Buffy The Vampire Slayer

PJzallday, Alberta, Canada - How did you get the BtVS gig? Were you approached? Or did you audition? What’s your preference for playing gigs? Larger venues or small clubs? (Something in between perhaps?) Your bio says the band members are all fans of BtVS. Who’s your favourite character? And your favourite villain? I love musical theatre (and have been known to burst into song myself). Is there a role that you’d especially love the opportunity to perform?

Erika Amato - Well, we got the BtVS gig purely because one of the show’s production guys was already a fan of ours, having seen us play around town (LA, that is), and he happened to own our very first demo CD (called Groovy Side), so he gave Joss his copy and said, "I really like this band, why don’t we use them on the show?" (All this unbeknownst to us.) We then got a call to come do this brand-new-show called "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and we went ahead and filmed the episode, but we weren’t all that excited, because we really weren’t sure how one could make a series from what we all thought was not the best movie. ;-) We filmed the episode in June of 1996, actually, and it didn’t even air until the following March, (As a mid-season replacement), so we actually thought it probably wouldn’t even get picked up. Boy, were we wrong!

As for gigs, we’ve never played what one would officially call a "large venue" - the largest theatre we’ve played seats about 1,000. But, if one is comparing a very small club that holds 150 to the larger theatres, I’d have to say that although I enjoy the intimacy of the tinier rooms, I feel a bit limited by how cramped those stages usually are, so I prefer the larger venues.

My favorite character is also my favorite villain - Spike. Although, I don’t really consider him a villain. I liked him even when he was being super evil... So, maybe my favorite villain is the Mayor. I found him hilarious, in his evil way. And I also adore Giles. Not as a villain, obviously... OK, I’ll shut up now.

Finally, your musical theatre question: Well, there are many roles I would love to do, but I guess I’d have to say I’d love to play Evita again. I got the opportunity to do it as a very young actress (I was only 17), but I would bring so much more world experience and maturity to the role, now.

John Mesh, Nebraska, USA - You performed the song "Strong" on an episode of Buffy the Vampire and appeared on the show. What was your reaction to being on the show and the soundtrack and do you watch the show?

Erika Amato - Quite honestly, as I mentioned before, being on the show didn’t seem like a big deal to us at the time, because we shot our episode back in 1996, a good 6 months before it aired in ’97, and we had no idea if the show would even get picked up, let alone become the huge success it did! However, we were very excited and thrilled to be chosen for the soundtrack album - especially once we found out we were going to be track #4 - right after Garbage, who I loved at the time. =) And yes, I watch(ed) the show, but not as regularly as I did the first few seasons. (Too busy! Don’t get to watch much TV at all, actually...)

Carl, UK - If you have seen the show since your appearance, have any of the other guest bands/performers inspired or influenced your own work?

Erika Amato - I’ve seen the show a gazillion times since our appearance, but I can honestly say no other bands or artists on the show have inspired or influenced us in any way...although we did like Cibo Matto!

’The Source, Illinois, USA - Who is your favourite Buffy character and why? When you performed on Buffy, did you get to hang out with any of the core cast members? If so what were they like?

Erika Amato - I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Spike. He’s funny, he’s a rebel, but he has that underlying "goodness" - even without a soul! Also, I used to love Billy Idol, so I bet that has something to do with it.

And yes, we had lunch with a bunch of the "core" cast members that day, although I didn’t even know who was who at the time, and they were all very nice. Charisma and Nick in particular were very friendly and cool. We’ve actually had the opportunity to get to know a bunch of the cast and crew over the years, and they are all great people. (But if I had to pick a fave, it would probably be Seth...we hung out a good deal, and he was always just hilarious and cool.)

Nanc, USA - Do you think that your work with Joss / Mutant Enemy has had an impact on your career, and if so do you feel it was a positive or a negative thing? Thanks!

Erika Amato - Not to be simplistic about it, but the short answer would be a big YES, and very positive. The exposure we got by being on the show was invaluable...and people are still finding out about us from reruns, or seeing our episode at someone’s house on DVD, or whatever. It’s cool.

Spike Delusional, Texas, USA - Hi, Erika. I’m really looking forward to the new album. How would you describe the band’s musical style on this album and in general? Thanks.

