Mary Jane Amato: "The Visionary" (Feature/Interview)

What inspires your music?

As a child, I have always been incredibly attracted by different cultures and the various ways of expressing their essence. One of my favorite means of expression of heritage has always been the word, whether written or connected to sound, and that is why I have always loved writing verse and prose and later in life linked it to sound and beat. World music has been a great source of inspiration for me and discovering the genre of lounge/chillout has given me a view of how so many different cultures and influences are able to coexist in one piece of music. 

How did you start your professional recording career?

I have mainly worked as a cover singer throughout my musical journey. Falling in love with different styles has made it hard to find a specific niche to ascribe to but it has opened up my interest and desire to sing all styles, from Gospel to Jazz, to Pop, Rock, Blues, and obviously lounge. I then started writing lyrics for friends and composers and that is when the opportunity to record a song written and sung by me came up.

How did you come up with your single? 

A good friend of mine, who is an incredible composer, Emilio Merone, submitted a lounge track to me and asked if it inspired me enough to write and record a song. One night the lyrics for The Visionary came to life and the next week I recorded a sample track in my home studio. Later Emilio worked on the track and we then published it on Sound Cloud and Spotify. 

What is your genre of music?

I have been exposed to a great amount of music from all corners of the world and I always found it hard to pigeonhole myself into one category. I grew up in Naples and have always performed our folk music, which is greatly influenced by all the historical dominations of our region and therefore is extremely Mediterranean sounding. I also ended up studying in an American school and became fascinated with the genre of Musical Theatre , Gospel and American Poo music. I then proceeded to listen to music from many different countries and of different genres, opening up my horizons to mixing and contaminating sounds.

Who are your influences? 

My influences are mainly folk groups of my heritage and singers such as Kate Bush, Tori Amos, Shirley Bassey, and Sade. 

How do you define success?

Success to me is just being excited to do what you are doing every day and making people feel better through it. 

What can we expect from you in 2022? 

I hope to pick up from where I left off during the strange years of the pandemic and possibly take my projects and ideas from paper and mind to reality. Looking forward to new collaborations.