AMZY INTERVIEW

1) When and how did you all meet?
Brennan, Sean, and Nick met each other in High School and all of them were involved in various bands and film projects together. Everyone went to college for a few years, but Sean and Brennan reconnected in 2013 and started working on a new project that would eventually become AMZY. Nick joined the band in the Summer of 2014 to play bass, but we still didn’t have a drummer. We then decided to put out a sketchy post on craigslist to see what was out there. Wes, who was looking for a good time, answered the post and became the one-and-only “Wes, the drummer.”


2) What is your favorite song you have produced?
The whole “We Don’t Walk...We Dance” EP was unforgettable because we recorded it in the span of a couple days in a house in the Rocky Mountains. If we had to pick a song, we’d go with Feet On the Ground because it pulled a lot of diverse elements together and set it all to an energy that felt different, but right. The song started out as a pretty much a synth line, some humming, and a verse, but it became a testament of just how far we can explore the AMZY soundscape. Furthermore, there were a lot of events unfolding in 2014 (and continue to occur to this day) that involved the powerful vs the powerless and we wanted to create a battle cry for those fighting against the various forms of oppression.


3) How did you come up with "AMZY" do the letter stand for something?
When we were in High School we would stay up late almost every night experimenting musically in a shed in the backyard of Sean’s parents house. 90% of this experimentation was more or less “noise” and Sean’s mother always had to come out and tell us to shut up. Being the kids that we still are, we never stopped after her warning and only slightly turned down the volume to try and get away with more music. After years of this game she had pretty much given up on trying to get us to stay quiet, but we made her a deal that if she let us continue being noisy we will name a band after her. Her name is Amzie! We understand that we probably come off as “Momma’s boys,” but AMZY helps us remember the fun and excitement we had making music and how the people around us truly shape who we become. We always ask people what they think AMZY stands for because everybody has their own idea. On one occasion we asked fans what they think AMZY stands for and they gave us our alter egos “Andrew, Michael, Zachary, and Yusef.” So that works too.



4) You somewhat recently released an EP "Worlds Of Our Own", anything you'd like to share about it?
We love the power that songs have in taking snapshots of scenarios, experiences, and emotions we’re going through when we first start listening. It doesn’t matter how much time has passed since we last heard the song, but when we play it again it’s like that entire former world comes rushing back to the forefront of our minds. We kept this concept in mind and tried to write songs that we’d want to connect with at certain points in our lives. When we laid out everything we recorded we realized we have made an entire emotional arc of a story about a relationship. Beginning with the initial excitement from getting to know a person, falling in love, finding personal growth, experiencing betrayal and finally overcoming from the loss and heartbreak. Our track “Favorite Song” features trumpet lines from Wes Watkins of The Other Black and formerly of Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats.



5) What has been your favorite performance you have done so far?
We played the First Bank Center for 93.3s Not So Silent Night which was our first foray into what it feels like to be one of the big acts, but as musicians AND fans we’ve always enjoyed the more intimate concert settings like the Bluebird or the Gothic. With that being said, our first sold out show at the Bluebird theatre is something we will never forget. Growing up in Colorado, we’ve seen some amazing bands play that stage and it feels like a dream come true to get the opportunity to do the same. A lot of intimate music moments happen in that old theater and it will always be part of the AMZY journey.




6) What/who inspires you the most?
A lot of the inspiration for the sound comes from the music we listened to when we were young and the evolution of the genres we love. The goal is to then try to bridge these different styles together. For example, Sean has an influence from a variety of rock formats like roots rock, Blues, classic, folk, and indie with a slice of electro-rock. On the other side, Brennan likes electronic, synth-pop, and modern alternative. We look at these elements and then start building! However, we try to refrain from putting ourselves in a box because we never truly know where the song could take us. Holding a broad pool of influences and styles gives us more to experiment with and ultimately strengthens the emotion of the song. Half the time we don’t know what that emotion is until we are halfway through the formation of the song so we just go with it and see how many variations we can make before selecting the best version based on what it instills in us. With that being said, what never fails to inspire us is going to see a band perform live. The energy and connection to the audience are a great reminder of what we’re working toward and who we do this for.

7) Why do you always correlate your outfits on stage?
We believe in two things when it comes to music. The first one is: Writing undeniable music! That meaning, writing great songs that are undeniably great no matter who’s listing.The second is: Putting on an unforgettable live show! The suits not only help us stick out on stage but they play a part in getting our heads right before a show. They're our uniforms, when we step into them we become a band of brothers who stand together to fight the imaginary battles in our heads.The battles with insecurities and self doubt that comes with trying to be your true self. We stand side by side and sometimes back to back to put on the best performance we can; each and every time we play. Also who doesn’t look good in a suit?

8) What song do you think fans enjoy most live?
Oooh, that’s a tough question… probably our cover of “Feeling Good” by Nina Simone because the maniacal bridge of styles and feeling it has. Everyone seem to be more drawn in after that one.

9) What is it like being one of the bigger bands in the local music scene?
It’s humbling that you would ask this! We would say we are the same size as all the killer bands we started out with in the Denver scene. We’ve been fortunate enough to have great fans who love to see us play live so that helps us get bigger venues that give us more room to play around in. But we still feel the same. We still feel like we are down in the trench-grinding with our fellow musicians. Maybe that might change or maybe it won’t but we are grateful for the music community here in Denver and the amazing fans that support local music.

10) Thanks for doing this:) Anything to add?
You can find our music on most digital retailers like iTunes, Beats, Spotify, and Soundcloud. We’d highly recommend following us on Facebook and Instagram (or any other social media outlet) and stay in the loop for more shows, music, and videos! Also don’t forget to go out and see live music!

Make sure to follow them on Social Media!

AMZY // @amzymusis
Brennan Johnson // @johnsonianb
Wes Barton // @the.wb
Sean Grant // @seantellagrant
​Nick Billings // @nbillings