Erika Amato - Hmmmmmmmmmm...that one gets me every time. It’s so hard to describe our stuff! Our style has always been very eclectic, sort of groovy/trip-hop/pop/rock/funk with a jazz flavor. That is still true of the new album, but with even more jazz and trip-hop than in the past. And less rock. In my opinion. And thanks for looking forward to the album! It’s out now, you know! (wink, wink)

brdlvr2 - Fan reaction is key. What is the best response ever received from a fan?

Erika Amato - Tough! We’ve had so many great responses. We’ve had people send us gifts, write us fabulous letters, come from miles away - even across the country - to see us play... People send us lyrics, songs, etc. (We even used someone’s lyrics once... In fact, her lyrics helped us create one of our favorite songs! And now she’s a great friend to the band.) One fan - who is now also more of a friend to the band than just a fan - made a wire sculpture of the Diva Icon (our logo) for her senior art project in school, and then made us a duplicate which is in our living room. I’d be hard-pressed to pick a "best" response, though...we appreciate them all!

P. Hendriksz - Did you write new music for Btvs or did you use your standard material?

Erika Amato - We used an existing song that the producers - and Joss in particular - wanted to use.

Rufus - BC, Canada - I know you wrote a theme song for Angel the Series that ultimately wasn’t used, do you think that would work as a song in an episode?

Erika Amato - Good question. It’s really a main theme, not a song that evokes a particular emotion the way most songs that are used as underscoring are. However, I think it could work in a club atmosphere - the song playing at a hip bar or something. It’s very groovy and funky. Or perhaps even a chase sequence... Hey! If any of the music placement folks over at Angel read this, maybe they’ll consider that! hehe

The Bard, New Zealand - Erika, how much work goes into making a studio album? What sorts of things need to be done and by who? Who’s idea was it for Velvet Chain to submit a theme song for "Angel"?

Erika Amato - Wow - a ton of work goes into making a studio album. You’ve got all the various band members and guest players who have to come in and lay down tracks over several weeks, the engineer who has to record it all (every instrument needs its own mics and amps and separate tracks and EQ and don’t even get me started on drums) and then mix it (which is super hard and takes forever and would be too difficult to try to explain here), and the producer who is responsible for the overall sound of the album, and - in our case - also edits together all these wacky sounds we got in the studio to create a whole new sound. (Pro-tools is an awesome thing...Jeff uses it the way a painter uses his brushes!) Of course, there’s the vocals, as well, and in our case every vocal on the album is mine. I sing all the main vocals first, and then the harmonies, etc. I come up with a lot of the vocal arrangements (meaning the harmonies and backup vocals) before I get into the studio, but sometimes I figure it out on the fly. Then we edit everything I’ve done and then work on balancing them and putting effect on them or not in the mixing process. After the album has been mixed (which basically means finding a place in the sonic landscape for every single sound on the album - which was a lot harder on this album, ’cause there are so many different instruments this time around), you have to get it mastered, which involves yet another human being - the mastering engineer. Mastering smooths out the sound, fixes any problems that may have been missed in the mixing process (like, if a certain instrument sounds like it’s sticking out more than the others a bit, or a vocal sounds muddy), and basically makes the record sound like a real record, and not a demo. I guess that’s it. Of course, none of that includes the actual composition of the songs, the rehearsing, etc. But you get the idea.

As for submitting a song for "Angel," we were contacted by Chris Beck, who used to do all the scoring for both shows, and he said he’d tried a bunch of stuff, and they just weren’t liking anything, so they wanted us to submit something. We were told that it actually was a very close call between our theme and the one that DV and their composing collaborator came up with, but obviously, the mellower, cello-infused theme won out in the end. =)

Queen Gaia - Ontario, Canada - What was it like starring with Scott Bakula in the 2 part episode "Lee Harvey Oswald - Oct 5, 1957-Nov 22, 1963" of Quantum Leap?

Erika Amato - It was GREAT! He was the nicest man. Made me feel very welcome. And so did the other two actors in my scene - Dean Stockwell and Elya Baskin. It was a great set.

Evolutionary Rogue, Australia - Hey Erika! Velvet Chain’s songs have been used in shows like MTV’s "Road Rules" and HBO’s "Sex and the City", as well as, obviously, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." How does it feel to have your songs featured in these shows?

