One of the Artists I had the pleasure to meet at NAMM 08 was Bobby Amaro - drummer for the powerful Indie Rock trio NUDE. Nude starts their US tour tonight in Baton Rouge, LA at The Dark Room in support of thier 2nd LP "Pink Noise". Before hitting the road I was able to speak with Bobby about the new album, the bands history, and how he became an outstanding drummer with not only great chops, but a special buisness savvy which has helped elevate Nude to their level of success today.
Read along or click here for the audio.
DC: So you guys are gearing up to start this new tour on the 7th, and you had a bass player that was sick?
BA: Yeah unfortunately he’s got some health issues so we had to cancel some of the first shows, but we’re gonna catch up and head out on the 7th.
DC: It’s good it didn’t take you out of the whole tour and we definitely want to wish Bryce a speedy recovery, so we hope he gets back on track real soon.
BA: Yeah, for sure.
Bobby then explains the bands origin of their 3yr history of being together since the spring of “04” and how they all met up at the Musicians Institute in Hollywood, Ca. After hitting it off right away they formed NUDE and immediately started writing material. Not always attending class regularly, the guys still received their education while focusing more on the business/networking opportunities the school offers as well. As Bobby stated “That’s what it’s all about”.
DC: Since then in addition to touring the US you guys have also toured Mexico and Sweden, is that right?
BA: Yeah, a little of Scandinavia and Mexico. Actually three tours in Mexico, one tour of Scandinavia and we’re getting ready for another Mexico tour and the 1st Japan tour starting in June.
DC: That’s amazing, congratulations!
BA: Thank you sir.
DC: Bet you never thought you’d be touring the world this early did you?
BA: Oh definitely. And it feels really good being that I manage all the stuff, set the tours up, and have full control of the project.
DC: That’s one thing that I admired about your band is how tightly and self –managed that it is. Do you find it hard to wear many different hats for the many different roles you play, other than just being a drummer?
BA: Sometimes. I love a challenge and I love taking risks and just seeing where it takes you. It’s kinda difficult sometimes with one band member saying one thing, and the other band member saying another-to go in a different direction. You kinda just go with your gut feeling and take the whole band in control and make a move. But I think we’re pretty successful and have gotten to a point where a lot of bands don’t get at a young age and without management. I think we’re all proud of what we’ve done so far.
DC: The album sounds great man. I’ll be completely honest…I don’t listen to a lot of Indie Rock but I’m a big fan of it. It’s got a great sound, especially with you being a trio that you’re able to get the sound out of the band that you do. Who pretty much has the say over the engineering aspect and how the songs are arranged when it goes into recording?
BA: The way the songs are arranged is through all three of us. Tony (singer) records all the stuff and we have a studio here at our house. It’s a small budget studio- you can pretty much do anything on that now, you don’t have to have top of the line gear. But we had some great companies help us out. I own a DW custom kit and we used that kit on the recording, Evans helped me out on the skins, and Paste cymbals. We had Marshall Electronics on the mics and just some small preamp companies and a lot of software on a small computer. We just took our time and really focused on details.
DC: It definitely shows. That’s one of the highlights and things I picked up from the album was just a lot of the little things and fine touches with just the synthesizers, electronics, and some of the backtracking going on. It’s a really unique sound, but it also reminds me of the nostalgic era of the 80’s that I grew up in so I definitely took a liking to it.
BA: That’s cool, we’re really proud of that album.
From here Bobby and I talk a little about the first album “Sunshine Baby” recorded at John Avila’s (bass player for Oingo Boingo) studio. At the time they had experience in many other areas but not in recording. Once the studio tab surpassed the 10K mark the band decided it was time to learn the ropes of recording and sound engineering for themselves. “Pink Noise" is the band’s testimony of all the hard work Bobby and his bandmates went through to perfect their recording sound. Recorded at the bands Black Hole Studio, once the deal was signed with Warner Brothers Distribution in Japan they moved to Vanersborg, Sweden for the next six months to get a different atmosphere to record. So they packed all the gear and set up shop at East Mental Hospital Studios to finish the album. Being isolated in a small town away from the city, the band was able to focus more on the new album and draw inspiration feeding off an atmosphere almost alien to their home in California.
DC: My favorite track has to be “84”. There were a couple that stuck with me like “Favorite Girl“ and “Full Color TV“, but “84” is probably my favorite track on there. That was just recently selected to be on a soundtrack correct?
