By Caelan Monkman
On Saturday night, third-year Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) professional music student Amy Kisser took to the stage of The Bunker in west-end Toronto to perform a captivating set of new music and classic covers.
Catherine Carter, River Christie-White and Noah Rich, Kisser stepped on stage to open her set with an assertive rendition of Audioslave’s “Show Me How to Live.”
Although she was the shortest musician on stage, Kisser effortlessly commanded it, dancing around and head-banging while letting her powerful vocals soar above the scrappy and heavy electric guitar and bass riffs.
When the song ended, Kisser took a big swig of water and cleared her throat. “I’m getting over a cold,” she confessed, going on to say she hadn’t been able to sing at all during a rehearsal the day prior. Were it not for this statement, you wouldn’t have been able to tell she was sick. Over the next seven songs, Kisser’s impressive vocal range was on full display, effortlessly shifting from octave to octave while maintaining a tenacity present throughout the performance.
The set included distinctive covers of songs like Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” and a mashup of Billie Eilish’s “Therefore I Am” and “Happier Than Ever,” as well as Kisser’s only single, “Burn Me Alive.”
Most notable, however, were a few as-of-yet unreleased original songs. The songs “I’m Still Here” and “I Think I Killed Me” followed in the hard rock footsteps of Kisser’s debut track, while the aptly-named breakup anthem “Bittersweet” showcased a slightly more intimate side of her vocals and songwriting abilities.
Prior to her performance, Kisser sat down with The Eyeopener to discuss her musical journey.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: Before we get into the music side of things, tell me a little bit more about Amy Kisser the person.
I’m from Calgary, I moved to Toronto to pursue music, but I was born and raised in Calgary. I’ve been into music all my life. It’s always been the primary thing, the thing I’m the most passionate about. Who I am is based so heavily around music.
Q: You said you’re from Calgary. A lot of people associate Western Canada with country music, so in what ways does that identity shape your musical identity?
I think it was shaped it in the sense that rock isn’t super big in Calgary, so the music scene there is very tight—especially the rock scene. I got into rock because I was doing School of Rock in Calgary. They’re a music school, they’re a global franchise and they’re amazing. That’s where I really started to hone in on rock music. Calgary, as you actually said, is very based on country music. So there’s a big country scene, but it’s a lot harder to get into rock. I think it shaped my identity in the sense that I was exposed to a lot of different kinds of music—country, pop—there’s just so much stuff there. And then I sort of got into rock on my own. So my music is very heavily inspired by other genres as well; especially the songwriting.
Q: Can we get into those musical influences a little bit more? Are there certain artists that you really cite as your influences?
I love artists like Evanescence and Halestorm; they’re amazing. Chris Cornell, Van Halen, but I’m also very into Taylor Swift—like I’m a big Swiftie. Also Tate McRae, a lot of those artists. My favourite artists are all rock and metal like I Prevail and Shinedown, but yeah, Taylor Swift is a huge one—it sounds very clichéd but I do love her. And then everything else, I just sort of listen to whatever. I don’t feel bound by the kind of art I make or the music I make, I listen to whatever I want to listen to.
Q: And so, how would you describe your music?
I would describe it as rock—it’s definitely rock, but there’s a distinct singer-songwriter twist I think. There are certain songs of mine that people have told me like, ‘Oh, I hear the Taylor Swift influence in this,’ so yeah, it’s rock with a singer-songwriter twist.
Q: You’re in TMU’s professional music program. How would you kind of cite them as an influence? How has it fostered your musical career?
Incredibly, actually. I owe a lot of my career to the professional music program. I moved to Toronto specifically for the program. It was the only [one] that I wanted to be in. I heard about it and I was like, ‘This is perfect, I have to do it.’ I’m in the inaugural class as well, so I’ll be in the first graduating class of the program.
The program has taught me how to write demos, how to produce those demos [and] how to really get into songwriting. It taught me the business skills that I needed when I signed my first record deal. So I actually went into all these different things and had the experience needed to do that.
“Rock isn’t super big in Calgary, so the music scene there is very tight—especially the rock scene”
They also teach you how to book shows, how to write an email to a venue and how to do all that stuff. So that’s how I got into doing this because I was able to start booking my own shows. I think as well, they introduced me to a lot of my big industry connections. I bet someone on my team actually threw a class and spiraled into other opportunities outside of school.
Q: Can you elaborate on some of those opportunities?
Honestly, the big one is a record I’ve been working on since first year, and I’ve recently signed with a label for that record. And they brought on a producer—Gavin Brown—that I’m a huge fan of—I’ve loved his work for years. So I’m really getting to work with sort of my dream team. That’s all because of one connection I made at the school through a professor. I owe a lot to TMU—they really fostered my ability to songwrite as well, so they’re the reason I have a career in Toronto.
Q: You’re working on a record now, but you’ve also released one single so far, “Burn Me Alive.” In an Instagram post celebrating the one-year anniversary of the single’s release, you said when you wrote it you were in “the worst place of your life” but it “helped you heal.” Would you be comfortable elaborating on that?
I had a terrible first year. I moved to Toronto during [COVID-19]. So if you chuck [COVID-19] into the picture, the amount of people I could meet was very minimal, and the people I did meet were not great—we did not have shared values and they were not good people for me to be around. I also went through a really, really terrible breakup, and the only way I could think of to get through a lot of these feelings was by songwriting.
“Burn Me Alive” was the second song I wrote about everything I was going through and I ended up doing a little demo with a class. Out of that, one of my classmates was like, ‘Oh, I would love to work on this with you!’ And that sort of spiraled into becoming a song I would actually put out. I think writing that song and writing my record has been the most healing thing I could ask for. They’re a way to process emotions without hurting anybody.
Q: How has your writing process changed since the release of “Burn Me Alive”?
The more I’ve written, the better I’ve gotten at writing, obviously. When I look back at my first songs, it’s ‘Oh my god, I could do so much better.’ I look back at them and I’m proud of them, but now they’ve evolved. I think when you start working with people who have more experience in the industry, they teach you things, and those things seep into how you write. So I look at a song now and I’m very aware of, ‘Okay, let’s not make this part too long,’ or ‘Can I take out this word?’—little things like that. I think you just get more experience and your songs naturally become better when you work with people who know how to write songs.
Q: What can audiences expect from you next?
The Extended Play (EP) will be out sometime this year. That’s all I can really say about that; it’ll be a full-length EP. I also have a headlining show on March 3 at The Bovine that’s a fully all-female front of band lineup that I’m super excited to have put together. Those’ll be the next kind of big things for me: to have new music come out and have this big headlining show.
Q: What can audiences expect from your performance tonight?
Everything I have to give, y’know? I want my stage performances to be cathartic and to be about the audience. Every time I go to a rock show, I just feel this sense of catharsis; the yelling and screaming—there’s so much rage and sadness in a live show and I want the audience to feel that in me. I want them to know that it’s okay for them to feel that and to let out those emotions. So I’m hoping it’s a really cathartic experience for them and for myself, for everybody in the room.
Leave a Reply