Erika Amato - It feels awesome every time we hear our songs on TV or in a movie trailer or on a college radio station... I only hope it happens more and more!

Kacie - Now that you’ve done a significant number of stage plays as well as film work, which do you prefer — plays or movies/TV? If people ask you "Hey — what do you do?" are you more apt to tell them "I’m an actress," or "I’m a singer," (even though you probably just want to ask them how the rock they’ve been living under is working out)? What can we look forward to seeing you in once Madly in Love wraps? Thank you!

Erika Amato - Well, I prefer being on stage because I love the response you get from a live audience and the immediacy of the medium. However, I would rather make a living doing TV and film because, truthfully, it pays just so much more. It’s very hard making a living in theatre... I do it because I love it, but I’d give it up if I got offered a regular role on a sitcom, you know? ;-)

When people ask me what I do, I usually say, "I’m an actress and musician." I’ve discovered that out here, no-one respects singers and very few people respect actors, but they at least give you the tiniest bit of cred if you’re a MUSICIAN.

"Madly in Love" finally closed this past Sunday (which is part of the reason why I have some time to finish these questions!), and for the next month or so I am singing in various venues across Southern California and even out of state. (I have a gig in Nevada and one in Iowa.) I do everything from performing Christmas carols in Dickensian costume with a quartet to singing standards, solo...it’s a great time of year to get work as a singer, as I’m sure you can imagine. I am also auditioning for several plays coming up, and I’m "on the short list" as a replacement in the Las Vegas company of "Mamma Mia," so we’ll see what happens!

Ragna - I know recently you finished a play in San Diego, and I was wondering about your love of acting. What type of roles do you go for, and do you prefer singing or non-singing roles? Also, how far would you travel to perform in a play?

Erika Amato - I go for any role that’ll have me! hehehe No, seriously, I love to stretch, creatively, so I like all sorts of roles, but I tend to get cast as either one of two extremes - either the young, strong, bouncy type (Hodel in "Fiddler," Maria in "Sound of Music," Annie in "Annie Get Your Gun") or the older, sophisticated, upper-crust type (Luisa in "Nine," Yvonne in "Sunday in the Park," Wallis Simpson in the play I just did). I actually prefer non-singing roles, but there is so little opportunity for paid work in "straight plays" out here that I tend to go for the musicals, ’cause that’s where the moolah is. And I would travel ANYWHERE to perform just about anything. I love to travel.

Alysoops, UK - What’s your favourite non-musical past-time / hobby? Do you and the band hang out when you aren’t making music or performing?

Erika Amato - Jeff and I hang out with Brian Reardon - our stunningly talented guitar player - fairly regularly, and our fabulous drummer Jeff Mince and awesome keyboardist Marc Antonio a bit less frequently. As for a non-musical hobby, I am a voracious reader, and I also love to camp, travel, swim, go to the beach, go boating, etc. Oh! And I’m currently taking tap dancing lessons, which is a blast.

Susi B, Washington, USA - Hi Erika! What inspiration do you use to write your songs? And can you give an example? (preferably from the new album) Thanks.

Erika Amato - Well, I write much fewer of the songs than Jeff does, but I do have one in particular on the new album, called "I Spy," that I wrote several years ago and was inspired by both a bass groove Jeff was messing around with and by the French film "La Femme Nikita." Usually, anything I write is inspired by a groove or drum loop or something I hear emanating from the studio in our guest room. I build on the foundation of whatever little snippet I’ve heard. I rarely hear a whole song in my head come out of thin air. =) I know that quite a few of the songs on "Asteroid Belt" were inspired by jam sessions in the studio. Jeff actually goes into great detail about the process in the liner notes of the album, so buy the CD, and you can read his answer for yourself! ;-)

Dene Jacobs, Texas, USA - If possible, can you pick a Velvet Chain song that you like the most? And why do you like it?

Erika Amato - Ugh! I like so many of them so much! But I can tell you my favorite song on the new album is called "Sea of Tranquility," and it’s my favorite because it has an awesome groove, I love the weird, jazzy melody, and it was a blast to sing! (And I also wrote the vocal arrangement when the chorus hits, which is pretty cool...three part harmony, overlapping parts, etc.) If I had to pick a song from an earlier album, I have to admit I still love "Come To Me", because it’s like three songs in one, and is very representative of what Velvet Chain is about. I love "Walk on Water" for the same reason.

eeyore, Boston, Massachusetts, USA - You are a woman of many talents! What do you love doing most? Singing? Acting? Speaking your many languages and just generally being a brain? (By the way, congrats on the new album *and* for beating Ben Stein! I love that show.)

