“I want to thank the Academy for all their support”
Vocalist/lyricist Amy Kuney came to L.A. in 2004 like so many others: to follow her dream. With The Oscars buzz on overdrive right now, Kuney’s “Sold Out” from her 2006 6-song debut CD, “EP,” taps into both the highs and lows of aspiring actresses.
“I will be a better mother / I will be a better wife / I will submit to my husband / But I lead a double life / In my head and in my heart / Give me credit I’m just playing a part”
“I grew up in the Midwest – Okalahoma, until age 14,” Kuney says. “My family moved to Honduras and I got out of my comfort zone. Every time I went back [to the Midwest], most of the people I knew were still there – which is fine – but it was hard for me to understand the mentality of some of the intelligent, educated women staying in one place, almost like servants.”
“I take every chance to run my errands alone / I stay out as long as I can / Until I am called to come home / And clean up… put the kids down / Plan to make love though he’s nowhere around”
“Sold Out,” then, Kuney explains, “is about someone who wants to be an actress, but who already has sustained responsibilities in a particular place: she got married, had kids, loves her family. In many conservative religions, it’s the role of the wife to be submissive, to give up her own aspirations to please her husband and family. But her husband doesn’t appreciate her.”
“My children will call me a blessing / From the day they can talk / I’ll always have my wedding ring / But most times I won’t have it on”
Kuney elaborates: “It’s fuel for her furnace. She wants to get out [as an actress] in a way that makes her husband proud of her, yet when she’s famous, like it or not, he can’t have her. It’s a common fantasy, a feeling of power, to want someone to want you so badly…but he or she can’t have you.”
Was “Sold Out” written with someone particular in mind? “No. I was sitting in [co-producer] Mandi Martin’s kitchen a few days after Julia Child died, and Mandi had a bookshelf full of Julia Child cookbooks. I was thinking about a woman’s dream to get married and have children. That could easily have been me if I’d chosen to settle down instead of pursue music. But I have things I want to accomplish before I get to that point. ‘Sold Out’ was also inspired by the book ‘Crazy in Alabama,’ about a woman with 8 children and a husband who doesn’t get it. She ends up moving to Hollywood.”
“So I turn on the stove and I let the cat out / The carrots are boiling over / As I bow to my secret crowd / Cheering for me and the way I perform / I want to thank the Academy for all their support”
Kuney continues, “I pictured an actress, a Greta Garbo character on the silver screen. It’s set in the 1950s or ‘60s. I saw the husband going to watch his wife’s movie at a theater, and not be able to get in because it’s sold out. There’s a big ‘SOLD OUT’ sign on the theater.”
“But he’s gonna want me when I’m famous / He’s gonna want me when I’m gold / He’s gonna want me when I make it / But I will be… I will be SOLD OUT”
Although Kuney usually starts with a melody, “This song was one of the first times I had lyrics that motivated and ruled the song.” When the melody did come together, “I wrote it with my [acoustic] guitar. And when I perform it, it’s usually me, my bass player and drummer. I also play it alone a lot.”
To emphasize the movie imagery, though, “When we were recording, my co-producers Peter Barker and Mandi Martin had the imagination to make the music theatrical – almost like a movie score, the soundtrack to the woman’s victory on screen. Many people came into the studio and collaborated with us to translate the story into music.”
The rich layers of 9 musicians’ multiple instruments, combined with Kuney’s confident and well-paced vocals, give “Sold Out” a depth unusual in today’s quick-hit music scene. Drums and percussion supplement the song’s message rather than drowning it out. Throughout the song guitars and strings – violin, viola, cello – complement Kuney’s carefully modulated pitch. Perfectly placed piano accents add even more emotion to already heartfelt lyrics, like Kuney’s soft sigh after “So I turn on the stove.”
Despite some acting roles as a folk singer on “Gilmore Girls,” Kuney’s own immediate dreams, other than successfully finishing college, “all have to do with music. I need to pursue that wholeheartedly. Relationships can’t be half-hearted; they need to be treated with care and time. Right now I don’t have that time. I’m 21: I have time to zero in and target my musical goals. Whether it works or not, I can always say I tried my hardest.”
Kuney and her co-producers are aiming for a new album this year, and they’ve been working on it in the studio since September 2006. “I have a lot of new stuff that’s really personal, more edgy. The new songs give more of a glimpse of me as a person. I’m excited: I like to be sitting on the edge of my seat.”
Kuney’s songs have already gotten TV exposure on “Passions” and “Laguna Beach,” and you can listen to “Sold Out” anytime online at www.AmyKuney.com and MySpace.com/AmyKuney.
