The booklet in most CDs usually included a generic thank you to fans. On the Dutch-born dance queen Amber’s 2002 album Naked she took it one step further, writing “To the gay community - you know I have to give you a special shout out! I have nothing but love for you - because that is all I experience when I am around you. Thank you for your undying support.”
It is that support that has kept hits like This Is Your Night¸ Sexual (Li Da Di) and One More Night, along with a number of others on the charts, in a genre of music that often sees one-hit and then obscurity.
“I am lucky in that I have a straight and gay fan base. I find that the gay fan base is extremely loyal. Artists like Bette Midler, Madonna and Cher couldn’t do without them, they would not be here without the gay fans. I don’t know what prompts them to be so loyal, that is just the way they are. They are a lovely crowd to perform for, they are thankful, have fun and enjoy a good time. A lot of gay people have had issues with their lives, [and needed] to come clean with themselves… So when they go out to have a good time everyone enjoys it. So I have had very good experiences and that is why on my third full-length album I wanted to specifically thank them for their support.”
The story of Amber, born Marie-Claire Cremers in the Netherlands, is one of strength and perserverance. Initially she was discovered by European producers The Berman Brothers (who had success with The Real Mccoy), who helped her create her first song This Is Your Night. She was signed to Tommy Boy Records… and it all went downhill from there.
“They took the song to America to labels and we right away got offers and signed. I think it happens like that with 99% of the artists, all of a sudden you are just there, and it happened to be a dance song.”
While grateful for the initial success, she quickly soured. “I wanted to be out, but you have contracts. I wanted to get rid of my producers because they were getting on my last rotten nerve! They were trying to take everything away from me and not give me any rights. Their production just hurt my ears. I did not even want to produce a second album with them but they forced me to. So I tried to find a medium ground and work with other writers and producers, which in the end they just took it and put their name underneath it. There are some really shady things that go on in this industry. It took me about two years to negotiate my way out of the contract with them. At about 2002, I saw very clearly that the industry was in disarray and said, listen people, either the companies are going to cut in with the illegal downloading we are dealing with or its not going anywhere and we will have to figure out alternative ways to promote music properly. I was just not happy.”
It worked a bit better, as she had more freedom with her third album Naked but, still she remained unhappy.
“Naked was closer to the truth because I was more in charge, but I was unhappy how my label handled and promoted me. They never took the time to visually promote me, I didn’t have enough videos and those I did, had too many distractions. Musically I felt very unfulfilled. So in 2003 I went directly to the CEO, who was nice enough to have personal conversations with me and I told him I was unhappy. I wanted to just step out. I caught him at a moment where I was in a conventional contract that gave me incredible advances to produce albums, which was great obviously but with every album your advances go up and they were not willing to pay them deep down inside. I used that to my advantage. Thank god he gave me the release, because that is very hard to get. At that time a lot of labels were just shelving artists to keep the competition from getting them. In the meantime these artists would just age and not be able to move forward.”
With the release, she set up her own label, JMCA Enterprises, and released 2004’s My Kind of World.
“It was an entirely different album. I really felt free as an artist. I wanted to show some more variety because I am an artist of many layers. So I am very proud that I chose that and it gave me a real artistic statement.”
Her artistry has been one thing very important to Amber.
“I never intended to become a ‘dance artist.’ I come from a classically trained family, my father is an opera singer and my mother is a piano teacher and songwriter. I was very aware that sometimes the music industry comes in as a fluke and leaves you. So I finished my education and studied to be an orthopedic doctor’s assistant, and always had a backup. In the meantime I invested in my career, did shows, modeled a bit and sang at fashion shows. Dance music overall, you are not in good company when it comes to longevity, and I was very aware of that and not going to succumb to that. I believed in myself as a vocalist and a songwriter. You can make every song a dance song if you put a remix to it. I wanted to have more depth to it. After awhile people really talked about Amber’s standards, and that told me that within that genre I was well on my way to defining myself. I think that probably was one point that distinguished me from other artists.”
Family is very important to Amber, who mentioned she would be moving from New York State, where she currently lives, back to Germany after 12 years in the US.
“I have a son that I would like to get a good education for. I have been a single mother throughout [his life]. It is time for him to be back with my family. We stay in touch constantly but my brothers and sisters are starting to have babies and I am at a point where I just want to be back with my family. The world is a smaller place now with digital and international releasing I could be in India and make music. Right now I am at a point in my life where family is first, I want to enjoy the rest of my life with my family and my parents and be with the people who really matter to me. Over there you have free education and health care and it is a better life situation. After he is done he can do whatever he wants but right now I just think it is a good idea for him to be there.”
