By Lawrence Ferber
Dance diva Amber is no ingrate. Repeatedly during a telephone interview from her home, Amber—whose hits include Yes!, One More Night, and Sexual ( Li Da Di ) —gave praise and thanks to the gay community for supporting her since her arrival on the scene almost 10 years ago. 'Thank you so much for supporting me all these years,' she said, graciously. 'I really appreciate it and if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here for 10 years. So you are a very important part of my career.'
Born in the Netherlands, Amber ( a.k.a. Marie-Claire Cremers ) landed on Tommy Boy records in the 1990s. After scoring a number of dance hits, including a rendition of If You Could Read My Mind with Ultra Nate and Jocelyn Enriquez for the film 54, Amber decided to take more control of her destiny and musical direction and left the label. Forging ahead on her own, 2004's My Kind of World was her first self-released LP and has spawned a number of hit singles and remixes. Also a songwriter, Amber has seen her work performed by artists including Cher, whose rendition of Love One Another scored a Grammy Award nomination for Best Dance Recording in 2004.
Currently performing at clubs and gay-pride events nationwide, as well as working on a new single and raising her 15-year-old son, Lashawn, Amber took time out to discuss her unintentional rise as a dance artist, her gay fans—and the possibility of her playing for our side in more than just the performance sense!
Lawrence Ferber: Amber, you have played a lot of gay pride events—how many would you estimate at this point?
Amber: That's really hard to estimate. I would say definitely over 100. I've been doing this for 10 years now and, quite honestly, I don't understand how I became queen of the gay pride. They picked me. I just went into the studio and made music without any thought of, 'OK, what target am I going to hit here?' It just grew and has been an incredible blessing because the gay crowds and fans have been very, very committed to me.
LF: What sort of gossip and talk go on between you and the other divas that appear at a lot of gay prides? Let's say it's you and Ultra Nate lounging around.
A: Well, Ultra and I don't really talk too much. I don't really gossip backstage with other performers. I'm very private and stay to myself. I'm very friendly, I'm not arrogant or anything, but I'm very focused in what I do so I don't party or hang out and I'm very focused on getting enough rest and sleep so I can be 100 percent wherever I have to go the next day.
LF: When was your first gay club performance?
A: I think it started fairly early in my career, '96 or '97. I come from an artistic family so I grew up around gays. My father is an opera singer so, go figure, all those ballet dancers were gay. And I'm Dutch on top of that and we're very liberal. So it was never an issue for me.
LF: And did you always set out to be a dance artist, or [ did you ] simply fall into that niche?
A: My intention was never to become a dance artist. I would never limit myself like that as an artist. It's just something that grew and I was marketed towards. I always considered myself a vocalist and songwriter in the first place. It's just that my former record label always took my songs and threw dance beats [ in ] .
LF: So you would record a song that you never envisioned as dance and they'd tell you that they were dancing it up?
A: Oh yeah, absolutely. I write my songs with piano and guitar. If you listen to a song like Yes!, it's not a 'boom-boom-boom/ I want you in my room.' It contains an excerpt out of James Joyce's Ulysses and, if you listen to the content and melody, it's very unconventional. It's not a standard dance song, but that's what made me who I am today, I guess.
LF: So your teenage son, Lashawn, is obviously quite aware of gays.
A: Absolutely. We were just recently in L.A. and my gay makeup artist and his boyfriend took him to Hollywood to see the [ Walk of Fame ] . My son had a blast. He had an awkward stage—around 12 years old—when he was like, 'eww,' or when he didn't like something, he said, 'That's gay.' I keep telling him to not be disrespectful. The bottom line is, those are people and they don't do anything to you or try and get into you because you're a boy. They know you're straight. That's the insecurity they have for a little moment. He got everything straightened out in his head at this point in time. He's totally fine. He goes to gay prides.
LF: I read that you had a 'nasty' divorce. Does your son ever recommend you give a woman a try instead?
A: [ Laughs. ] No. My son is actually not into the whole idea that I should date! He got lucky because I don't date at this point. I have too much to do. Plus, I tell him, you are a teen right now so I'm trying to make sure the last couple of years you're going to be decent and behave and not do stupid shit. But, no. He never said that. And quite honestly, that was a thought I had for a minute there! I was like, it doesn't work with guys. Maybe it works with women. But, eh, I'm just not made that way. I actually enjoy solitude very much.
