Talking to: AMIKA
AMIKA, AKA Twin the Songwriter, is a Birmingham-born, London based songwriter and singer, who has just released her debut single ‘Wanna Feel’ into the world. In her own words, it’s ‘an emancipated cinematic sounding, sonic affirmation, exploring the complexities of loneliness and what it means to find peace in solitude’. It’s also partnered with a thoughtful and visually stunning video created in collaboration with established artist Leanna Moran and animator Zachary Aghaizu.
Ahead of her takeover of the magazine’s Instagram on Thursday 10th June, we sat down with AMIKA and talked about her songwriting, being inspired by The Slumflower, asking for what you want in life, her recipe for nurturing a creative space and the joy of alone-ness.
You released your first single ‘Wanna Feel’ in April - how has it been received?
I feel like it has been received really well. You always hope that what you create will resonate with people, but actually seeing it for the first time, people having an emotional response to it, it’s like “oh my god, my little baby is resonating with people”.
Oh that’s great! Tell us a bit more about yourself; where you’re based, what you are doing with yourself at the moment, what your situation is.
I’m from Birmingham originally, I was born and raised in Birmingham, then I moved to London when I was eighteen. and now I am moving back to Birmingham next month. I studied song writing for four years, and I think in that time it really allowed me to explore my sound and what I wanted to do.
Is that why you moved to London? To study?
Yeah, it was for studying. I think I struggled a lot when I was in Birmingham, there wasn’t really anyone I could relate to in terms of my sound, the type of music I was interested in. I think I needed to meet some different people, and I did, and I think it’s been amazing, and my time in London has been such a big part of my growth as an artist. I'm really looking forward to going back home with a solid idea of my artistic identity, because now that I have that I can take it anywhere with me, if that makes sense?
Yes, of course it does! Where did you study?
I studied at ICMP which is the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance. It’s funny, because I didn't know you could study songwriting until I started looking at different courses. It was an interesting experience, neither good nor bad, but I will definitely say that studying something like that helped me solidify what I wanted to do for sure.
What’s driven you to go back home, rather than staying in London?
Honestly, I think it is just everything that has happened with covid! I know it is such a mundane answer, everyone’s life has been upturned by that, but it’s literally just that - I have missed my family and I think it is just time to go home for a little bit.
I can understand that drive, and I think the pandemic has really helped people solidify what’s important to them.
Yeah, definitely, and I have loved my time in London so much, I feel like coming to London really helped me develop who I wanted to be.
Have you always been into music and performing? Has it always been in your mind as the thing you want to do?
Yeah, it’s funny, I definitely had other interests when I was deciding whether to do music properly, but looking back, music and songwriting was definitely always there. Before I started doing music I had a poem published in a book of poetry from children in the West Midlands, so I feel like it has always been there, I was always writing poems.
But also I was always interested in social issues, I always thought I was going to be a lawyer. When I was deciding where to go to college I applied to study law, and then I applied for a performing arts school in Birmingham as well, and I was just determined that whichever one I got I would just do that. I got accepted to both and it was actually my mum who said ‘well, you could always go back and be a lawyer later, so I suppose you should just try and do music now’. And I was like ‘okay’ and that is probably why I continued with it, and I am so glad I did.
That is so refreshing! You would expect a parent to push you towards the safe option. Has your mum always been supportive of your creative side in that way?
Yeah, I feel like she has always just supported me in whatever I want to do, just to be myself, even when she didn’t understand what it was I was trying to do. I think she has always just trusted that I trust myself.
You have been writing under the Twin the Songwriter moniker as well, does the music you are doing now differ much from your other stuff?
It’s funny, because I chose the name Twin because it’s like the other side of me. It’s my songwriting name, so when I am collaborating with other artists that’s the name that I use. They are different but joined, so Twin is more versatile, because obviously you are working with different people. I think I struggled with that when I started writing, I would write three songs and they would not sound anything like each other, so I think there is still a bit of that in my artist project, but when I am writing for other people that is more deliberate.
So, AMIKA is more you?
Yes, so everything I write is personal, but when it's for me it's a bit more deliberately personal.
Your single obviously has loads of different influences, and you say it cannot easily be categorised, so who are your musical heroes, how have they fed into the music you are making?
That's hard, that's really hard, it’s the dreaded question! It's always changing as well, but the ones that have always been solid… I love old school stuff, so Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Lauryn Hill, King Krule, they are my biggest four influences for sure. I am also influenced by Amy Winehouse and Sampha.
Who are you listening to at the moment? What new music is exciting you?
I am listening to an artist called Latanya Alberto at the moment, she has some really great tracks, and I am listening to Little Simz’s new project, and all my favourite old school stuff. I am working on some new tracks so I always go back to my old influences when I am writing, for sure.
Your new single has a definite indie / dream pop feel to it, so what feeds into that aspect of it?
I always find it so interesting when I hear what people’s interpretation is of what genre my music is in, because I always feel like that has been quite a big thing, even when I was making music in uni, people didn’t know how to categorise it. So I think now I just have an idea of what I want it to sound like, and I just come from a lot of different places. I have listened to a lot of Homeshake in the past, and like I said, a lot of King Krule, and a lot of Skunk Anansie, so they all just pull in. I have also listened to a lot of ska, heavy drums and stuff; it’s really interesting how it all comes together.
Let's talk about what the song is about. What is the story behind the song?
I was living life, as you do, living life as a young woman, and I read a book by The Slumflower called What a Time to Be Alone. I think I was just going through something that every early twenties woman goes through, where you feel like you don’t have your life together, but you actually shouldn’t, you are twenty years old, so it is actually okay.
Oh, it is, I still don’t have my life together and I am a lot older!
Yes! All the amazing women I know keep telling me it’s okay to not have your life together in your twenties. But, you see on Instagram, and in uni, people doing this and that and you think your life isn't together enough.
A couple of years ago, I think it was just a physical reaction to growing up, it was like a light bulb went off, and I just had this epiphany about what I wanted for myself, separate from career and money, but just for me as myself, me as a person. I finished reading the book and it’s about being alone and saying it’s actually okay to spend time by yourself and it’s actually really vital. I thought ‘you know what? I am actually going to be on my own for a bit’; not even in terms of partners or anything like that, but like actually just focusing on myself and not putting too much pressure on myself in terms of uni and my music. It was great and from that solitude came that song.
It’s just about sitting in solitude for a moment, and just realising that when you sit by yourself for a moment, even if it feels uncomfortable at first, that is usually when you have the best ideas. Or the best thoughts about yourself, when you don’t have that constant interference or white noise from other people’s opinions.
So is that how you create? Do you feel that's the key to finding a good creative space, making sure you have forged that alone time?
I think it’s different for everyone, and I think it can change, because sometimes you can have too much solitude and think ‘oh my gosh I need to go out into the world again and talk to people and see my friends and family’. I think it honestly just depends on the time, at that point I needed to be in solitude for a minute, and now it’s a bit different. I am in a time when I am having all these experiences and growing up, because I am still growing up. You can’t really have those experiences when you are just by yourself. So I think the key to creating depends on the moment.
What sort of things do you really like writing about and getting your teeth into in your music?
I do really care about social issues, but that’s not the place where it comes out. In my writing, I try to be a bit more cathartic. I always try to challenge myself in my writing, and use it as a mirror to myself. I know in one breath that can sound a little bit vain, but I don’t mean in the way of holding a mirror up to me and thinking ‘oh my gosh I am so amazing’ but just as a snapshot of the time, of who I was and asking if I am giving the best of me to myself before I give anything to anyone else. Also, just my experiences I am having, which are constantly changing. So it’s mostly just cathartic, and holding a mirror up to myself, and a snapshot of that time.
The video for your single is amazing. Tell us about how it came to be?
Thank you! I have had so much good feedback about it! So, in this moment of solitude I went out on a date by myself, because it’s important to do things by yourself. I went to the Saatchi gallery one day and was just strolling around, and then they have the basement at the bottom where you check your coats, and there is a room at the side, and I didn’t really notice it at first, but when I went back to get my coat I could just see these colours on the wall, so I went to have a look and it was this whole exhibition in there.
There was this series on the wall called The Bedroom Series by an artist called Leanna Moran, and she had created these surrealist images, and I thought ‘oh my god, these pictures are just showing exactly what I am feeling at the moment’. Obviously I had my own interpretation of them but I just thought they would be so cool for the song I was working on at that moment. At that time it wasn’t produced or anything, it was still in guitar form, so I just thought it would make such a sick video. I took her name down and when the track was finished I found her on the internet and just emailed her and said I felt her work would fit really well with my song, and she said yes! I found an animator called Zachary Aghaizu through a friend and I just brought everyone together and we all worked on the video for about three months.
I love that! And I love the amalgamation of visual art and music, it's a great package. And that’s really brave of you to just email an artist exhibiting in the Saatchi.
I know right, people keep saying that to me, and I think ’is that really a big deal?’. I suppose a really big motto I am living by at the moment is ‘if you don’t ask you don’t get’. But that's really funny, that always seems to be reserved for men. It’s okay for men to ask and and get, but no; women, just ask, the worst someone can say is no.
I totally get that, it’s like imposter syndrome in a way isn’t it? Women often feel like they aren’t important enough to approach people, and I think women suffer from it so much more than men.
It's like, men don't actually know what they are doing, they just ask and get what they want. So I just thought I would just ask and see what happens.
You are about to go through a really big life change, moving back to Birmingham, what is coming up for you next, what have you got in mind?
I have some ideas, they are just ideas at the moment, but I think for now it's just continuing to create and not putting pressure on myself, being open to the process, just creating. I definitely want to put out some new music, carry on collaborating, but just being open to the process.
AMIKA is taking over our Instagram on Thursday 10th June, followed by an exclusive live performance of her single and a sneaky peak of some new tracks at 8pm.
Wanna Feel features on our June Spotify Earwax.
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