Singer/songwriter Paris Amone is known as one of the faces in the modeling scene and his debut album, Duality, which is available in all digital platforms, puts a personality to a face that is widely recognized. He sat down with me in New York’s 40/40 Club for an intimate interview on his album, the balance between singing and modeling as well as more unity in New York’s music scene.
Describe Paris Amone.
Paris Amone is an eclectic artist who tries to stay true to his roots. I’m Caribbean, I’m a musician at heart. I’m an old soul at heart. My music is very organic and how I feel changes often from song to song even. In essence, the music pretty much explains who I am as a person. Very dualistic, thus the name of my album, Duality.
Yes, you pretty much explained the album name.
Yeah, it very important to me. Duality…it has shown me to accept people for who they are, what they bring to the table because I’m so artistic and different and people accept me, so whatever walks of life they come from and whatever things they bring to the table, creatively, I can accept, I can understand and I can appreciate. Overall, it has allowed me to be a better person, truthfully because I’m more understanding with people. So I really don’t care how you approach things, as long as whatever you believe in or whatever you do got you doing good to yourself in other people, then I’m cool with you, too.
How did you fall in love with the music? What was the song that made you say, “This is something that I wanna do?”
You know what it was? The Bad album. Michael Jackson’s Bad. That’s what did it for me. The reason is that my dad had a record player and he had the record. So, obviously, as a kid, you wanna play with the thing. So, my mom had Stevie (Wonder) and Aretha (Franklin)…again, I’m hearing all types of music. My dad had a lot of Salsa music, but Michael. I was drawn to that album and I played it every day. I’m pretty sure I scratched it up. That one changed me.
What’s your favorite song off the album?
I think it’s “Bad.” And that full-length video? Oh, man…
Who is your production team behind Duality?
So, I have my friends who have done it, I have my writing teams. They’re called The Creatives. They helped me. I wrote most of the album, but they did come in to help with the writing. As far as production, I did that all by myself. I went to school for audio engineering, so 95% of that album was done in my room.
What do you prefer more? Singing or do you prefer songwriting and why?
I like it both. Well, the process of songwriting is annoying. Let me just start there, but once I get the words out and I’m singing it and I hear my own voice and the majority is done and you sits back and reflect with it and you be like, “Damn, I wrote this.” The combination of both, knowing that it’s both my pen in it and my voice, it’s like you’re for it and you can’t wait to share it with everybody. I love that feeling.
As for the listeners, what would you hope they gain from Duality?
Balance. I want everybody to understand we can express ourselves how we want to and there is a formula to make a popular song that is radio ready and not have to take away from the talent. It doesn’t have to be so dry for everybody to sing along. We can be in awe of some really fun music and be wild but he can really also sing. And that’s what I wanna bring to the table, where people get that feeling in their heart and that feeling over their body. Let the vocals move them….and it’s a song that they can have fun with, too.
I was listening to your track, “Worth It,” and yeah, we’re gonna have a little fun. In your own words, what type of woman do you think that is “worth it”?
Wow. Because the record tells the story of the girl and you’re like “Yeah, you been through a lot, but I think you’re worth it…for the wrong reasons.” If I had to say she’s worth it, it would be still, along the same lines of the album. Dualistic, but balanced. Someone who is understanding of everything or who can receive from different spaces, even if they don’t reside in the same space, themselves. Probably a little monotone and old soul-ish like myself. I don’t need no wild thing, but at the same time, the dualism about it, it might work.
You’re also a model. How did you get into modeling?
Modeling, I started in Atlanta. I was trying to become a singer and the door opened for me because I got a lot of attention with other producers that I was working with. Everybody thought I was an artist already. so the door for modeling opened up to me and said “You should try to use your image to your advantage in the music industry, if you wanna be a singer.” So I did a photoshoot and then after that, I got signed to Ford Modeling in Atlanta and we started shooting. I did (Christian) Dior. It was my first account. I had the upper hand in Atlanta. Good looks, but I had that New York swag. I can sell myself real quick. So, that’s how I did it and I came back to New York because that’s my capital, so if I was really gonna make it work, it was gonna be here in NY. So when I touched down in NY, it took on a life of itself. Billboards in Times Square and everything.
It’s funny that you say that because some people they come from other places to New York and make it while some people born and raised here feel like they can’t get a foot in the door. I think that it was very important for me to go down to Atlanta. I’m not from Atlanta but I moved down there and saw that they worked together. They promoted independent artists on main radio and that’s something New York doesn’t do. We definitely have to work together more to get our sound out and to build our empires from the ground up. Everything is social media now, so you can do everything at home and no one knows you’re at home. That’s why a lot of people in New York are cutthroat, and it can shoot themselves in the foot sometimes by being so cutthroat. So you have to be open and work with people.
Do you find it hard juggling both singing and modeling at times?
No, because my accounts now with modeling are big enough that I don’t have to do it daily. Castings can be a lot by running in and out, but it does a lot of time for me to focus on my music and music is my genuine passion, so it doesn’t really feel like work at all.
What is on the agenda for Paris Amone on 2018?
2018 is gonna be big! We’re gonna do major publications and write ups for the Duality album. We’re gonna do some touring throughout NYC, hit up some schools. We’re definitely gonna be in Los Angeles. Already planned meetings there. And were probably going to do some overseas stuff. There are already offers to go to Dubai, so let’s see if we can put those two together, but I’m really gonna push this album and I’m already starting to follow up with a tiny EP and put this stuff on a digital platform and get this ball rolling.
You’re not doing anything for Fashion Week?
Yes. I didn’t last season. I wanted to scale back. Like you saw in the room, a lot of people know who I am by face. They don’t know who I am and that’s because of modeling. They’ve seen my face everywhere, so I want them to focus on my music, right now, so I took two seasons off of Fashion Week. I attended shows, yes, but I wasn’t in any. I might start back up this Spring so that I can engage more, but once the album is rolling out and the follow-up EP is at least started, then I’ll definitely dive back into Fashion Week.
Anything else you would like to add?
So the hashtag that I’ve been using for the listening event is #ParisAmone. My Instagram, the only account I have on social media, is @parisamoneofficial. Continue to follow! We’re gonna have a lot of promos to lead into the album release for Duality, which is on all platforms and from there, you’ll see me everywhere, once again.
– Shamika Sanders-Sykes
