Call & Response: Amanda Huff
(7 min)
For those working in auditory art forms like music or sound design, it can be difficult to define… to put words to the magic that makes up the sonic vibrations of music. But as we discovered in this interview, Amanda Huff has no problem describing her relationship with music through evocative, enthralling visual language.
In fact, Huff’s responses are second only to the music itself, setting the scene beautifully for a journey that is as dynamic as her voice.
In this chat with the Milwaukee-based artist, singer, songwriter, and collaborator we dive into how Huff approaches using her vocal range for different projects, braving the unknowns of new collaboration, and the artistic process both within the boundaries of production music and in her own catalog.
Lab Notes (LN): If you had to boil your musical journey into one sentence, what would it be? (Run-on sentences accepted and encouraged.)
Amanda Huff (AH): Closing my eyes and chasing the sun.
LN: Whether someone hears you for the first time or the hundredth, your voice stands out with a depth of musicality, dynamics, and emotion.
Do you have a particular philosophical approach to how you use your voice? How has your style of singing changed or evolved over the years?
AH: I didn't have classical vocal training, so my approach to learning music has always been through play. Every time I go to make music, I try to look at the parameters of my voice, and how I can visualize expanding them. A note higher than the highest! Lower than the lowest! Gentle! Wretched! Am I screaming or am I gasping for air? I make a lot of very terrible sounds, and I'm certain my neighbors think I'm a real weirdo.
Oh, also, I have this game I'll often play when listening to music-- I'll stand at the end of my bed and try to fall backwards in slow motion like the comforter is an abyss and the song is a score. When I go to make music, I'll enter that same mental void and visualize a memory so I can access the right emotions. I truly believe finding a level of dissociation is crucial to being both fearless and present in front of a mic.
LN: You’ve been featured on multiple tracks across The License Lab library, including the improvised album Acoustic Contours and a pair of dark pop singles on LMNTL Records. Listeners can hear your role as the undeniable lead vocal, but you also utilize your voice in an “instrumental” way with scat-like vocals and layers of harmonies.
As a singer, does working within the parameters of production music feel any different than creating your own music? Is it flexing a different creative muscle?
AH: It's just a different facet of the same game. I know I come to the table with a unique arsenal of tones and inflections, it's just a matter of who's drawing the parameters, and what do I need to contribute to flesh the track out properly.
The goal is to make something successful. Sometimes that means writing a killer top line, sometimes that means sewing the fabric to make the bed.
I truly believe finding a level of dissociation is crucial to being both fearless and present in front of a mic.
LN: Your own catalog is full of collaboration. In the past few years alone, you’ve worked with artists including Vincent Van Great, This Random Machine, and HOLTERGEIST.
What is it about collaboration that you enjoy? And how do you approach not only finding new collaborators but working in such varied genres?
AH: I like that it's a constant challenge. Often I'll start outside of my comfort zone, but by the end I'll have acquired new skills and a new genre I can associate myself with. There's also a lot of research and active listening that gets to happen when you're not the only one in control, and that type of bonding is so gratifying. The sense of community and perspective is also really huge.
As far as finding collaborators, I'm secretly very shy, so most of the people I've worked with made the first move. I can only take credit for saying yes and showing up. In regards to the range in genres, I think it’s really just been a matter of many interests, many pursuits. (If anyone wants to start a shoegaze project, I think that's next on my dream list.)
LN: For creatives out there looking to either try collaborating or co-writing for the first time or expanding their circle, what do you think is the most important thing to remember when collaborating with someone new?
AH: It's not about inserting yourself into a work or melding yourself to fit someone else's formula. It's breaking out the Venn diagram to find where you and your collaborator intersect, and then creating off that overlap. Making art at its core is an act of the ego, and you need to understand that any good collaboration is learning how to honor all parties involved.
Often I'll start outside of my comfort zone, but by the end I'll have acquired new skills and a new genre I can associate myself with.
LN: Much of your work, including your 2018 album Hemiptera, features sonically rich recordings. But we’ve seen you perform accompanied only by your ukulele.
When you write, do you hear fully developed arrangements or do you focus on raw ingredients like melody and lyrics?
AH: I hear fully developed arrangements most of the time, though I'd argue that the raw ingredients are all a song needs sometimes. I hate burying my intent, so there is almost always a subtractive part to my process. If I'm being honest with myself, my wheelhouse is more-so melody and lyrics, so it’s a split between hearing more and finding the lexicon to communicate my needs, or establishing trust with someone else and relinquishing that control.
LN: Do you have any vocal heroes or singers who inspire you?
AH: Enya was really pivotal for me growing up, so was Shirley Manson. As of more recent, Siouxsie Sioux, Su Tissue, Åsa Söderqvist.
LN: What do you do when you’re not creating music?
AH: I recently started teaching myself graphic design, so as of late, I've been pouring my free time and energy into making show posters and trashed graphics. I'm a huge fan of xerox art and DIY aesthetic, so it’s been cool to start making some of my own work in that vein.
I'm also very into cooking! Starting during the pandemic, I took it upon myself to learn how to make all my favorite food, since going out wasn't an option. Tons of curry noodle soups and gyoza.
I initially moved to Wisconsin for art, so most of my life revolves around doing something art-centric, or at least approaching it through that lens. If we're talking purely recreational, though, I'm a big dork for video games. Last game I really got obsessive over was the Resident Evil 4 remake, but my all-time favorite will forever be Shadow of the Colossus.
LN: What are three things about you that wouldn’t want left out of your Wikipedia page?
AH: I have a terrible and irrational fear of sharks in video games. Real sharks? Eh. But the ones made of pixels? My brain is shutting down.
Most of my adult life I've had a steady side hustle as a janitor.
I have Tourette's, which sucks, but the vocal tic is also what I credit so much of my vocal journey to. In between the pains of having a persistent [false] cough, I've gotten really in touch with the way all the muscles in my throat work. So many of the tones I use were first learned out of having to work around whatever condition my throat was in at the time.
To learn more about Amanda Huff and to follow along with her projects, here are a few links to get you started: