New-York based artist Amber Mark poeticises four years worth of transformative experience on her brilliant debut album, Three Dimensions Deep.
There’s an old cliche about how we, as humans, over long periods of time, and under a lot of stress, eventually, flourish. It’s comparable to the metamorphosis of coal into diamonds. More importantly, it’s a fitting lens to examine singer/songwriter/producer Amber Mark’s debut album.
Three Dimensions Deep is an artistic triumph, four years in the making. The 17 tracks are a bubbling pot of R&B, afropop, soul and rap, with lyrics concerning personal growth and universal wonder. As Amber wrestles with artistry and relationships, we as listeners learn and grow alongside her, finishing the album with a universe worth of ideas to ponder.
To celebrate the record, we caught up with Mark to learn more about its vision and creation.
HAPPY: Huge congrats on your debut album, Three Dimensions Deep!
AMBER: Thank you so much.
HAPPY: How does it feel to have all those songs out there in the universe?
AMBER: I was nervous, but it’s also very exciting, and I’m just happy to be putting those songs out. I’ve been holding onto them for so long, so I’m really excited to finally be sharing them with people, and not like playing them on my monitors for friends and family only.
HAPPY: Yeah, I mean, 17 tracks. That’s a lot to hold in.
AMBER: Yeah, I wanted it… honestly, I wanted it to be more. But I was like, let me hold on to some things.
HAPPY: I’d love to talk about the record and dive a little bit into the Three Dimensions concept if that’s cool?
AMBER: Of course.
HAPPY: Awesome. In your Inside Three Dimensions Deep series, you talked about a universe outside of us and a universe within us, which I thought was a really intriguing idea. How did that revelation surface?
AMBER: Yeah, I mean, it’s something that I think I really started thinking about in-depth, probably say, in 2020. I went down this intense YouTube rabbit hole of just trying to understand what the universe was. I think it was a really weird year and there was a lot of trauma the world was dealing with, so I started questioning our surroundings and what we were and all of those things.
And in doing so, I’d always kind of had an interest in astronomy and our stars and our celestial surroundings and all that. I really went into depth in 2020, and I just found all these different theories that a lot of physicists have theorised about the universe and about what matter was and about, you know, black holes and higher dimensions and just all these crazy, almost like very metaphysical theories. And I thought it was so beautiful because it just felt so like for me…
I always thought that you know, science was on a very opposite side of spirituality or religion. And to me, it really felt like these theories were expressing a lot, you know, a lot of the same things that religion or spirituality was. And that was so beautiful to me and made me feel really connected to our planet. And it made me feel really connected to myself and like my soul and my spirituality more than I have in a really long time. And so I just wanted to kind of express that in a very, I guess, poetic way. And this was my version of it. This album is my version of that.
HAPPY: That’s really cool. It’s so true that 2020 was a year where lots of us took a step back and reflected. So, the Three Dimensions… Without, Withheld, and Within, right?
AMBER: Yeah, I came up with those three sections mainly for my own sanity when I was writing the album because I had so many songs and I didn’t really know what I wanted the album to be, conceptually. I put all these ideas together, and then I started, you know, just writing about different ideas and concepts and like, what was this album trying to tell me? And so I came up with those three sections because of what I had been writing about. Then the label was so into it and I was like, ‘Alright, let’s just roll with this idea. This is pretty cool. Now I have like a trilogy album.’ So yeah.
HAPPY: You’re categorising stuff and they’re like, ‘no, hold on. That’s awesome.’
AMBER: Yeah, it was cool. At first, I was embarrassed by the idea that I had gone so in-depth. It was like I had a whole whiteboard and I was just like connecting all the dots. There are random doodles everywhere and stuff. But so far people seem to be really liking the idea. I guess it worked out.
HAPPY: Yeah totally. It shows such a journey, which had me curious, did you write the songs in order, in those three acts? Or was it kind of random and then pieced together?
AMBER: It was really all over the place. I’ve been working on this album for I think four years now, and so it was really sporadic and random, and, you know, I’ve grown a lot in the past four years and I think, you know, my music really went into so many different directions. My sound went in so many different directions. And so it wasn’t… there was no order to it.
I mean, there were some songs like What It Is and a couple more that were written after I kind of had the concept down and knew where I wanted to go. And so with What It Is, I really had the intention of writing a song that really encapsulated the concept of the album in one song.
But then there were songs like Bliss, I didn’t even notice until last year that I really like talking about higher dimensions. And I was right… this was like… I wrote that song prior to going down the YouTube rabbit hole. So it’s… I think it’s been just something that I like subconsciously have always been interested in. And so it’s kind of just natural that I would write about it, you know?
HAPPY: Yeah, that’s really cool. I love that you brought up those songs because there were some definite highlights for me, but I’m getting ahead of myself. *Laughs*. In that YouTube video, you said something pretty vulnerable that really connected with me that I thought was really cool. You said that sometimes during the creative process, you felt like the weakest link in a room full of writers, or you felt overwhelmed. Now that the album’s done, it made me wonder if you might have any advice for musicians that are doing collaborations and might feel a similar way?
AMBER: Oh god, I… so I kind of do. I don’t know. I feel like I haven’t really fully healed from… I still feel like I get really bad anxiety, but I will say that I think there are some beautiful moments that have come out of just taking risks and challenging myself and putting myself out there in certain situations. So I’m really thankful for a lot of the situations where I have collaborated with people. But I think at the end of the day, you know, everyone is different and everyone, you know, has a different form of expression and we’re always going to be really hard on ourselves just naturally.
So I think if you can… which I love how I’m saying this now because I still can’t take my own advice. But if you can try to find a way to put those thoughts aside and try to become really comfortable with the people that you’re collaborating with, those are some very key parts. I think then you can really find a sense of joy in those situations. And I think just getting to know who you’re working with. I think there is a lot to finding the right people, first of all, but really getting to know who you’re working with and once you are able to feel comfortable around them, a lot of that fear goes away and you kind of can be at ease.
But I don’t know. I’m not really… I’m like, I still struggle with it on occasion. But who knows? I think everyone’s a little different. But as long as you’re just following your heart, I think at the end of the day, and really just staying true to yourself. And you can always write on your own. That’s what I do. I make a lot of my beats and record and sing and write lyrics all on my own sometimes as well. And that’s very helpful because you can get really weird with it. Nobody’s there like thinking that you’re crazy so…
HAPPY: Yeah, songwriting is such a vulnerable thing. You’re putting your heart hard on the line, so if the people that you’re working with know you, I’m sure that must make it a little bit easier.
AMBER: Yes, for sure.
HAPPY: Circling back to What It Is, which is such a groove, by the way, ended up being a cornerstone on the record. The backing, vocals and harmonies were a particular highlight. How was the experience tracking those in the studio?
AMBER: Yeah. So I made…I tracked all the vocals here in my apartment. That song, it’s one of my favourites on the album, so I’m so thankful that my album got postponed because my album would not be my album if it wasn’t for What It Is, and some others. So initially, that song, I had that beat on my computer for a really long time. Julian Boneta, who is the co-executive producer on the album with me; he produced that track, he made that beat. And we had worked on it back in 2017. It was the first day we had a session together, so essentially, I think I’d met him one time prior to us going into the session, and I was really nervous.
I had really bad anxiety back then, where it was just got to full-on crying before arriving at the session and stuff like that, just being so nervous. And you know, I got into the session and he was super chill and really nice. We were just talking about music for like 2 hours straight, and just playing each other a bunch of tunes that we were really into. And I think I like… we played like a bunch of like Michael McDonald that day, I guess. I don’t know. We got inspired by, you know, Doobie Brothers or whatever. And he just started laying down some key stuff and synth stuff and basically made it a beat. And then once we had the foundation of the beat, he was like, ‘Alright, what are you feeling lyric-wise?’ and like, I was too nervous. I couldn’t even think of anything. So I was honest with him.
I was like, ‘Honestly, I’m way too nervous to try to come up with lyrics and track vocals in front of you. Do you mind if I take the track home with me?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah, of course. Totally fine.’ And I ended up taking the beat home and completely forgetting about it. And then it wasn’t till February of last year that I had been looking for a song that I could potentially use to put on the album that would really define the concept. And you know, I found that song and it just felt so full circle to me already because he’s the co-executive producer, and so many years have gone by, we’ve become so close. So it was like a very heartfelt moment for me.
I was like, ‘I have to do this song’ and laid down vocals that day. And you know, it just happened really fast. And then I sent it back to Julian, and he was really excited about it. And I think I was just also really inspired… I had just watched the Bee Gee’s documentary that came out last year, and I was really inspired by that and their journey. And so I think a lot of the harmonies in the backing vocals and all of that are really inspired by the Bee Gees and just that type of energy. And I mean, yeah, that one… that’s my favourite track on the album as of right now. It’s always changing. But yeah, I’m really happy that song exists.
HAPPY: Yeah, that’s awesome. What a journey, four years in the making sort of thing.
AMBER: I know. Pretty crazy. Yeah, I mean, it was just like sitting at my computer. I completely forgot about it.
HAPPY: And you’re like, ‘Hold on, that shit’s fire. Let me bring that back.’ Moving down the tracklist a bit, you sampled a bit of Craig David’s Rendezvous on Softly. What’s your approach to sampling like?
AMBER: Yeah, I mean, I… sometimes it just happens. I feel like it really depends. It has to be the right… like, I feel like enough time has passed for me to sample like an older Craig David track. And so… and I was obsessed with him as a kid, like 10 year old me was very convinced that I was going to marry Craig David. It was like gonna happen, regardless of the age difference. But yeah, I was listening to him a lot as a kid and still to this day listen to him a lot. And I just feel like his sound is so… signature sound of, you know, the early 00s and really his voice is amazing. And like I’ve heard stories about him in sessions where he just like does one take and he’s like done.
HAPPY: Wow.
AMBER: And so like, he’s just a legend to me, and I remember I was walking down… it was summertime in New York City. I don’t even remember what year it was. I think it was 2020. Summer of 2020. I’m just walking down, listening. I went through a phase of Craig David and I was just listening and Rendezvous came up and I was like, ‘Holy shit’. I was like, ‘This is amazing. I need to sample this.’ And just like, immediately ran home and like, I really had no intention of putting on the album. It just was something that I was excited to do and felt like doing. And you know, one thing led to another.
I started laying down vocals and then I sent it to Julian and asked him if he could improve the drums because I wasn’t really happy with the way I had done the drums, and he made them sound amazing. And then the label was like, ‘This has to be on the album.’ And I was like, ‘OK. I’m happy. I mean, I kind of just made this more to like please my ten-year-old self.’ But it’s such a dope song and really happy with how it came out, and I’m happy it ended up being on the album, too. It’s another one that if we had put my album out in 2020, it would not be a part of the album.
HAPPY: Interesting. All of these like late ones that ended up being really cool tracks.
AMBER: Yeah, exactly.
HAPPY: Another one that stuck out to me was Darkside. I thought I had like this really kind of crunchy Prince almost production to it. Tell me about that.
AMBER: Yeah. So that one, I really went into making that beat with the intention of it sounding super 80’s. There’s a specific eighties sound that I love, and it always incorporates a very wet sounding gate and snare. And so I really wanted a song that had that. And you know, I kind of… as I was making the beat, when I was thinking about melody and stuff like that, I was just like, ‘What would it sound like if Prince, Michael Jackson, Phil Collins had some weird love child?’ And so I kind of just went in, you know, screaming at the microphone, just gibberish with that in that intention.
I really wanted to talk about the kind of feeling you get when you’re at this very low point in your life. And you know, and what it feels like when you are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. You’re not there yet, but you kind of see where it is and you know which direction to go in. And so I really wanted to kind of talk about that, and I loved the idea of… I’m a sci-fi nerd and I like, as you know, I’m really into our special surroundings. And so I wanted to kind of touch on those things in every which way possible and almost to a like cheesy point where I’m just like taking like any word I could possibly find has to do with like astronomy and space and stuff. And just incorporating that. There’s a bunch of Star Wars references in the song as well.
HAPPY: Oh, mad, I’ll have to listen for them. *Laughs*
AMBER: Yeah. So I just ran with it. I mean, the eighties genre in general, I think, was quite like… people considered it kind of cheesy era.
HAPPY: Totally.
AMBER: And in a positive way for me. So I ran with that whole concept and just decided to let it ride.
HAPPY: I think my favourite on the album, at least at the moment, is Bliss. It’s so euphoric and self-affirming, such a positive message. What sort of headspace were you in to write something like that?
AMBER: I wrote Bliss with a bunch of people at the first writing retreat I ever did, and with Julian, who was kind of running the show with me, and he had convinced me to do this writing camp. At first, I was like very much ‘I do not want to do that. That sounds like the worst idea for me.’ And you know, he was like, ‘Don’t worry, it’s going to be… I promise you’ll have a good time. And if nothing comes of it, it’ll just be like a great vacation. You’ll now have these people you can call your friends and all of that.
So I went into it very nervous, but within a few days, I was having literally the time of my life and getting to know these people. And it’s such a beautiful way to make music. And everyone was just so positive. I think I was falling in love at the time. And I was talking a lot, you know, to these people about that, and we were really getting to know what I was going through. And so we kind of started talking, you know, about that subject and the feelings you get when you’re falling in love. And I really wanted to touch on those things.
I also really wanted to touch on the feelings you get when you are falling in love with yourself and just being, you know, on your own and finding pure joy in that. And so I just… it was very easy for us, I think, because we were all like very in this like just euphoric mood, just being all together and like away from everyone and writing and having a good time. And we just tried to figure out how we could really touch on the feelings you get when you are falling in love, whether it’s with yourself or it’s with someone else or something else. And that’s kind of how Bliss came about.
HAPPY: Thanks so much for your time, Amber. It’s been a pleasure.
AMBER: Thanks for having me.
Photos Supplied.
Interview by Manning Patston
Listen to Three Dimensions Deep below:
