Mick Unplugged - Amanda Cole | Voices of Change and Music with a Mission - Mick Unplugged [EP 21]

Episode Date: June 22, 2024

Mick Hunt engages with Amanda Cole in a profound discussion about her music career, principles, and commitment to authenticity. Amanda shares her journey through the music industry, her approach to overcoming challenges, and her aspirations to positively impact the industry. Her story is a powerful reminder of the importance of staying true to one's values and the transformative power of music.Amanda Cole's Background: Celebrated for her versatile singing career, from Envogue to solo performances, focusing on authenticity and positive influence in the music industry. Defining Moments: Reflecting on her choice to step away from traditional music paths to forge her own, focusing on her work's personal and emotional resonance. Discussion Topics:Amanda is dedicated to creating music that remains true to her identity and values rather than conforming to industry norms.Insights into her decision to prioritize family and personal integrity over fame, including her departure from Envogue.The impact of digital platforms like YouTube in offering artists the freedom to explore and express their musical talents without industry constraints.Key Quotes:"I think having positive and beautiful images is important, and I feel very responsible as an artist.""It's about being true to yourself, no matter the external pressures.Next Steps:Explore: Listen to Amanda Cole's music to experience her unique blend of passion and authenticity.Reflect: Consider how personal values and professional choices align in your own life.Engage: Share how Amanda's approach to music and integrity inspires you using #MickUnplugged. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are you ready to change your habits, sculpt your destiny, and light up your path to greatness? Welcome to the epicenter of transformation. This is Mic Unplugged. We'll help you identify your because, so you can create a routine that's not just productive, but powerful. You'll embrace the art of evolution, adapt strategies to stay ahead of the game, and take a step toward the extraordinary. So let's unleash your potential. Now, here's Mick. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to a special episode of Mick Unplugged, where we dive into your why to get you fueled by your because. And today we have the extraordinary honor

of speaking with the true powerhouse of talent. Her voice transcends genres, her journey defines the conventional paths, and her story is one of resilience, passion, unwavering dedication. From her iconic stint with En Vogue to her soul-stirring tribute to Whitney Houston, she is leaving an incredible mark on the music world.

It is with admiration that I welcome the phenomenal, the inspiring, the mesmerizing, Ms. Amanda Cole. Amanda, how are you doing today? Thank you. My goodness, I need you to write my bio for me. That's incredible. Thank you so much. It's an honor to be with you. Thank you. It's all true. Thank you. It's all true. Thank you. It is an honor. You know, Amanda, your career span multiple genres and roles within the industry. What's been the most fulfilling aspect of this diverse journey for you? The most fulfilling, I think making the decision to not be conventional, to not conform to the industry and what they expect, but to want to try to transform that, to change that into something that is more redemptive, something that's more positive. I know that images are so important in music and in our culture. And I think

that having images that are positive and beautiful, it's important. And I feel very responsible as an artist and as a singer to show that aspect. Because unfortunately now, the images aren't as diverse. They're very one-dimensional. And I've always felt that there's room for all types of music. There's room for everyone in music, all types of creativity. I just feel like for me, I can only speak from my experience as a Black woman in music, that those avenues aren't afforded to me in ways that they are for other artists. And I want to change that. I really do. I see people that I admire and I

think are doing a really great job, but they can't be seen. They aren't being seen. And I think that it takes a lot of courage to step outside of what's expected, to step outside of what is offered and to say, this is who I'm deciding to be as an artist. And whether that makes me famous or rich or gets me a lot of followers, that's inconsequential. I know that there's a mission for me, that my gift was given to me for a reason. And I want that reason to be a positive force in music. I think it's the most important thing.

I've always felt that way and I will die feeling that way. It's the most important thing. The way that we see ourselves reflected in media, reflected in our culture is so important to our future. And I want to be the aspect that is positive, that is a light. That's what I'm proud of, that I can sit here and say that I've been consistent in that. I'm proud of that. As you should be. And that's one of the many reasons that I respect you the most is because you do things like care about your representation. You put your family first.