Erika Amato - I love it all! LOL No really, I honestly can’t decide. I love acting, and have so much fun doing it, but I couldn’t LIVE without singing, and being a brain? Well, truthfully, I’m a bit of an addict when it comes to learning, and would learn a new language every year if I had the time. In fact, I really want to take Japanese at the local college (extension classes), but I just can’t seem to fit it into my schedule! =(

Katriena Knights, Colorado, USA - Which do you find more fulfilling - acting or music?

Erika Amato - Fulfilling? Acting. More nuances. But if I had to choose one thing to do for the rest of my life, and I wouldn’t be allowed to do the other anymore, I’d have to choose music. Because if I didn’t have music, I’d die. Literally.

Michael, USA - I read somewhere that "Asteroid Belt" took 2 years to complete.What goes into to recording a Velvet Chain album? I’ve listened to song excerpts from the new album on your website and have to say I’m much impressed.

Erika Amato - Thank you so much! Please see the answers above (both to the studio recording question and the writing question)...that should cover it. ;-)

Susan M., Saskatchewan, Canada - Will the band be doing a tour upon the release of the new album? or in the foreseeable future? If yes..don’t forget about us up here in Canada! Keep on Rocking’..!

Erika Amato - We would like to tour, but we need financial support from a label or promoter in order to do it. We’ve been approached by someone in the UK about possibly touring there next summer, so we’ll see.

Jana - Thank you for taking time out of your very busy schedule to do this for us, Erika. Wishing you much success with the new album (Asteroid Belt). I’m looking so forward to receiving my copy.

Erika Amato - Thank YOU, Jana! It was a lot of fun, and I hope my answers were satisfactory and not too rambling... hehehe

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A little bit about Erika Amato (courtesy of Little Willow & theViva La Diva website at http://vlddiva.tripod.com/bio.html)

She acts. She sings. She has smarts. In the simplest terms, she rocks.

Erika Amato was born in Plainfield, New Jersey. Her hometown is Mountainside, one of the smaller towns by Summit. An only child, she excelled in school and in the arts. She took gifted courses and college courses as well as piano lessons. She began singing and acting at a very young age and had already done a professional paid singing gig by age 11.

Extremely energetic and dramatic, Erika would sometimes burst into a song or routine during class, impatient with the slow, s-l-o-w scheme of things. She would get picked on by classmates but boy, could she hold her own in a fight. She found an outlet for her excessive energy in singing groups and plays, finishing her high school career by starring in their production of "Evita".

After high school, Erika attended Vassar College where she really came into her own. Her major was drama; her other specialities were languages such as French, Italian and Russian. She was in three different college a capella singing groups, plus an improv performance troupe and every extra-curricular play she could possibly have been in. For two summers, she was a singing waitress at The Show Place on Long Beach Island, New Jersey.

After college, Erika picked up everything and moved all the way out to Los Angeles to pursue her acting career. Within 6 months, she had landed a co-starring role as a Russian agent on the show, Quantum Leap. She was also a member of an L.A. theatre company and was in several plays, in addition to doing various local commercials, singing in cabarets, and even playing an opera-singing bikini contestant on a TV sitcom.

About a year after Erika had arrived in L.A., she met Jeff Stacy at a Halloween party and shortly thereafter, she started singing backup in Jeff’s band "Heat Your Shack". When this band disintegrated a few months later, they formed a new band called Velvet Chain and the rest is history.

Erika loves being the singer for Velvet Chain. She also writes music for the band. She plays recorder and various percussion instruments while rocking out to the funky music as well.

Velvet Chain has performed all over the nation in all sorts of venues. Their appearance on a first season episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer called "Never Kill a Boy on a First Date" immediately garnered them new fans across the world. Their CD’s are available exclusively online at http://www.velvetchain.com, as well as other nifty VC items like shirts, keychains, and more. Their latest and most ambitious album to date, "Asteroid Belt," is finally done and available right now at their website!