Amy Kress

DENVER, COLOARDO — May 13th, 2014 — Amy Kress impacts today’s digital music realm releasing a new music single entitled “Signs.” Written by Kress with production assistance from Glenn Sawyer and Rich Veltrop (producers at The Spot Studios, Lakewood, Colorado), “Signs” is the follow up to her debut single “The Way I Want You” off of her forthcoming album. The album, of which the name has yet to be revealed, will be released this coming fall 2014. “Signs” is available for purchase through many popular online retailers and at www.amykressmusic.com

“Signs” is a song that takes the listener on an emotional journey through the process of self-discovery. The mixtures of emotions that accompany the process are represented both lyrically and musically. The bridge of the song alludes to that feeling in the air before a storm. As Amy puts it, “I feel alive when I’m standing outside watching dark storm clouds seeping towards me dragging a curtain of rain beneath them. That energy that’s tangible – that’s the feeling I had when I wrote Signs. That something is coming and the very air is full of anticipation like the coming of a storm.” - Colorado Music Buzz

DENVER, COLORADO — June 24nd, 2014 — Denver based Recording Artist Amy Kress premiered her third single from her new album entitled “Play For Me.”

The album, of which the name has yet to be revealed, will be released this coming fall 2014. ”Play For Me” is available for purchase through many popular online retailers and at www.amykressmusic.com.

Everyone is familiar with the feeling of dreaming, and also the feeling of waking up from a dream one hoped would never end. Play for Me is a lover’s take on this classic life experience and gives the listener a glimpse into one of Kress’ dreams. In Amy’s words “I know how I feel when I write a song for someone. The uncertainty of their response, at the laying out of my heart. The hope that they will understand the slightest nuance of every line exactly the way I intended it to be heard. For me writing a song for someone is the greatest compliment I can give and I can only dream that someone would do that for me. What an amazing thing it would be for someone to write their heart and soul just for me.” - Colorado Music Buzz

DENVER, COLORADO (September 29, 2014) – Amy Kress will release the lead single “Numb” from her debut album “Secret Music” on October 14th, 2014. The single will be digitally distributed online, at all major music retailers including iTunes, AmazonMP3, and streaming services such as Spotify and Google Play. Numb is about feeling lost and alone. It is about looking for something to make you feel whole but not knowing where to start. Kress wrote “Numb”, alongside the production duo at The Spot Studios in Lakewood, Colorado, Glenn Sawyer and Rich Veltrop.

“From my one note piano melody he [Sawyer] created the Numb you hear today. The chorus gave me chills the first time I heard it. It was big and hard-hitting and so much MORE than anything I had ever written before. I had tears in my eyes the first time I heard the finished track.” – Amy Kress, regarding the production of Numb.

The track is a sacred song of searching for the answer, wanting and needing to be made whole again. With lyrics such as, “I cease to care whom I hurt with my selfish insistence that I am empty, I am hollow” Kress, careful with her words says this is about, “not wanting people to know when I’m hurt or lonely and not wanting to hurt their feelings by declaring them inadequate to fulfill my desires.” Anyone who has ever been in an undesirable moment can relate.

Kress also plans to release an accompanying music video for the single, which will have its broadcast premiere as early as October. Colin Floom was chosen to be the director of the video after a short interview with Kress and her manager Joel Rekiel, “His enthusiasm and creative approach as well as his obvious competence won him the job without question” said Kress. The video was shot in various locations around the Denver metro area. Kress noted, “We looked at a couple of locations for the scenes and before I knew it we had a strip club, tattoo parlor, dance club and back alley all ready to go.” Floom put together an incredibly professional crew of 15, between cameramen, gaffers, grips, lighting directors, PAs, photographers and a myriad of other positions that all contributed to the feature film like production. Kress says, “The video came together to create something I cherish and I take great pride in it.” - Colorado Music Buzz

Despite keeping it a secret, music has been a part of her life since early childhood. She can’t remember a time when she wasn’t able to play the piano. When she was ten, she played the French horn in orchestras and marching bands. Later, Kress taught herself how to play the guitar and trumpet. She also sang in choir. In her adulthood, she made music at home privately, creating skeletons and parts of songs that she didn’t share with anyone. “I would always think ‘one day’ I’ll do something with it,” she says.