And I actually want to go there because you had an amazing stint with En Vogue and it's like, you know what? I got these babies I'm trying to raise now, right? Walk us through that decision, that thought process, that choice. Well, I did have a daughter at the time I was married. I had a daughter and I was traveling. Being in Vogue was transformative for me. It was the most extraordinary experience of my life, really, because I sat and watched these women as a kid. And, you know, I bought the hold on dress. I was singing the songs, you know, in the mirror with

the hairbrush. That was me. right? And to be invited into such a phenomenal brand was, it was overwhelming. And I was honored to be there. They're very protective of their brand and they're very protective of how they're represented. So to be asked to be a part of that was, it was just beyond anything I could have imagined. But then getting into the industry and seeing how it worked, seeing how things actually were, being on the inside, I had a lot of decisions to make. The group was incredible. The people that I worked with were phenomenal. I learned a lot about music. I learned a lot about business. And at the end of the day, I just had to decide what was I willing to sacrifice to get the things that this industry offered me. And I just decided that it wasn't worth what I was being asked to give up.

I did have a daughter and she was missing out on a lot of what I had to offer her as a mom and traveling and her being so proud of me and seeing me on stages. And, you know, those things were good. That was good. But it took me away from things that I felt were more important. And that's watching her develop fundamentally and being there just personally as her mom. I felt like that was the most important thing. And also, it wasn't just the parenting thing. It was also the business aspect of the industry. The aspects I was being asked to reflect didn't reflect who I was as a person. And I was very young at the time, but I did have a very strong sense of my identity. I knew how I wanted to be identified and how I wanted to be

seen. And I just saw things changing in a way that was very uncomfortable and it didn't reflect who I was as a person. So I stepped away for that reason as well, for my own protection and for the protection of my future, for what I have now. It's just very important to know what you want and who you want to be, how you want to show up in the world when you get into that industry, because you will be offered everything that you want. I've watched people on television. I was there and I actually met these people. But then I also knew that the illusion that the industry is not reality. I saw the reality of it and I just was not prepared to sacrifice for that reality. I just wasn't. I wasn't going to hold up the illusion and pretend that something was the way that it was. And it really is not that way. There was no benefit for me. So I stepped away and I completely stepped away. I stopped singing completely because I just didn't see a future in it. I felt like if I wasn't going to do it that way, then there was no avenue for me to do it. We didn't have streaming.

It was just like 2003, right? I didn't even know about YouTube at that time. So I just didn't feel that there was any avenue for me outside of conforming to the industry. So I just said, you know, I'd rather beautiful family. I have beautiful children. I have two daughters in college now. I have one more to go, her adult daughter. So I have a beautiful family and I'm very glad that I invested that time in them. But I really feel like now is the time for me to just reevaluate where I want to be in music and where I want to take my career now. So that's where I am. No, that's awesome. And I appreciate, respect, and love the fact that you didn't compromise who you were and your values for the perception of stardom and fame. And it is a perception. In that group, I met so many people that I admired and loved. And I

watched on television receive awards, and I watched their videos to actually meet them in person and to see them and to see how their lives actually were. Not the glitz and the glamour, but the actual work that you have to do and the sacrifices you have to make. And also the illusion of the monetary gain. Fame is not an illusion. You can garner fame if that's what you want. If you want to be famous, you can be famous. But the money aspect, if you're an artist and you think that signing a record deal is going to make you rich, no, this is not going to happen. You can absolutely be famous because I've known very famous people who slept on their mother's couches and were two

records in with number one record. That's the reality of the industry. And that's not something a lot of people want to talk about. You know, how humbling it is to have people think that you have $20 million and you're living with your mom, right? It's what directed me away from wanting to be seen and just needing to be heard. And that's why I started my YouTube channel. I didn't start it for followers. I didn't start it for, you know, the likes and subscribers. I didn't start it for that.

