Insert BIO here:
What happens when a closet poet decides that on her list of things to do in life is to hop on stages and entertain people, share the words that have been in a vault for decades....? Sharing past victories and failures with the world?
First you get the spoken word side, which focus' on the lyrics, the voice IS the instrument and the words are omni powerful. This is uber-poetry, with literary value...
This was step number one in the love dance.
This wasn't enough though. Instrumentation was sought out... Enlisting a variety of instuments added even more depth, and the journey continued past this fork in the road.
Local musicians started taking notice of this 'spin on the ordinary' and jumped on board, at times being swept away by the lyrical landslide.
the Languid Lotus Project was created... a support group of 'lovefesting' folks, passionate about creation. A community of like minded individuals with the end goal, being, to put a foot in the industry and just to have a little taste of a mic.
Poetry is fun but requires a specific audience, those who are there for the literary aspect. So that's when the songs began to be written. This is when Zoe Keyz was adopted and was introduced to the ecclectic act.
The demographics expand.
Soulful songs are conceived, not unlike the past poetry pieces and prose, but even more honest, more transparent. It's hard to be ambiguous or indifferent when there is a melody involved, especially, when, due to the harmonic union of a woman's mind and simply played keys.
The mask then falls to the ground and the emotional exposure is both real and lapped up by listeners who can relate to the simple situations and occasionally cosmic solutions, reliant on initial gut reactions and primal impulses.
How profound.
Is this a love affair?
It most certainly is, and the art that may not be completely tangible all the time, is in fact a lover and a best friend, a partner in holding one's hand through life's temultuous times. Pulped trees and flowing inks, a delicate record of one's history... on display... for the tickling of the minds and ears of the general population.
Some approach their art on a whim. Which, despite the original leap of faith that put Amber Long on a stage in 2003, she has evolved to surpass.
Recognizing there is no expiry date on a resumé of past works, she continues to press forward in the music industry, independantly, with the help and support of other fabulous individuals.
Most recently with the addition of Greta Grooves, a completely delicious piece of technology, Amber is trekking forward, creating in the electronic realm, as well as composing her own songs, still, with Zoe Keyz, finally in her own studio. A dream that's been in the works since her intoxication of the mic.
Currently working on her first very own EP, likely named Ménage, Amber has teamed up once again with Wayne Bond, who was instrumental in the production of the Languid Lotus Project's album, 'in bloom' released in Oct 2007 and another local producer, G-Raff, to bring you pop rocks, vibrato and lyrical throwdowns mashed with bass, plug ins and an undercurrent of powerful emotion.
Keep your ear to the ground, there is an influx of new sound mixed with the same saucy attitude listeners have come to expect.
Amber Long, from holding four pieces of papers with scribbled, rhyming lines in 2003, on an open mic stage, to co-production and over 100 shows under her belt, in the GTA and beyond, it seems this is more than just a whim. This has become an addiction.
It's only going to get bigger from here on in, folks.
