Amber Luck on her debut single ‘Other Girls’
Originally from Pōneke, the now Tāmaki Makaurau based singer-songwriter Amber Luck has found her niche in the world of lyric-driven indie pop, with her new single about situationships & the anxiety-ridden highs and lows of an undefined fling.
Hey Amber, thanks so much for taking the time to chat to us! First of all, we'd love to know about your musical journey from when you first started singing & making music?
Hey, so lovely to be chatting to you! Music was something I kept super private for a long time and it took me a while to come out of my shell. I was terrified to sing in front of people (so much that I would get panic attacks) so I would just write songs for myself and dream about some day in the future when I would be confident enough to share them.
I started to gain confidence as I made friends with lots of musicians and watching them perform made me feel like I could do it too. I met my friend Matthew Young when he had a studio in my flat and he really encouraged me in my songwriting. When I eventually decided I wanted to be serious about making music I knew I wanted to work with him, so we started doing sessions together back in early 2019. It took a few years (I went and lived in New York for a bit, Covid happened, etc) but we eventually wrote a whole EP together!
Incredible! And we are so obsessed with your debut single 'Other Girls'! Can you tell us about the concept of this song?
Aw thank you! The song is about a situationship I was in where I knew the guy I was seeing was interested in someone else but he was still saying he was into me. It was literally a case of ‘I know you're thinking about other girls’, hence the lyric haha. Obviously it's written from my perspective and I honestly don't know what was truly going on in his head at the time but as far as I know he's still with the girl so I'm actually really happy for them and glad it happened cause I got this song out of it!
What was your main highlight working on 'Other Girls'?
Trying random things that would come to us in the session to see if they would work in the song, and going to the supermarket to buy cans of 73 Citrus Orange Juice. Matthew put me on to it and it's addictively good.
We’ll have to try it! And which artists are you most inspired by?
Gracie Abrams, the vulnerability and honesty in her songwriting is perfect and her voice is delicious. Billie Eilish, her melodies are soooooo ear-ticklingly beautiful. Ethel Cain, she's the definition of an artist, I aspire to be as cool and interesting as her. Matthew Young, no one has the drive to pursue a good lyric like him. Bülow, she has such cool lyric ideas ... I could go on forever naming people so I'll stop.
Such a great list! Who are some of your favourite NZ artists right now and are there any songs in particular that you especially love?
This question is so hard because there are so many brilliant artists in Aotearoa at the moment. Rita Mae is killing it, I've had the pleasure of writing with her and she's a literal genius and her song ‘Kiss The Sky’ is a masterpiece (also thanks to amazing production by Harry Charles!!!). Rita has also written one of my favourite songs ever, ‘Death Song’, but she hasn't released it so I have to listen to the Dropbox file - sorry to be a tease but she does play it live so go see her play. I've also been listening to a lot of Erny Belle, she's so talented it's intimidating. Benjamin Mack who I'm playing my first ever show with is also a brilliant musician and songwriter with such a precious, unique perspective that really shines in his work.
We are so excited for your first ever show supporting him at Big Fan, Auckland on Fri 7 June! What are you looking forward to most for this performance?
I'm looking forward to everything and hopefully not shitting my pants.
Haha we know you are going to smash it! What else do you have lined up for 2024?
I'm putting out another song soon-ish which is exciting, and hopefully going to play more shows too! I'm not super great at long term plans so honestly who knows what will happen but I'm sure it'll be really fun.
We can’t wait to hear more music from you! Lastly, we end every interview with this question - if you could say one thing to every person in the world, what would it be?
If I was fortunate to be able to talk to every person in the world that would include a lot of people in power, so I would say: Free Palestine.
Thanks so much Amber! Make sure you keep up with her on Instagram, TikTok, Spotify or Apple Music.