I needed my voice to be heard. And I was also grieving my father, and singing was a way for me to get that out. But I really wanted to experiment with different types of music. And I knew that I wouldn't be able to do that, being signed to a company or having to represent someone who was, you know, their thing is the bottom line. If it's not going to sell, we're not going to do it. So I was able to experiment with a lot of

different music on my YouTube channel. And I was just very fortunate to have people respond to that. Everything that was on that channel, I did by myself, all alone, no help. I've never bought a follower. I've never bought a subscriber. I've never done that. So I feel very proud of the grassroots effort that I made. I worked really hard to be different. It takes courage to do that. It's not an easy path, but I did work hard and I feel very proud of the platform that I've built. Yeah. As you should, because this YouTube channel, you know, you and I were talking offline. Oh, six years ago, I found it and I'm on there daily. And I love the facts. Number one, for the listeners and viewers, go to Amanda Cole's YouTube channel. You're going to be blown away. Promise. Number two,

Amanda's so real, right? Like you are so real and you're not covering songs like you're making songs your own, which for a lot of people is hard, right? Like it's kind of easy to just sing the song that you hear. You give a song an experience, your experience, and you can feel it, right? That's why I said the soul stirring Amanda Cole. Yeah, that's my story. Just taking the Whitney Houston song, for example. Whitney's life experience is not my life experience. And when she was given that song, she put her heart into that. She put her experience into that interpretation of that song. So when I listen to it, I try to hear how does this song make me feel? And how would I like to translate this story to people so they can feel what I'm feeling, experience what I'm feeling from my perspective. That's what I do with every cover that I do. I always tell it from my perspective. The song becomes mine when I start to do it. And some people don't really like that. I've had people say, why don't you just sing it the way it's written? And I say, well, if you want that,

you can listen to the original because you'll never get that from me. I'll always infuse myself into everything that I sing, into everything, so. And it's amazing. I mean, I love how at the end of I Have Nothing, and you leave it on the recording, right? Yes. Ooh, that was hard. It was, and you can, I'll be honest with you. That was the, probably the 20th take I started.

And I did several takes after that. And that was just the best one that I had. And actually I wasn't going to post that one because I was acting kind of crazy. I was very relaxed. So I think that's why it came off as well as it did because I was relaxed. The other ones were, I couldn't get through it without, you know, making a mistake. And I try to get through all of my songs without, you know, making serious mistakes. I mean, the one that I posted was a little pitchy, but it was the best one that I had. So that was a hard song to do. And it's important that people know that I'm not in there using auto-tune. I'm not in there, you know, I'm singing it.

I'm singing these songs. And you're not singing, you know, you know where we're from. You were singing. I was driving, man. I was not singing. You know where we're from. You were singing. I was trying, man. I was giving it my best. Chandelier was another one that was really tough. That was a hard song too. I tend to pick songs that typically, they're not super easy. And it's challenging for me. I do it for myself most times. So I'm just very glad that my interpretations were accepted because, you know, people get very emotional about the songs that they love and care about. And I understand that. So I'm just glad that people have embraced my interpretations.

Embraced it and loving it. Like, I promise you, you know, I'm a huge fan. My sister, Rachelle, loves you as well like and you two kind of sound alike to me and i think that's why i resonate with you a lot but like just amazing stuff amazing stuff let's talk about some newness now though okay right yeah let's talk about to the water yes and and let me tell you this and i told kevin the same thing it is my favorite song oh i don't listen to new music and i'm sure you know why right I don't listen to new music and I'm sure you know why, right? I don't listen to new music because I don't think it's music. To the Water. I listen to it every single day. I start my day with that song. Oh, wow. When I hear the words coming from your voice and your tone, it takes me places. Oh, I'm so glad. I was almost

talked out of doing that song. So many people were like, oh, it's not radio friendly. Oh, you know, it's very depressing. But I'm like, you know, stories, our stories have to be told. Death is a part of life, you know, and that's a story that should be told. And I don't think that it's a popular take, but I do think it's a necessary take. I think that we will all face it one way or another, either through our families, our friends, and even ourselves will be faced with that ultimately. So I think that it's important to relay that through music and to connect us through music, connect that subject through music, especially being that music is so spiritual, regardless of what type of music it is. It really is a very, you know, spiritual experience. And singing to the water was tough. Hearing it