BA: Yeah, it’s on a new movie called “All the Boys Love Mandy Lane“ due out April 25th. The soundtrack comes out May 27th; it’s kinda like a teen horror flick.
DC: If anything else I’ll go see it just to hear you.
BA: I’ve seen the previews but the song is not in there, but I’m dying to see the movie when it comes out.
DC: How did that come about? Was that a song you specifically shopped or was that one they happened to hear and just called you guys up saying they wanted to use it?
BA: I was looking around when I was in Sweden. I wanted to get some songs into films and I found some companies in the UK. They took the bait and they sent me an email back a week later and said they liked the page, the songs, and they really liked “84” and thought it would work well with the movie, so they said go for it.
DC: Nice man! So you’ve got a world tour under your belt, movie soundtrack, second album….. not bad for a couple of guys that didn’t like to go to class.
BA: The new LP is gonna be released in Latin America under Warner Distribution in April. So we have distribution in Mexico in April and distribution in Asian territories coming in June.
DC: One thing I noticed about your band was your diverse fanbase especially in the Latino community. You guys have pretty much dedicated an entire NUDE website to the Latino community.
BA: Yeah, it’s been fun. We have Nude Japan/Mexico/Australia, there’s just a lot of young kids that are just biting. We’re doing what we love to do and we’re writing for ourselves and the kids are really liking it. It feels good when everyone starts to like what you’re writing about.
DC: It’s good stuff and you can hear that you guys are writing for yourselves and there doesn’t seem to be too many other influences in your music and that’s a good thing. To start out with that privilege early and not have a lot of people’s hands in your music you guys are really fortunate for that.
BA: We’ve just been really focused and we know what we want. I think when you focus, and you know what you’re trying to get, you start hitting your targets right away as long as you’re focused. We know what we’re trying to attack and we’re getting what we want.
DC: I see you’ve also focused on a new endorsement to put under your belt, who are you with now as of late?
I could have spent the rest of the interview just talking about the various companies that make up NUDE’s endorsement roster. Vic Firth, Evans, Paiste, and Planet Waves just to name a few. And most recently Stick Gripps, a company out of Burbank, CA which specializes in custom grips which actually shrink onto the drumstick itself. Quite the business man, Bobby shares with me the secret of approaching the big companies to help seal the deal.
DC: What’s something that you can recommend to a lot of young drummers out there trying to get to where you are right now as far as work ethic, and things they need to make it?
BA: That’s tough; my parents are a big push behind me. Even if you don’t have the parents behind you just to do it for yourself and know what you want. You’ve gotta be focused and you’ve gotta always think that you can get whatever you want. I always take a risk and I don’t let the big companies that I go for intimidate me. When I see it I always think to myself “If that guy has it, there’s no reason why I can’t have it”. I always look at the rosters of every company that I grew up dreaming I was with like Vic Firth, Paiste, and all the big dogs. I see them now and go like “You know… I’m good enough, there’s no reason why I can’t get it”. So I just approach them, talk my game, and I think the people really believe in what I’m saying. Regardless if I’m not better than the other guy, I still have the heart and the passion and they can tell that on the phone. You just gotta believe in yourself. I won’t quit until I hear a “NO” ten times.
DC: Who’s someone that you’ve seen that really motivated you to the point to where you knew you wanted to do it for a living.
BA: Probably Travis Barker. He’s got all of his side companies and he really knows how to step outside of the “band box”. Most guys are thinking the manager is going to do everything or the lead singer is the guy who's gonna get the props in the band. I think he kinda stepped out …. He ended up being the most famous guy in the band so he was the smart one.
DC: A lot of people look at their idols and they just look at them as far as their playing abilities. It’s good that you actually keyed in on that, and that’s what really attracted you to him was his business sense.
BA: He’s a great player but the main thing I look at is his success.
DC: Right, a lot of drummers are great players but they don’t have their head wrapped around the business end.
BA: Exactly, at the end of the day I think of Barker. He’s a smart guy to think about making the money. When I was growing up I thought it wasn’t about the money, it’s about the passion and the love of music. As you grow up you have to make a living and if you don’t want to have a job, you gotta make your talent pull you some bucks. Not even your talent but your brain smarts, somehow I have to market myself and make some money at the end of the day.
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