Amos’s passion for music started very early on. His parents both played guitar and encouraged him to learn as well. He was given his first guitar at the age of five and took private lessons starting at age seven. He learned quickly and his parents discovered he had a natural touch and an immediate understanding of the guitar. Though a restless and active child, some of his fondest childhood memories are of lying on his back, listening to classical music at full-blast in the sound-room his father had built. The sounds have been vibrating through him ever since.
By grade-seven he started putting his poetry to music. That same year he was part of a successful amateur production of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Jesus Christ Superstar. So successful was this first musical production of Echo Arts that the company put on annual, and later bi-annual, productions of musicals. Amos was a part of every show for a number of years and it was during this time that he really started to get a chance to try out harmonies he had been writing and that seemed to come to him so easily. Through contacts he made in the musical theatre scene, he started getting regular gigs at the local pub, where he played his guitar and sang to crowds from the age of fifteen on. His stage presence, confidence and ability were growing in leaps and bounds
While his passion for music was ever-present, Amos’s interests and talents were many and varied. As a teenager, he started taking martial arts lessons—something he has kept up over the years and continues to do to this day. He first got involved in Ninjutsu and took lessons twice a week for two years. By the time high school ended he was on to Aikido.
As a twenty-year old he went traveling. Without the responsibilities of school or a job back home, he had the perfect opportunity to go where the wind took him. After landing in Paris, he got a job in a vineyard nearby. In his spare time he played music and traveled around the countryside. While visiting Corsica, he met the captain of the Sylphe—a boat that toured the Mediterranean Sea. They hit it off and the captain hired him to play music for him on his boat. After sailing and playing for a few months, he flew to Vietnam, where he started the search for a Kung Fu master. He eventually found and enrolled in a Kung Fu and Tai Chi school, where things played out as they do in the movies: the rain, the weeks of intensive training, the broken nose... While Amos spoke very little Vietnamese, he was resourceful and charming enough to book gigs in small venues and improve his craft.
After traveling for over a year he came back to Montreal. He worked odd jobs, got certified in massage therapy, and took up Capoeira. Though Amos was enjoying satisfying and enriching experiences, he could not help thinking that he hadn’t ever given music 100% of his efforts and that it was time to see where such a commitment would take him. A producer he had met in his travels had told Amos to come down to Florida and check out the scene. It sounded like a good starting point for his next adventure, so Amos took off.
It was in Florida that he really started to make contacts in the industry, record his music and play bigger gigs. His focus was now definitely on a career in music—he decided to dedicate his life to writing songs and the development of his guitar technique. While living in his producer friend’s house, he was able to record his first demo. He would practice guitar 8 hours a day with Alfredo Rivero – a great guitar teacher, who became a great friend and mentor. He took lessons with another guitar teacher who taught him rumba-flamenco. These two added a third guitarist and started a band together called Los Listos (The Devilishly Clever). The group became very popular and started getting hired all over Florida. They played renowned venues such as The Vandike as they toured all over the sunshine state—Daytona, Sarasota, Miami, Tampa Bay, Gainesville, and beyond. Flamenco music had a huge impact on Amos and his music—an influence we may hear more of on his next album.
Eventually he received an investment to record an album and left the band. He recorded the album for months, but in the end he decided not to release it. Regardless—it was the best “university” Amos could have asked for. (Another lesson learned while in Florida was that one should never use one’s face to block a slap shot.)
After five years (and a few more scars) Amos moved back to Canada to try his luck breaking into the industry closer to home. He booked a lot of gigs upon returning to Montreal. With old friends and raw talent it was easy to get steady work. After a short while he decided it was finally time—with a small budget and the knowledge he had gained while recording in Florida, he rented the necessary equipment and studio time to record his first album: “My Name is Amos”. The production was a success. He made 50 copies and sold them so fast that he decided to make 1000. When he sold out of those, he made 5000. Amos was booked for regular gigs in and around Montreal—Grumpy’s on Bishop Street, MacAllan’s Sports bar in the west island, Crossroads in Westmount, and the Mocador in Sutton (his hometown).
He has continued to grow as a solo artist and is now playing his music in a wider array of venues and to larger audiences. He receives national radio play on CBC since his feature interview this past February. In April Amos headlined his own show at Massey Vanier High School—his old stomping-grounds. And this summer you may have seen Amos in music festivals such as the North by Northeast Music & Film Festival in Toronto, and Musique en Vue in Cowansville (where he opened for Loverboy). Amos’s songs are becoming more complex, his voice more mature. He is ready to record his second album but if you want to hear his latest you’ll have to catch him live for now. He has designs to add new instruments to his oeuvre as he feeds his insatiable appetite to create new sound. He has put together a band in hopes of making a more complete show for larger audiences. Amos hopes to bring this new sound to the stage before the year is out.