for the first time was tougher because I had a family member going through a terminal. And those words were said to me, you know, those very words. So when I heard the song, it took me out. I have to be honest. It was just very moving. I knew I had to sing it. And when I gave it to Kevin, he made it into something that was just beyond what I could have imagined. It was just so beautiful. And now to have it released and to have this

feedback, even your feedback, so many people, just recently I've had someone post on my channel that they played the song at their mother's funeral. And I've gotten so many messages on Facebook and YouTube saying that they played this song at their loved one's funerals, that it's helped them to grieve. A mother, her child said that she was not able to grieve her baby until she heard that song and she was able to cry for the first time for her baby. Death is so hard. Paint it in a beautiful way, the way that Matt wrote,

that Matt Simmons is the writer of this song, and the way that he wrote this song, it paints death in a way that is respectful and beautiful. And it honors the courage it takes to say, I'm ready. You know, I've done the work and I'm ready to. And I'm just very, I'm proud of that song. It's my favorite too. I listen to it all the time and I feel kind of like, but I just love it.

I do. I listen to it all the time too. So I'm with you. Yeah. And so selfishly for me, right? This song connects me to my grandparents and I was really, really close to my grandparents. So I feel like my grandparents are talking to me through that song and through your voice, it's giving me that feeling of they're right here. And so I thank you for that. Thank you for that. That's what I'm hoping all... I just had to fight through getting emotional with you, Amanda. Well, you know what? I'm hoping that we can take music back to being that, not just with this type of music, but with all of our music. I mean,

I grew up with Luther and Whitney and Anita and Peebo and, I mean, Regina Bell, Anita Baker. That music was like, you could really feel that. That was real music to me, a Roberta Flack, you know? And today, I just don't think we're cultivating that type of music. And I want us to start to reflect on why. Why aren't we using that same type of love and energy to create music? I want it to come back. I'm ready for it to come back.

It better. I promise you, I don't listen to this new stuff. It's tough. It's hard. And you know, I've had offers. I've had deal offers. And honestly, I've been told, Mike, that the way that I sing is not relevant. The subject matter is not relevant. I'm an R&B pop ballad singer. That's what I love. I love pop ballads, right? And to be told by someone just flat out, I mean, nobody wants to listen to that. That's not relevant music. And I'm sitting here thinking, well, I see a lot of people doing it. They just don't look like me. So I sat and watched Whitney Houston and I looked and I saw myself in her. That image of that beautiful woman, even within Vogue, it was the same way.

I saw the possibility of what I could become in those images. And I just want our kids to have that now. There's room for everyone. You know, you can have the Cardi B's and the Megan Thee Stallion. You could have all those. There's room. But to have it just be that, I think, is disingenuous and I don't think it's right. I think that there should be other representation. There should be other reflections of our experience. And I think those should be

reflected in the images you see in our media. And it's just not. And the reason why I have not signed is because my image does not promote what, I don't want to get too deep now, but it doesn't promote the agenda that, you know, pays the bills for them. And I respect that, you know, you do music for whatever reason you want. I know the reasons that I do it. And I know that I'm not going to be famous. I'm not going to be, you know, Beyonce.

But I know that when someone writes to me and tells me that my songs save their life, that's the reason I do music, you know? And you don't have to be and tells me that my songs save their life, that's the reason I do music, you know, and you don't have to be famous to do that, to change a person's life. And I think that's what music is here for. I really do. And it's real. And if people start to compromise and say, well, I would rather pay my rent than be, you know, a light in this place, then it starts to deteriorate. And then you start to get what we have. You start to do it for money and not music. It becomes a business. And I'm trying so hard to stay away from making my art into something that is monetized or that's a monetary.

I don't, I don't make money doing this. Honestly, God, me and my YouTube channel, I might make $4. Stop it. Honestly, I will show you. They've changed YouTube so much from when I first started to now. You could hardly make money doing it. So I do it because I love it. Then I'll continue to do it the way that I do it because I love it and because I love people. And I want people to connect to my music in a way that is positive and uplifting and that reflects love and unity and the positive stuff.

