Amy Colalella is a singer-songwriter from Pennsylvania with tens of thousands of fans from across the world.
Amy Colalella chatted with us about how she got started as a musician, and the struggles she constantly faces as an artist.
“It is so cliche, but I’ve loved singing ever since I can remember,” she said.
Though Amy is now known for her musical ability, for a long time she kept her singing to herself.
“Most of my life I kept it a secret,” she explained. “Only a couple of my closest friends knew that I liked to sing.”
Amy was first exposed to music when her father used to play the trumpet at church. Amy’s father would also sing there and write worship songs. Her mother took voice lessons when she was younger, but Amy has admittedly never heard her sing.
Amy started playing the guitar when she was a freshman in high school.
“It was pretty difficult for me at first,” she said. “There’s this wall you have to hit. It was just so awkward for me.”
However, Amy persevered and kept on learning. That eventually also led to her writing her own songs.
“The process varies on what kind of mood I’m in and how bad the heartbreak is!” she said. “If it is a bad heartbreak or situation, I’m writing all of the time.”
Depending on the song, the writing process can take just minutes, or months.
“I surprise myself with how different the process is, to be honest,” she said. “Sometimes I’m singing a random melody, sometimes the lyrics come first, and sometimes the chords do.”
Sometimes, Amy will write a song and then never look at it again. Other times, she’ll rediscover a line she likes in an old notebook and write an entirely new song around it.
Amy loves listening to Pandora stations themed around her favorite artists, such as Gavin DeGraw, Brooke Fraser, Keith Urban, Needtobreathe, and Ariana Grande.
“I’ve been so into Ariana Grande and Tori Kelly,” she said. “The control they have over their voices blows my mind!”
Amy finally opened her singing abilities up to the world when she decided to share one of the videos with the web.
“When I was in 6th grade, I had a friend that said, ‘We hear ourselves differently than other people hear us,'” she said. “So I recorded by voice to hear how I ‘really’ sounded.”
She uploaded that recording to the internet, and the rest was history.
“I was SUCH a closet singer,” she said. “Nobody knew I sang! I definitely did NOT expect people to watch me, let alone comment, subscribe, and support.”
Amy told us that all of her earliest videos are uncomfortable for her to watch. Still, she can’t bring herself to take them down.
We asked Amy which artists she would want to collaborate with. The list was long and included Keith Urban, Hunter Hayes, Gavin DeGraw, Tori Kelly, Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, Sara Bareilles, One Direction, and Justin Timberlake. But that wasn’t all.
“An easier question would probably be who wouldn’t I want to collaborate with,” she admitted.
Since the beginning of Amy’s channel, her strategy for picking cover songs has changed substantially.
“I used to pick popular songs,” she said. “That’s what everyone does these days. It’s a race.”
She said that for some, the formula is to pick the new #1 track on iTunes, and to learn it, cover it, and upload it as quickly as possibly to get the most views.
“It honestly got tiring,” she said. “I felt like I was doing it for the wrong reasons.”
Recently, Amy has stepped away from her channel a bit, and has spent more time getting in touch with her religion and herself to rediscover why she loves to sing.
Now, Amy plans to focus more on songs that are meaningful to her.
“I am SUCH a lyric person,” she said. “If I can relate to it in that sense, I’ll have it on repeat for days.”
Covering songs can be a tough gig. Amy is still seeking out her unique voice when it comes to interpreting songs that belong to other people.
“I still feel like I struggle with identity with cover songs,” she said. “Sometimes, they come so easy, and other times I just find myself imitating. I truthfully don’t feel like I’ve found my SOUND yet, but I’m excited for that day.”
Amy said that being a musician takes a special type of person, but if you’re one of those people, you should never give up your dream.
“Could you imagine doing anything else? No? Then don’t listen to anybody else that tries to make you stop,” she said.
She also stressed the importance of not comparing yourself to other people.
“I regret the periods of time I go without doing anything musically,” she said. “When I’m writing, singing, and playing instruments though, my heart is happy.”
Currently, Amy is working on a cover of “Almost Is Never Enough” by Ariana Grande and Nathan Sykes.
“I almost cried the first time I heard it, and I’m still trying to figure out how Ariana sings some of those notes. It’s really intricate so I’m trying to take my time with it.”
We can’t wait to hear more of Amy’s music in the future!
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