AmbeR Rubarth Interview: Summer of 2010

My original assignment was to interview several bands that were lined up for the SXSW (South by South West Festival) that was being held in Austin, TX during the 3rd week of March.

Amber was one of the folks on my list so I looked for her on the internet through Twitter http://Twitter.com/AmberRubarth and Facebookhttp://Facebook.com/AmberRubarthMusic. She was easy to find, and I set up the interview with her via an email address on her linked website. While I was waiting to talk to her, I listened to her music and found I really enjoyed it.

Back in March, when I spoke with Amber, I found her to be genuine, caring and soulful. Her songs dealt with personal challenges, and I just got the feeling she was going to be going places.

During the interview for Spinner, I found out she was learning Japanese for her pending tour in Japan. She wanted to show the people that came out to see her concerts that she respected them, and it was really important to her to be able to communicate with them in their language. She also wanted to get to see the country and cities, and learn about the region. This made me respect her even more. This girl is a winner.

During my first interview, I asked her if I could interview her again when she came back to the states, to hear how her tour went, and she agreed. Here is the exclusive interview!

Where are you right now?

Well, right now I'm living in Santa Monica. The ocean and the beach are nearby and I'm staying here for the next two months working on some new material. I'm writing and recording, and very glad to be here. This is the first week that I've had some down time probably since we last spoke.

How was your tour in Japan?

Well I had been there once before, to study Aikido, which is a Japanese martial arts technique that focuses on self-defense . This was the first time I was there for my music. I was traveling with Jim Bianco http://JimBianco.com and the whole trip was incredible. It felt like a dream. The shows were amazing and we arrived in peak week for cherry tree blossoms. It was beautiful and I felt so alive.

I had stayed up the night before we left, so when we got on the plane in San Franciso, I was tired and slept most of the flight. We were met by our promoter, Keiji Matsumoto-san who met us at the airport. He took care of our itinerary, our shows, where we would eat. He really took amazing care of us. The trip was a 10 day tour but we crammed a lot in those 10 days.

We started in Osaka, playing a custom hand built venue. Then we went to Kanazawa, Shizuoka, and Kamakura, and all the people we met were amazing.

We traveled by train the entire time. They are so fast and they take you where you want to go; much different than the US. Fortunately, we only had guitars and our suitcases, so we didn't have a lot to carry with us. It made it easy for us to travel. They had a guitar amps and pianos at each of the venues for us.

Before we left for the trip, I was using the Pimsleur audio program to help me learn Japanese, but when I got there, the speech was so fast I had trouble keeping up at first. Most everyone that we met spoke English but I did get to try out my Japanese and had a few real conversations. It inspired me to learn more. When I went to grocery stores I spoke Japanese and that was fun.

At the end of the tour, Jim and I did a rap song we made with the words we knew in Japanese. It was silly and fun, and we had a great time doing it. To see it follow the link: http://www.youtube.com/moonlightoverthrewu#p/u/0/d3TtWzWrOLA

What did you do when you came back to the states?

The next two weeks were crazy. I came back to New York for like 6 hours, then went down to North Carolina to do a show, then back to upstate New York. I was juggling The Paper Raincoat concerts(my collaboration with Alex Wong) and my own soloconcerts and those weeks were a bit overwhelming.

Tour in Europe

Then I went to Europe. I was touring with Jim Bianco again; I love his music and traveling with him, so it was fun. We started in Norway, and played a few truly magical shows there. Then we were headed to Germany and got booked to play on a cruise ship that went from Oslo, Norway to the northern part of Germany.

From there we spent time in Berlin for a few days. It is my new "favorite city." It is historical, beautiful and very artsy. It reminded me of Brooklyn. There were so many artists and a lot of things were cheap. We stayed in Kreuzberg and it felt like Williamsburg, or maybe like the Village back in the day when the Folk movement was hot. No part of Europe has ever reminded me of the states, but this city did.

Then we went to France. There we had a few great shows, but there was this one place in particular that really stuck out. We played an outdoor concert in a huge red gazebo, all the seats were red, and it was such a beautiful show, on a perfect Sunday afternoon in a little French town.

Then onto Paris, followed by Amsterdam. We ended our tourinEngland with a few house concerts and a couple of shows. We were thrilled to do a live show on the BBC radio too and then the last night in London. We flew out the next morning.

Did you see any of the ash from the Volcano in Iceland, and did you have any travel delays?

My plane had to be re-routed on the way over to Europe because of the ash from the volcano. But you don't see the ash. Our plane ended up going further north than normal but it was a minor inconvenience.

What stood out from your recent tours?

In Japan, the fans are really kind. I didn't know this, but a lot of people bring trinkets and gifts for you at the shows, it's so nice. That is something I'm not accustomed to; it was really sweet and blew my mind.

In Europe, I've toured there, and had played some of these places before. People knew our songs, and even though we had a prepared set list, the requests kept coming and filled up our night. That felt really nice.

In Paris, I was singing my song "Good Mystery," and everyone knew the lyrics, and were singing with me. I was super surprised that people could sing the lyrics in a language that was not their primary one. If I liked a band and it was in a foreign language, I would try to learn the lyrics, but I think it is hard sing a song in a different language.

What's coming up next?

I've got some new stuff coming out. I'm in the middle of working it out now. It feels good. The real core fun for me is creating. Traveling is always amazing, and it is incredible to meet people but there is something about getting into a room alone, and working to develop or create something with an instrument, a voice, and working through something that affects your life. It feels great to work through it all and come out with a product I feel good about; it is my passion.

Lately I've been enjoying playing the piano more. This next round of material is going to be a bit different. I'm in a great place right now. In the past, a lot of my work came out of struggles but everything feels more positive - I don't feel broken-hearted right now. In the past, I was figuring out things that weren't very fun. Now life is really nice and I want to share that excitement and passion.

Sounds really positive to me

When I asked AmbeR if her new work might resemble Colbie Caillat's, (someone whose work I find to be uplifting, as in the song Bubbly), Amber laughed and told me it was really funny that I said that. Apparently Amber is set to work with Ken Callait, Colbie's dad, next week.

Here is another link to one of AmbeR's songs called Novacaine. I love the soul in her voice, and I hope you will too.

Source:

Interview with AmbeR Rubarth