“I realized that I may not have one of those ‘one days’ out there. It suddenly became ‘one day.’”
In 2011, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. “I realized that I may not have one of those ‘one days’ out there. It suddenly became ‘one day.’” She already had years worth of work, which she used as the backbone of her first album. She added extra instrumentation on her work in a Lakewood studio. She called her first album, Secret Music.

Not only has she received positive feedback, but she found the musical experience to be a therapeutic one. “When I sit down and play the piano it’s almost like a massage for me. It’s relaxing and peaceful.”

Kress and her husband separated last year. Then, in September she was re-diagnosed with recurrent breast cancer. She is undergoing treatment and is halfway through chemotherapy. “I’m so emotionally charged by everything that is going on,” Kress says, “I can’t stop writing.” Music has been a way to channel her hardships and give her relaxation and validation.

She is currently working on a third album and is making plans so that when her treatment ends in May she can begin touring and doing shows. - Westword

Often times it feels like the puzzle pieces of my life are coming together faster and faster. Sometimes I feel like I can almost get a sense of the picture my life is supposed to make. Every person and every event feel like they are all adding up to something and all contributing to a fated end. I’ve never been much of a believer of fate. I’ve always felt that your destiny was in your own control but recently when so many random events came together to tell this big complicated story that couldn’t be told any other way, I begin to wonder...

I’m a very musical person inside but until just a few years ago that talent was largely ignored. Playing music was a quiet hobby that I did when I had time and no one was around. I would dream of someday playing for people, as I’m sure many closet musicians do, but never did I think I would actually get to live my dream. In May 2011 I was diagnosed with breast cancer and that changed everything.

Let me just tell you that being diagnosed with cancer at the age of 37 as a wife and mother of two young children straight up blows. Within a few months of the diagnosis, I found myself without a breast or hair as it was recommended I have a mastectomy and undergo 4 rounds of chemotherapy. As I slowly healed from the physical and emotional toll the whole cancer experience took on me, I began to think that today was my someday. The thought that I might die and never get to live my dream terrified me, so I began to take steps to make my dream a reality.

I began to look for other musicians to work with and posted some of my music on Soundcloud for prospective music collaborators to hear. It was a producer, Glenn Sawyer, at The Spot Studios in Lakewood, Colorado who heard it and wrote me asking if I would like to work with him. Within about 5 months of meeting Glenn, I had recorded an album. Bam. It happened just like that. Suddenly with an outlet I found myself writing songs I had no idea I could write. They were expertly produced by Glenn and his production partner Rich Veltrop and now I have something I can be really proud of. It was an unexpected success in one of my first attempts into the music foray and I felt it was a really huge piece of the puzzle.

Things began to move quickly with the hiring of my manager Joel Rekiel and the sudden booking of live shows. This was a whole new dynamic for me and I had to rehearse like crazy just to remember my own words. The more I was faced with the challenge of really actually becoming an honest-to-god musician the more I wanted it. It became a burning desire in me to do this. To perform on stage, to move people with my music. To have a voice and be heard. We released a total of 5 singles and made a really cool music video for my lead single “Numb”. After consulting with my recently hired publicist, we set the release date for my aptly named album Secret Music as January 13, 2015. It was all coming together: the bigger I dreamed, more likely those dreams seemed to become a reality. Wow, I am really doing this! Amazing! I began work on my second album even though my first wasn’t released yet. The music just kept coming. Opportunities were opening at every turn, like writing a blog for the Huffington Post. How cool is that?

So you can understand why I was really extra angry when I was diagnosed with breast cancer for a second time in Sept. 2014. It metastasized to the lymph nodes when I wasn’t looking and now I’m down 10 cancerous lymph nodes and am the proud owner of my own Power Port. (No, it doesn’t give you superpowers. I asked.) The port is to facilitate the 8 rounds of chemotherapy I have to undergo. I am 4 rounds into chemo as I write this and still trying to figure what the heck happened.

