In the video for his piano ballad "Define Me" from his self-titled debut CD—singer Ryan Amador is baring his mind, body and soul, but with an elegance that seems to be missing from a lot of mainstream pop music videos today. Amador's empowering lyrics strip away at the notion that LGBT people should be defined by the names that others impose on them—be it gay, homo or alien—but should instead be seen as human beings. The Brooklyn-based artist talked with Windy City Times about his sexual identity, working with The Trevor Project and maintaining his integrity.
Windy City Times: Congratulations, your "Define Me" video [featuring Jo Lampert of the band Avan Lava] has more than 141,000 YouTube views. Did you ever envision the amount of views that it might get?
Ryan Amador: I had released some videos before it and none of them had reached over 2,000 views. So my anticipation for "Define Me" was that it would do the same.
WCT: What inspired the song and video?
Ryan Amador: The song was written as a very personal account to the people who want to put anyone in the LGBT community into a category. When it came time to make the video, we wanted to pursue that message and make it very clear and simple imagery that people could find acceptable. The idea is to pick labels that are put upon me or anyone and wipe them away, so instead of having labels you are left with a human.
WCT: How do you like to be identified without being defined by your sexual orientation?
Ryan Amador: I would probably define myself as someone who wants a same sex relationship. I've actually been in a same-sex relationship for five years. I think everyone has an individual feeling about sexuality and for me it's more about the person. I would describe the word "gay" but coming to mean so many things I'd rather say that I am in a same sex relationship or looking for a same sex relationship.
WCT: Why was it important for you to donate your earnings from "Define Me" to an LGBTQ organization and which organization was the recipient of your generosity?
Ryan Amador: The proceeds were donated on June 28 to The Trevor Project. It was awesome—it was just under $2,000. A song is usually about $1.00, but a lot of people would pay $10 to $20 because they knew that the money was going to The Trevor Project.
WCT: You are 23 years old, but your voice is like that an old soul. You were influenced by the music of the '90s. Which particular artists?
Ryan Amador: At a young age I was influenced by the Beatles and Queen and as I got older I was taken up in the whole boy-band madness and I was influenced by the Backstreet Boys and 'NSync and all that.
WCT: Your voice and music are very warm—especially on your new single "Skylark"—and it brings me back to a lot of singer/songwriters from the '70s? Do you have any influences from that era?
Ryan Amador: I don't really and it's been really interesting. I don't know where the folksier sound comes from, but I think it was brought on by more contemporary people. I was a big fan of Damien Rice and John Mayer
WCT: Tell me about crafting your art as a teenager and recording demos of original songs when you were 12. What were you writing about at that time?
Ryan Amador: I would write a capella full albums and at some point we even copyrighted them. I would write about everything, mostly love songs and my cute kid love songs. At one point I wrote a song called "Home" which was about my family and being home. I think I sang it in front of the Parent Teacher Association and all these crying moms stood up and gave me a standing ovation.
WCT: Did performing in musicals during school influence your decision to want to be a professional singer?
Ryan Amador: I had a knack for writing melodies and singing them as well so as I got older I became aware that musical theatre was becoming its own genre which is not how it had been in the '60s and '70s. The actual sound of musical theatre has now been defined as something else and I wasn't as interested in that genre as much as I am in exploring contemporary fields.
WCT: You opened for Adam Lambert at Pittsburgh Pride this past June. Do you ever seek advice from artists you encounter in the industry?
Ryan Amador: The advice is pretty streamlined and the people whom I respect in the industry and the people who I identify as having integrity seem to continually say that you have to figure out what your point of view is and just keep saying it. And now it's just a mission of trying to do that.
To find out more about Ryan Amador, visit www.ryanamador.com .