Amber was also part of Stars on 54, with Ultra Nate and Jocelyn Enriquez to cover If You Could Read My Mind, one of the only memorable things to come out of the film 54. It is a song that is still heard in clubs ten years later.
“I think the song is bigger than the movie itself. The VP of Tommy Boy, Monica Lynch, put it together, she was a very smart woman and they did a lot of soundtracks. She came up to me and asked if I would be interested. I said yeah sure why not? I think it was a good collaboration and brought a good crossover to what I had to offer. I absolutely do not regret that song because it has a lot of crossover appeal. I thought it was a great project at the time. You still hear it a lot in Canada because Canada only plays 30% outside music. So if you want to have a song on the board in Canada you’d better come up with a Canadian songwriter. There are very strict regulations. Gordon Lightfoot is a huge icon from Canada so I think being that the song has that history, that is a big reason why it was so big in Canada.”
That said, Amber is not a big fan of cover songs. There is one exception, and the result is her duet with former C&C Music Factory singer Zelma Davis covering the 1979 classic No More Tears (Enough is Enough) by Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand.
“I have always loved that song, I am a huge fan of Barbra Streisand. For six years I said if I ever did a cover, I would want to do that song. It was just a matter of finding the right partner because you need big chops to do it. You don’t want to embarrass yourself. You want to make sure that you do it properly and even then you will still run into people who will say ‘It’s not Barbra and Donna.’ That was not the point. We wanted to do a good job with our interpretation and it was paying homage to people we adore as vocalists.”
So the project was simply an idea in her head until 2004, when she performed at Gay Pride in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Zelma Davis was opening for her.
“I saw her on stage and thought, wow! She is five foot two, this little tiny thing with a huge voice. I said, my god where the hell do you pull that voice from? She laughed and we started talking and we right away connected. We were sitting next to each other on the plane and I said, listen, would you be interested in doing a duet with me because I have this idea. She is a huge Donna fan so she said yes. I said I wanted to have my stuff straightened out first and see what route I was going, because it was a very insecure market at that point in time. It was the beginning stages of non-existence. We stayed in touch all these years and became good friends. Finally last year my producer came for a surprise visit and I just brought her in and got the vocals done. We are very happy with the outcome, we didn’t abuse the original but we brought it into 2008. It took a long time to prepare because I wanted to do it right. You want to make sure when you pay everything out of pocket there are a lot of things you have to watch. When I actually started researching this song I saw some versions out there and they were just not right. So it made me more ambitious to do it better and I am confident to say that we did a good job with that.”
Talk of the pride event took as once again back to the subject of gay rights and the current climate in the US regarding gay marriage.
“It is just ridiculous. I always say love is love. Think of all these kids who are created by straight people and have the chance to be adopted by gay parents, why should they not have the same rights? I couldn’t care less if it was called marriage or legal partnership as long as they have the same rights. When people live together and share their lives together and raise their families, they should receive the same rights, period. I remember a fan of mine whose partner was sick and he was not allowed to see him in the hospital. How sick is that? It just drives me nuts.”
“It is not a gender issue. We have too many issues in the world where people hate each other, wars are being fought, and people are killing each other every day. People don’t ask me why I am straight. It is what you are born with. My neighbour’s son, from day one I said ‘that boy is gay’ and everyone said ‘no he’s not.’ I said, trust me, I have gaydar, he is gay! And he is! It is something that is there, I believe it is a genetic thing that is predestined in the person and there is nothing wrong with it. You are just as fine as everybody else. The less we make an issue as an outsider, the less issues people will have with themselves because that reflects on them, and they think something is wrong with them. It just pisses me off. I am pro gay rights and give support wherever I can.”
In fact, there are times when Amber wishes her own 17-year-old son were gay.
”Teenagers give you issues and I am at that stage with my son with rebellion and testing his grounds, and it can be very hard. I said to my Mom, my neighbour has a gay son and I wish my son would be gay for god’s sake! I don’t know why it is, but they are very close to their Moms, they just adore them. Just let him be gay already so he comes back to me! I wouldn’t have an issue with it at all. It would not break down love or anything, you are what you are, and as long as you are a good person that is what it comes down to.”
Amber
www.myspace.com/ambersings
www.amber-mcc.com