The cancer seems so much more real this time. The fact that it came back made it, in my mind at least, extra aggressive. The chemotherapy is much more serious this time too with different medications that cause some decidedly more severe and unpleasant side effects. It was hard enough thinking of starting a music career in my 40’s but add to that the complications of balancing chemo and life and kids and I feel often times I’m in over my head. But every event, every obstacle is part of the puzzle. I have to trust that this is all part of the big picture because it just seems too huge and traumatizing to be random.

In an attempt to make the absolute best of the situation, I have deemed this time as my chemo chrysalis. A time to settle in and focus on what is important to me. To quietly create music as I endure this latest setback. To get myself rested and primed for when I am healthy and ready to take on the impossible. I should be done with chemo treatments in April and then follow that up with 6 weeks of radiation therapy. By June of 2015 I should be done with this latest cancer challenge and ready to get back to music full-time. I can’t let this kill me, I have a dream to live.

You can learn more about me on my website where I blog about stuff in general and get updates on my music. www.amykressmusic.com

You can also follow my experience as I continue through my treatment and beyond on my Caring Bridge page. www.caringbridge.com/amyhumphreys1.

Follow Amy Kress on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Amykressmusic - Huffington Post

Last April, Denver-based electronic pop musician Amy Kress performed live for the first time in over 20 years. On January 13, 2015, Kress released her first album, Secret Music, recorded at The Spot Studios in Lakewood, and a little over two months later, she completed her final round of chemotherapy treatment for the breast cancer she’s actively fighting. The mother of two children, two cats, two dogs, and a guinea pig, it’s incredible that Kress finds the time to craft uplifting, beautiful music but she did just that with Secret Music. Kress spoke with AXS about life and music in this exclusive interview.

AXS: Are you a Denver native? If not, where are you from originally?
Amy Kress: I am not a Denver native. I’m actually Canadian. I was born in Calgary, Alberta and I moved to Saudi Arabia when I was 5, so I’m also an Aramco Brat. I lived in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia for seven years before moving back to Canada when I was 12. I moved to Louisville, Colorado in September 2001 and have been in Colorado ever since.

AXS: What inspired you to start playing music?
Amy: I have played music for as long as I can remember. My mom had me playing the piano as soon as I could walk. It’s just always been something I’ve done.

AXS: How long have you been performing?
Amy: This latest public foray into music is pretty new and I think I played my first gig in over 20 years just last April.

AXS: Where was your first show in Denver, and what was the experience like? Who else did you play with at the show?
Amy: My first show in Denver was at Blush and Blu as part of the Root 40 Festival. I was terrified and was playing to an audience of, like, 6 people. I remember I opened for Starcar Sunday and I believe the Ta Ta’s

AXS: Have any Denver musicians inspired you?
Amy: Heck yes! There is some fantastic music to be had. I love the up and coming bands best, they are near and dear to my heart. I had the privilege to open for Morning Bear and was totally blown away by him and was completely captivated by his performance at Larimer Lounge last year. The Royals is a fun local band that’s making strides as is Signs and Signals. Amzy is also a fabulous band who will be going places. They have really impressed me the times I saw them live and I’m looking forward to watching them do big things.

AXS: What inspired your newest album, Secret Music?
Amy: It wasn’t so much inspired as it just sort of happened. I never set out to write an album but my collection of songs was growing and it only made sense to release them in some kind of album. It was music written for me and feels more like a series of diary entries to me than any kind of thought out album. I was just starting out as a real songwriter and testing to see what I could do.

AXS: What was the writing and recording processes like for Secret Music?
Amy: When I came to The Spot Studios in September of 2013, I had one song, "The Way I Want You", written. The rest of Secret Music was still largely in my head and suddenly having an opportunity to make my music into these great produced tracks inspired me to finish my songs. I wrote another 14 songs between that October and February of 2014. I would book some recording dates for a song that I was just starting so I knew I would have to have it done by the day we were to record it. The producers at The Spot, Glenn Sawyer and Rich Veltrop, were really helpful with parts too and would help rewrite a bridge or pre chorus if we felt what I had wasn’t working well. I wrote a few really simple songs on the piano to give Glenn more room to write. Numb is an excellent example of his production ability given a bare bones part on the piano but some songs like Secret Music were pretty fleshed out in comparison.

