and I'm aware of it, so I kind of--it's kind of like a pace, and it's a nice pace because the difference is that a lot of people who are here who have similar sounds who've been the category are easily boxed. To an extent. Right. Yeah, you know what I mean? Right. You can easily find a category to put them into, but I think that I like the long run and the long haul and the fact that it's a slower movement and maybe it sets me apart from the others in that sense. Absolutely. And if I can make that happen for myself, then it sets me in a place by myself too, which is nice. Right. And from the creative standpoint, actually, I would imagine you have more freedom in a sense. A lot of times if somebody gets boxed in to a sound, and then the next record, you know, moves a little bit in one direction or another that people say, 'Oh, well, that doesn't sound like the last record.' That doesn't sound like what you're used to. I'm not going to buy it. Exactly. Whereas if you establish a little bit of an experimental reputation or the ability to kind of do whatever you want and stay true to yourself, then your fans will come along for the ride. I think that's true, and I think that people respect you more and that they know what to expect that you're trying different things and you may be a little more innovative, so they can expect that they may have a surprise and they're looking forward to that. Absolutely. And I like that. I don't think I go too far, but I definitely think that I do some things a little differently than most people do. For sure. In my type of a genre, I would say. Yeah. Well, one of the tracks that obviously stands out on the record is the track with Corinne Bailey Rae, "If I Don't." It's a very jazz cat kind of style that, you know, people have heard before. But it has a bit of an off-kilter kind of a take on it, which I found incredibly compelling. Oh, good. How did that track come about? How did you guys get together? Was it the kind of thing where you had been hearing about her? Obviously, she was creating a ton of buzz in London, you know, in late '05, early '06 and that kind of thing. That's right. She was. Yeah. Give me something on how that came about. Yeah. I think that song, I wrote it sitting at the piano here at home. And I just kind of went back to where I was in 1989 and '90 when I wrote the first album my brother and I did called Mr. Fiddler. It was kind of like a take on the '40s in a sense. It's kind of jazz oriented. And when we finished it I had some conversations with her camp, and I met them at a show that they did in Texas. And, of course, her record was doing really well, and I love her voice, and her husband is also a fan of mine, which I found out. Oh, cool. Okay. That's always good to know. Okay, this is good. So when I went to see them, it was really cool. And I suggested I maybe do a remix for them, and she said, 'Cool!' you know, 'What song?' And I did this, the remix for 'Enchantment.' Oh, yeah, okay. And their manager was saying, you know, 'What is Amp going to want to do the remix?' And I said, 'Well, I just want to, maybe we collab, she'd collab something with me for me doing the remix for her.' And that's what happened. Oh, cool. We just sent them the song, and she liked it. Nothing better than a little barter exchange. Yeah, exactly. Absolutely. Keep the check books closed and make it happen regardless. Yeah, yeah, and let the music stay creative. Now the other track I was interested in was "The Scared /Afro Butt Interlude." That very much sounds like something that stemmed from like a jam session type environment. Is that the case? From "Afro Butt"? Yeah. Yeah, it is. I did a couple of different versions of "Afro Butt," and because we had a cap on the album and I couldn't put all the songs that I wanted to put on there, we decided to use an interlude, so you're not hearing the full song. And the one with Tony Allen, which is really cool, and the one I did with some cats here myself with this drum machine, and both of them I really love. And "Afro Strut" is that kind of song that I could always put any kind of arrangement on, on a live show. Yeah, that's what I was going to say. It sounds like that. Yeah, kind of [do it] in different ways. Yeah. 'Cause I'm using a Parliament song now with it, so it's kind of cool the way that I'm kind of presenting "Afro Strut" in a lot of different ways as a title. I mean, "Scared" was a song that I did with Morgan Spacek's brother in London. Okay. That I guess I was just inspired by all the drama that's going on with terrorism and the way that we're kind of being pushed sometimes into being afraid of different things, and it kind of makes people not want to travel. I heard people say things like, 'I don't want to go flying right now. I don't want to go anywhere because of this and that.' And there's a lot of things like propaganda that makes us believe that it is necessary to be scared. Right. Absolutely. And I had a lot of women friends and one in particular friend who I was going out with at the time that I just felt like, okay, don't be scared. I'll be down for you. And that's kind of like what that song is about. That's an interesting take. There's an article about Merle Haggard in a recent Time magazine. You know, he's the country guy who's been around for a long time. Yeah, of course. Yeah. You know, he was a long time Reagan Republican and all that, and he's made a big switch in the last like year or so. And his big thing is all about that fear aspect that, you know, we've been programmed to fear, except we don't really know what exactly we fear. That's it. It's like you know you got to take your shoes off at the airport, and you know you got to get all your little, your cosmetic whatnots, in a little plastic bag, right? But, you know, no one really knows like to the extent that. What we're actually being scared of. Yeah. Exactly. You know, if you keep using that word 'terrorist,' and it's not a consistent thing, so why are you keeping us so afraid? Exactly. Or why are they trying to keep us so afraid? So I think it's an important issue, and I think it's a good, and it's a funky track, you know. So that [makes it] cooler. Absolutely. If you can make fear sound funky, that's about as good as it gets, right? The funk has always been scary, hasn't it? That's quite right. Hey, so what's your plan for, you know, the US kind of roll out of this album? Are you going to do a tour in support of it? I'm definitely going to do a tour. Oh, cool. I have to. I think that it's going to be imperative for me to come out in maybe probably January, February or something. Of course, it depends on the success of the record, but I think touring is part of what makes it successful. Absolutely. Yeah. And I love that part of the record industry. I love touring, and I love performing. So I think that's the sh** that I need to be doing. Yeah, for sure. Now what would your live makeup be? I mean, will you go full band style and everything? I just came from a month and a half tour with my band overseas. So we've been working. I've been promoting it at every step. So it's been a full band. I don't have a guitar player, but it's two keyboard players, including myself, bass, drums and two background singers. Perfect. Two vocalists. So it's been bang on, man, it's been good. Fantastic. So you're probably going to do a US trek sometime, like January or February or whatnot? I'm hoping so, yes. Well, we look forward to catching you when you're in San Francisco. I'd love to come out again. Yeah, maybe we'll have you, we'll figure it out between now and then, but we'll have you come in and we'll do a sit down in-person style instead of this phone business. Man, I'd love to. All right, man. Well, thanks a lot for taking the time to talk to us. All right. Thank you. Thanks. I appreciate it. Have a good one. Bye bye. All right. Bye.