Amanda Kind

by Carrie Humphries August 25 - 31, 2011

Pop music comes in many shapes and forms, and ‘Hello Heartache’ is a record planning to stop all the stereotypes. Released by Kitchener musician, Amanda Kind, ‘Heartache’ makes its ‘pop-ish’ debut this Thursday at the KWMP Hall.
Recorded at Brixton Studios and mastered at Metalworks, Kind and I chatted about the album and its release this week in a phone interview. She’s quick to say the album is pop by nature, but it’s her eclecticism in music that sees the tracks influenced by various genres. “I grew up a huge Alanis and Green Day fan,” Kind explains. “(The record) is kind of a mixed bag. Some people have asked me what the style of the record is. It’s a pop record, it’s got pop-country, there’s a folk vibe on some things.” Kind says that she mixed and mashed her tastes from Kelly Clarkson to Aretha Franklin on the
Advertisement album. “There are some top 40 type songs on there. But it’s as much country as it is pop. I really hate the genre box. It is pop, no question. It just has different elements to each song that I feel bend the genre a bit.” The album borrows its name from the corresponding track on the record. “The songs are all kind of about the pitfalls of love,” Kind tells me. “I say
this record is the anecdote to those feelings. This track summed up the record for me in a lot of ways. It became sort of a moniker for me.” Putting out a pop record, to those who’ve known Kind over the years she’s been a musician, may find it to be a step off her beaten track. For over a decade, Kind has been a classical singer, jazz crooner, musical theatre comedienne, and voice teacher. However this is a record she’s been eager to release and spent her time researching before she put a team together. “I had a test going into every studio,” Kind laughs. “I dropped the names of three artists who are current top 40 people. If they didn’t know the artist or were unable name of any of the songs by that person, I walked in the other
direction!” Making the grade was Nick Iden and Brixton Studio where Kind would eventually lay down the tracks. “I checked out almost every studio in town
before I made a decision,” she says. “I really felt like Nick being young made him also hip with the current sound. We laugh about it.” Who were the top three artists? Try Kelly Clarkson, Adele and Pink. “There were a few (studios) that would say, ‘I think I’ve heard of that girl’ or ‘that band’ in terms of Pink.”
Other additions to the record include guest spots by pianists Michael Brown and Allister Bradley, KW Symphony trumpet player Larry Larson, Western Swing Authority fiddle player Shane Guse, and vocalist Sarrah Scott. “Social media really worked for me,” Kind remarks on asking for the involvement of some of her guest musicians. “I just said, ‘Hey, I’m working on a record and would be honoured if you would play on this one tune.’ This community just responds. I have sent many a demo to people, or assisted on songs people are working on and it’s come back to help me ten-fold.”
Kind has been rewarded in other ways by the community she now calls home. She’s been recognized as one of the region’s Top 40 under 40, picked up a KW Arts Award for her efforts and was named Oktoberfest Rogers Woman of the Year for Arts & Culture. “I was really shocked when I won the Woman of the Year Award in 2007,” Kind recalls. “I was so dumb-founded. I think it just speaks to me helping people, or going through my contact list and finding people to help people. If we don’t help each other, no one gets ahead. I feel like when I started this project, (those ideas) really paid off for me.”
Kind is also quick to praise Kitchener-Waterloo for its vast musical community – a home she made for herself since moving from British Columbia. “Theatre is here,” Kind explains for initially leaving home and moving to Ontario. “There is way more theatre work. There is also such an eclectic music scene here in KW as well. With my symphony background, there was a lot of work. When I switched to jazz and pop, it was just as thriving. The more people I met, like Nick Iden, the more I realized it was a really healthy community and certainly working with Nick opened the doors for me to people who are in that genre.”
Performing alongside Kind during her release this week is Guelph favourite Joni NehRita. “It was a no-brainer for me,” Kind says. “I’m a big Joni NehRita fan as well. I think she has such a sultry soulful voice. It’s different from me but it’s enough of the same vibe that people who come to see me will love her. I think it’s a way to expose our friends to each other. We’re singing Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black together.
I think part of (asking Joni to perform) was a selfish decision,” Kind chuckles. “I wanted to sing with her and I made it happen.” And what does Amanda Kind predict for her career? “I’d like to do a lot more touring. I want to play across Canada. I want to play across festivals. It’s been a long time for me to be in front of a band, and it was a feeling I really missed. I’ll probably do another record and I’ll probably keep training classical and musical theatre.”
AMANDA KIND ‘Hello Heartache’ CD Release w/ Joni NehRita Thursday, August 25, KWMP Hall, Kitchener amandakind.com - Echo Weekly

Classical singer, jazz crooner, musical theatre comedienne, and voice teacher — for over a decade, Amanda Kind has made her mark on the local music scene.

Embarking on a new challenge, Kind will release her anticipated debut pop rock album Hello Heartache on Aug. 25.

With Hello Heartache, Kind is putting herself out there like never before.

Every one of the disc’s 10 diverse songs are written or co-written by the singer. Inspired by the emotional songwriting, visceral lyrics and dynamic rhythms of artists like Kelly Clarkson, Alanis Morrisette, Sarah McLachlan and Joan Jett, Hello Heartache blends elements of rock, rhythm and blues, folk, jazz, country and alternative all under a pop umbrella.

The songs are a diverse mix of driving rock tunes and mysterious ballads with catchy hooks and tongue-in-cheek lyrics that appeal to Top-40 and alternative rock lovers alike.

Kind used social media to approach acclaimed local musicians like K-W Symphony Trumpet player Larry Larson and Western Swing Authority fiddle player Shane Guse, who both have guest performances on the album along with singer Sarrah Scott as well as pianists Michael Brown and Allister Bradley, who is a well respected singer-songwriter in his own right.

After spending her teenage years obsessed with Green Day, No Doubt and Mariah Carey, Amanda Kind left her home sweet home of White Rock, B.C. to pursue a music career in the big apple.

After performing across Canada as well as parts of the U.S. and Europe, she finally settled in Waterloo. Her efforts in the Waterloo Region arts community have garnered her a K-W Arts Award, the Rogers Television Woman of the Year Award and recognition as one of the region’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2011.

Kind is also the founding director of the hit local pop choir KW Glee.

Hello Heartache was recorded at Brixton Studios in Kitchener by local producer Nick Iden, mixed at dB Audio Productions in Conestogo by local engineer Dan Bowey, and mastered at Metalworks Studios in Mississauga by top mastering engineer Scott Lake who has also worked on tracks for K’naan, Serena Ryder, Simple Plan, City and Colour and other notable artists.

An avid songwriter, Kind is a member of the Society Of Composers, Authors And Music Publishers Of Canada and the Songwriters Association of Canada.

Kind is set to debut the album with a CD release concert along with fellow local singer songwriter (and 2011 Top 40 under 40 alumni – Guelph) Joni NehRita on Thursday, August 25, 2011 at the KWMP Hall on Shaftsbury Avenue in Kitchener.

Tickets are on sale at www.ticketscene.ca.

For more information or to listen to the music, please visit www.amandakind.com
- Waterloo Chronicle

"A remarkable voice that draws the audience in..." - Langley Times

"Kind has a great big nuanced voice that touches the soul with its fragility and hits like a dynamic boom." - Vancouver Sun