AXS: What else are you involved in locally?
Amy: I have been actively fighting breast cancer over the winter and just had my last chemotherapy session on Monday, March 16. I have pursuing my music full-time and so have spent the last four months of downtime trying to build a foundation from which to launch my music career. I have two children who I love to spend time with as well as two dogs, two cats and a guinea pig.

AXS: Do you have a goal in mind for the sound the you produce? Are there certain influences or themes the you try to inject into its own music?
Amy: My first album, Secret Music, was a sound that sort of fed itself. Glenn had more of a vision for an overall sound of the album than I did and his production reflects that with a lot of strings and a more orchestrated feel than some pop music. For my second album, we started out writing an upbeat dance album but when I was diagnosed with cancer part way through recording, it changed the vibe. I’m not very good at dance music. I keep wanting to put a story or a message in it so when I was suddenly in the midst of the emotional upheaval caused by the cancer diagnoses I had to much to say to dumb it down. The lyrics turned introspective and while we maintained the dance feel through the songs, the topic is often surprisingly heavy.

AXS: What would your ideal live show look like? Where would it take place? Any particular time of year? Would a specific band/musician share the bill with or open for you?
Amy: I would love to have a multimedia show. I would like to have screens on stage with projected visuals to accompany each song. I’d like to have someone doing live art while the music plays. And lights. Lots of lights.
I love Red Rocks, but then who doesn’t? Right now, Red Rocks is my dream venue and I guess that would mean a warm summer night would be the best time of year. Bands and musicians to share the bill? Wow. There are simply so many people I would love to share the stage with. Björk first off would be awesome. Robert DeLong, SOHN, Tina Dico, Jessie Ware, Morning Bear, Broods, CHVRCHES, London Grammar, and on and on. I just like to play music. If I get to do it with other people then it’s even better.

AXS: What shows are you looking forward to over the next few months?
Amy: I just bought a ticket to 2015 Westword Music Showcase, and I have tickets to that super special A Silent Film private showing. We are planning a local Colorado tour for me right now in June so I’m really excited for that.

AXS: What do you enjoy most about Denver’s music scene, and why?
Amy: I really like the sense of community that I’ve discovered in the music scene. I will regularly call up people I met at open mics to meet at other open mics. We all encourage each other and urge each other on. It’s a really great support system and I love the opportunity to immerse myself in the scene. - AXS

Amy Kress takes no issue with giving it to you straight. And what I continue to be most impressed with is her ability to not exhibit herself as an individual who is unafraid or fearless, but rather, an individual who is strong enough to share her fears and channel them into her music. Because when it comes to cancer, divorce, and the, at times, petrifying role of being a mother, the fear is like the whispering monster under your bed: you can ignore it, temporarily even forget about it, but in the quietest moments, the whispers become deafening.

Amy’s newest music video for her song “My Fears And I” is simple in that there is no supplementary plotline with a cast of characters, no choreographed dance numbers, and no panoramic, aerial or fisheye lens scenery shots. It’s just Amy, virtually bare, staring straight into the camera and pouring herself out. Various technicolor light projections overlie her face, adding an awesome cosmic effect to the starkingly honest words she sings:

“In the morning, between sleep and wake, I find peace. I am free.

And my heart bumps and my pulse jumps and the thoughts roll through my mind.

My fears and I, no place to hide. Empty bottles piled high.”

She delves into the paralyzing fear that no type or amount of substance can numb, and while you may be able to ignore it at times, other days you know you are completely surrounded by the impending terror. And as usual, Amy’s ability to speak so introspectively alongside an upbeat electronic rhythm that moves you to dance makes her music more than just a catchy tune. Amy shared with us what the single means to her:

“‘My Fears And I’ is my song about being completely overwhelmed by the events in my life. Every morning, I would wake and unknowingly savor the silence and peace in my mind. Then the reality I faced- my cancer, my ending marriage, the welfare of my children- it all came crashing down on me until I felt I was unable to carry on. And then we set it to dance music.”

So there you have it. “My Fears And I” was recorded and filmed in Amy’s basement over the course of a few hours, using only a camera, video projector, fog machine, and a laptop. It was released last Friday and is just one song that will be featured on her upcoming album, to be released later this spring. So stay tuned for Amy’s new music and upcoming live performances, by connecting with her on her personal blog, website, and Facebook. - BolderBeat