Emmerald: Your debut full-length release, “Waltz of the Ghetto Fly” is due for U.S. release I think in June, is that right?
Amp Fiddler: Yes, yes, that’s right. It has been out in Europe for a while, and was available in the states as an import. But it’s selling at an import price here, which I think is too high.
Emm And you’ll be doing a U.S tour in conjunction with the June release?
Amp Fiddler: Yes, we’ll probably start around July. I’m just chilling right now. I’m working on a video now for “Dreamin“, the next single after “I Believe In You”. Other than that, I’m just hanging out at home, taking a break for a minute. We’ll be going back to Europe to tour in April, and we’ll be there through July.
Emm I reckon you definitely need a break then.
Amp Fiddler: I do need a break. You know, I’ve been trying to spend time here with my son, because I’m a single parent.
Emm Absolutely. I understand your son is quite the hip-hop fan. Do you find that listening to some of the music that he listens to influences what you do?
Amp Fiddler: Not really. I think I love what I love regardless of what he listens to, because I basically listen to what he listens to anyway. It’s all on the radio. And I do a lot of sessions in the studio with guys that do nothing but hip hop, so I don’t think he would influence me any more than anybody else that I’m in touch with.
Emm How long did it take you to put “Waltz of the Ghetto Fly” together? Was it something that you’d been working on for years or did it just come together?
Amp Fiddler: I’d only worked on it the past three years. It hasn’t been that long. I really finished most of it up in this last year. I came off the road from the Lucy Pearl tour and then I really started buckling down and getting it done. That was 2002 I guess.
Emm You mentioned you’re working on a video. What single is that for and how much does the video help with your exposure to new audiences?
Amp Fiddler: That video is for the song “Dreamin’” and I imagine if they get it to all the right markets, it helps a lot. We’ve been to places over in Europe where people came to the show based on the video. That’s where they saw me, and that’s where they know me from. It makes a big difference.
Emm You’ve been doing music as a side man and session musician for a long, long time. What was it that prompted you to go out on your own and do a solo project?
Amp Fiddler: I was tired of doing that because I couldn’t really do anything to help anybody else, and it really wasn’t helping me. It was giving me more exposure and helping me to sustain my career. But it just didn’t help me to be as creative as I wanted to be and I didn’t have the freedom to be on stage like I need to have. Having a solo project is better because I can voice my feelings and emotions about issues that I have in a record and on stage. I couldn’t do that before. There’re things that I wanted to do and see happen I couldn’t do in someone else’s situation.
Emm You’ve worked with Prince before?
Amp Fiddler: We did a song on Graffiti Bridge and it was with George Clinton that I actually worked with him on. I’ve never really worked with him on my own. I always wanted to, but it’s just not a reality. It was just a session I did for George and they used it on that Graffiti Bridge album.
Emm George Clinton had a huge influence on the way you approach song writing and you spent a lot of time writing with him out in California during the 1980s. Can you elaborate on that?
Amp Fiddler: Yes, I did. We always looked at the inside of a phrase or a statement or conversation. There are two sides to almost every word. The style that I write now has been definitely influenced by him in that way with using metaphors and different ideas that make you see the two sides to every story. Do you know what I mean? For example, in “You Played Me”, that phrase is normally about relationships. But actually the song is about people who have played the record-- “I’ve been trying to get you to hear me, you know, it’s time you get amplified. You put me up and put me down”, which is like sticking a record on. It’s kind of like talking about a relationship, but also about how DJs play records.
Emm Like a double entendre kind of thing?
Amp Fiddler: Yes, exactly.