I know that doesn't sell, you know, that's not sexy, but that's how I live my life. I want positivity, you know, want love in my music and in my life. So that's why I choose the music that I choose. And I've chosen the road that I've chosen because that's what I want. And you go get it. That's what I'm talking about. That's what I love. That's what I love. Yeah. So for our listeners that are out there and for me, it doesn't matter what industry you're in, what walk of life you're in. I always say, stay true to yourself. And you are the epitome of that, staying true to yourself.

For the listeners and viewers, what are some things that they can do or stay reminded of to stay true to themselves? Well, you have to know why you're doing it. What's your motivation? What's motivating you to make music? If it's money, then you'll do certain things to make money while you're making music. If you make a beautiful song and you think it's the best song in the world and someone says, well, that's not really going to be radio friendly and you put it in a box and start doing things, if you're willing to compromise, you will.

I just know that if you want to be an artist, you have to be honest. And if you want to make money, then do what it takes to make money. Do that. But if you want to make music, then you have to say, you know, it doesn't really matter whether this is going to play well on the radio. Doesn't really matter whether I'm going to get a million followers. If I do this, I'm doing it because my heart is saying, this is what I need to share. And this is what I'm going to do. And I promise you, I promise you someone's going to connect with it. I promise. Cause it's happening to me. I'm telling you, I promise you someone's going to connect with it. I promise. Because it's happening to me. I'm telling you, I don't have a record. I don't have a record deal. I'm

a manager. I mean, all of this is me. I'm talking to you now with none of those things. But I have a song out. It's not great, big, you know, huge on the charts. It's not that. But it's a song that is connecting with people and that is helping people to mourn and grieve the people that they love and that they've loved. That is the most important thing to me. And it is only because I chose to give my heart and not, you know, choose another song that could have made me money. And that's what you have to sit down with yourself and say, how do I want to show up? Do I want to show up as myself and be honest and give the world what is truly me? Or do I want to give the world what the industry says is acceptable? You have to decide

who you want to be and then stick with it. You can't be swayed by a million dollars, baby. Trust me, it's hard to look away from a million dollar check. You have to understand that, like my mother would always say, and I know your mother's probably said this too, baby, all money ain't good money. You know, you have to be very careful because it's expensive. You know, the price you pay for that money is very, very high. You may have a million dollars, but you pay that back plus interest, plus your entire life. So it's a choice. You have to decide what you want to be. And if you want to be famous, you'll do what it takes to be famous. If you want to

have money, you'll do what it takes. But if you want to make music, that is the hardest road that you're going to go. And not a lot of people are going to do it because it's hard. But I bet you the reward is going to be the biggest because you will change people's lives. And I think that's what music's supposed to do anyway. That's it. Amanda, I appreciate you so much for taking some time with me today. This has been a highlight of my day. I mean that. Where can people follow you, find you? What do you want people to know? What do you have coming up? The floor is yours. I am on Facebook, Amanda Cole on Facebook, Amanda Cole Music on YouTube, at the Amanda Cole on Instagram and TikTok. We're working on a show now that includes To The Water. I also do

Whitney Tributes and I have one scheduled on this 22nd of June here in my hometown at the Majestic Theater. So I'm excited about that. Mostly I'm just recording, trying to get music out. The next song that Kevin and I have is called Hold On. And I think it speaks to our time. It speaks to what we're going through right now. And I'm excited about releasing that one too. All right. Well, I'm going to need you and Kevin to give me a little sneak preview of that one. All right. Well, Amanda, again, I appreciate you more than you know. This has been inspiring. You are the greatest. You are a legend and please keep making music. Thank you. Thank you. I will. And thank you so much for

inviting me. This has been so fun. Thank you. Absolutely. And for all the listeners, remember, your because is your superpower. Go unleash it. Thanks for listening to Mick Unplugged. We hope this episode helps you take the next step toward the extraordinary and launches a revolution in your life. Don't forget to rate and review the podcast and be sure to check us out on YouTube at Mick Unplugged.

Remember, stay empowered, stay inspired, and stay unplugged.