Birmingham-born and raised, AMÍKA returns to Speakeasy with Susie a year after the release of debut EP Blue Kid.
Jesting about how long it has been and how “we should be ashamed of ourselves” to have waited so long, AMÍKA shares that she is “riding high” after headlining The Hare & Hounds in King Heath. An amazing night, she explains, with the accompaniment of other incredible Midlands artists, has set the precedent for future shows.
“I’d love to play the Mostly Jazz Funk and Soul Festival, I’d love to play Glastonbury” but the headliner at The Hare & Hounds will always be her first.
AMÍKA began her career with the release of 2021 single ‘Wanna Feel’ and released her debut EP in February 2024. Blue Kid features pre-released single ‘Yellow Days’ and titular track ‘Blue Kid’ both of which Susie plays with enthusiasm.
A stripped-back, acoustic rendition of ‘Yellow Days’ is introduced as a break-up song, written about a fleeting romance that upon its end AMÍKA found herself searching for the happy ‘yellow’ days of the relationship to realise there might not have been any once she had taken the rose-tinted glasses off.
Speaking from pop legend Amy Winehouse, AMÍKA discusses the funny nature of performing songs when she is no longer in the same frame of mind as when she first wrote them. Talking directly about ‘Blue Kid’, a song written about her darker days, she describes the song as still meaning a lot as the nominal track in her EP.
The conversation swiftly moves to inspiration, as AMÍKA introduces the tracks she recalls as heavy influence on her own career. From the likes of Kaytranada and Gene Harris, the music is rooted in Jazz and hold memories of her coming-of-age story as a London student. An anecdote of being “broke and eating pasta and finding out I have IBS” leads into Kaytranada’s ‘Light Spots’.
With nothing in particular lined up for the artist, the desire to “have a summer” is the priority for AMÍKA. Though, she assures that there will always be things going on in the background.
Blue Kid and the rest of AMÍKA’s discography can be streamed on Spotify or Bandcamp and for more of this listen back to Speakeasy with Susie 31st May show Here>>
Speakeasy with Susie airs live on Wednesdays at 2pm (UK Time) only on Brum Radio.
