KENDALL AMON — A BOOK OF MAGAZINE

Los Angeles rising star and singer-songwriter Kendall Amon writes and create beautifully crafted thoughtful songs on the intricate beauty of modern relationships. Amon breaks out as the “voice” of new Tubi film 10 Truths About Love (available February 11) starring Camilla Belle. Amon’s voice soundtracks Tubi’s first original romantic comedy on FOX Entertainment’s free streaming service, headlining the platform’s 2022 Valentine’s Day lineup.

Hi Kendall, Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m a singer-songwriter from Los Angeles. I’m the youngest of 4 siblings and I have a pug puppy named Buster. I love puzzles, bad reality TV, and poetry books. I started singing and playing the piano when I was 7 years old and that eventually evolved into writing my own songs. I recently moved back to LA after attending school in North Carolina for a few years and have immersed myself in my songwriting. I’m inspired by iconic songwriters like Joni Mitchell, Carole King, and Stevie Nicks and more contemporary artists like Julia Michaels, Chelsea Cutler, and Phoebe Bridgers. In many ways I use music and writing as a form of ‘sense-making’. Many of my original songs revolve around love or heartbreak as a way to better understand the nature of these intense and sometimes all-consuming human emotions. I like to write my songs as a story that I play out in my head. And I think the narrative quality of my writing helped me land 5 songs in a new film 10 Truths About Love on Tubi, FOX network’s streaming platform. It’s been a huge honor to see my songs put to visuals in this movie.

Tell us more about “Falling in Love.”

I wrote “Falling in Love” in January of 2021 and had it produced by Neara Russell in March of that same year. I love romantic books, TV shows, and movies but a lot of my songs show the darker sides of love. I wanted to challenge myself and write something that showed a more optimistic side of myself. It really tells a story about the evolution of a friendship into a romantic relationship inspired by the common ‘friends-to-lovers’ trope which appears in a lot of pop culture.

Tell us about the highs and the lows of your career so far. How did you rise above the challenges?

I think having 5 original songs placed in a movie has definitely been a “high” in my career so far! It was such a unique experience to be able to act as a sort of unofficial soundtrack to the film this early on in my career. However it's difficult for me to say that I’ve had any particular “lows' ' so far. I definitely have had days where I feel overwhelmed or I spend hours toiling over writing “the perfect bridge” but really I’m trying to look at everything as a learning experience. I also have a super strong support system among my friends and family that helps keep me grounded and provides great perspective. This business is tough but I think I’m learning how to embrace the unknown and how to stay optimistic even when I’m faced with challenges.

What’s the proudest moment of your career?

It’s so hard to pick just one moment that I’m most proud of! At one point in my life I thought that I was going to pursue a different, “safer” career path. Then when the pandemic started I think everyone, including myself, started taking stock of their lives and re-evaluating what they found important. For me I began getting prolific with my songwriting. I realized that I was trying to pick a more stable career path out of fear of failure rather than anything else so I changed paths. I decided to take that leap and put everything I have into music and songwriting, and I’m really proud of that decision. It has led to so many amazing opportunities, like having these 5 songs in the Tubi movie 10 truths about love, which I’m also insanely proud of.

What inspires you?

I’m so inspired by other singer-songwriters. Taylor Swift, Gracie Abrams, and Maggie Rogers just to name a few. I love finding new artists who have great lyrics and melodies. I love lyrics especially and I think that’s what I get most excited about when I’m writing a new song. I studied creative writing in college so I find novels, short stories, and poetry super inspiring as well. I also co-write with other talented songwriters or producers and I think it’s a really unique experience getting to collaborate with other talented and creative people when making a song.

What scares you?

This is a tough question. I grew up in a super academic background and as an athlete, and with that came a lot of hang-ups about perfection. I like things to be polished and perfectly in place and a lot of times this business doesn’t run like that. I’ve had to adjust my expectations of myself sometimes and realize that I’m going to face a lot of “failures” in my career. I’m young too, so I’m definitely still learning, but I’m trying to be less fearful of failure and instead look at these mishaps as lessons I can learn from.

Guilty pleasure?

I would say one of my guilty pleasures is reality television. My best friend and I are obsessed with the Bravo Real Housewives franchise. She lives in North Carolina so we will sometimes FaceTime during new episodes so we can discuss the drama and laugh at the absurd scenarios. It’s just so bad, it has to be good!

Name your top 5 favorite songs of all time

This question is so difficult because I feel like my answer changes all the time. I love so many different genres of music too, which makes it difficult to choose! I’ll give my current top 5 songs, but be warned this may change in about a week.

1) Self Control by Frank Ocean

2) Liability by Lorde

3) Love If We Made It by the 1975

4) Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift

5) Strangers by Mt Joy

Last song that got stuck in your head

I’ve been listening to Live or Die by Noah Cyrus and Lil Xan a ton recently and that hook really does get stuck in my head.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

The best advice I’ve ever received was probably from my mom. We’re really close and she’s amazingly good to talk to during any type of crisis. We actually have driven to North Carolina from Los Angeles (over 2,000 miles) three times and didn’t leave the other on the side of the road, which I think is a testament to how close we are. I’ve spoken about it a few times but she’s always told me that I can’t dwell on mistakes or perceived imperfections and that every “failure” is just an opportunity to grow. I think it’s super helpful for me to have my parents, who are both incredibly supportive of my career, provide guidance to me as I continue to learn and grow.

What’s your ultimate goal?

I’m not sure I want to put a concrete label on what my current goal is. I want people to hear my music and to love it as much as I do. I want my songs to be the ones that get stuck in people’s heads. I want someone to listen to A lyric I wrote and feel like they aren’t so alone. I also want to become a better writer as I gain life experience and write with other talented creators. Right now all I hope is that people hear my music and that it feels honest.

What are your dream projects?

I mean the dream of dreams is that one day I could perform my music at an iconic venue in my hometown like the Staples Center (which I think is now being called the Crypto.com Arena but whatever). I remember the first concert I ever went to was a Taylor Swift concert at that arena and it left me awestruck. I also would love to write songs for or with other artists like Miley Cyrus, Dua Lipa, or Phoebe Bridgers.

Is there a skill / talent that a lot of people don’t know about you?

This talent is mostly useless but I’m really good at puzzles. I actually don’t know if I’m good at them or if I just get obsessively determined to finish a puzzle once I’ve started, but either way I have finished 2,000 piece puzzles in less than 5 hours which I consider impressive. I haven’t done a lot of research on the topic though so this could be entirely average. I’m still gonna stick with it as my answer.

If you were a book, what book would you be and why?

I read so much it’s difficult to choose, but right now I’m reading a poetry book called “The Dictionary of obscure sorrows” by John Koenig. He did a ton of research on different languages and came up with dictionary style book with words he created to describe the human experience. I love it because it reminds me of songwriting in a lot of ways. The mission of making the specific seems universal. And just the creativity he had to employ to make these neologisms astounds me.