Amadians believe life is too short to be the same as everyone else, and the… Read Full Bio ↴Amadians believe life is too short to be the same as everyone else, and they take that philosophy into their songwriting by pulling their favourite elements from a variety of genres.

American singer/songwriter Courtney Devon, along with Canadian members James Roth, Kyle Fox and Ian Powell, find inspiration from blues, pop, rock, jazz and hip-hop to create an alternative soul-rock sound that truly captivates you both live and in recordings.

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In an age when fake news, apocalyptic forecasts, and click, bait and switch headlines have become an accepted part of daily life, we as a society are living in paranoid times. Half-baked, wide awake, and marinating in our own depression, it’s easy to feel hopeless and spiritually homeless, in a world that often seems abysmal and like it might implode at any time.

As our desire to escape it all increases and our need for connection beyond the synthetic realm begins to bloom, bands like Winnipeg-based alt-soul-pop outfit Amadians remind us that no matter how wild or wicked things get out there, on the dance floor, we’re all just humans.

Formed in 2016, Amadians––Courtney Devon (vocals), James Roth (guitars), Ian Powell (bass), and Kyle Fox (drums)––have spent the past three years trying to distill the best components of everything from pop, rock and blues to funk, soul, and jazz, into the sort of songs that not only get inside your bones but that awaken that primal urge inside us all to just cut loose.

“Courtney and I have been writing together for years,” says guitarist James Roth. “When we first started out, we didn’t really have an intended sound or something we were aiming for, I guess we just kept writing until we found our niche. When Ian and Kyle entered the picture, we really tried to allow ourselves to flow in the direction that our group creativity led us and that always seemed to include a touch of old and a touch of new.”

Captured fully on their forthcoming self-produced debut release, which is packed full of melody-heavy tracks that couple sultry pop vocals and rich, layered harmonies with chanky funk guitars, shiny synths, syncopated drumming, and bright, nostalgia inducing horns, the album, with pre-production assistance by Matt Schellenberg (Royal Canoe) and engineered by Evan St. Cyr, sees Amadians serving up a sound that revels in the groove of decades past and yet feels appetizingly dissimilar.

“Before we started working with Matt we had quite a few people tell us that we had too many bells and whistles in our demos, that we needed to tone down the harmonies, and that maybe we were going a bit overboard,” says vocalist Courtney Devon. “But, Matt completely embraced all of that. Once he did, we were able to fully embrace it too.”

“Everything Matt did helped to direct us toward our actual sound as a band,” adds Roth. “Early on in the process, he said, ‘Instead of trying to be 45 different things, know who you are, and move toward that.’ We really took that to heart. He pointed out the things that we did well as a band and that were quintessential to us, and then he added certain current complimentary elements that really get your toes tapping and that make the music pop.

“When Evan came in, he took that core sound that we had arrived at and he elevated it to a whole other level. He’s the king of percussion, so he injected our songs with all of these subliminal sounds that just make you want to move, even when you don’t know why you’re moving.”

But, what really gives Amadians their particular shine is the stark contrast that exists between that distinct feel-good vibe, and the often-weighty subject matter of their lyrics.

Whether it’s considering forbidden love and racial prejudice (“Ocean & Moon”), the twisted way in which we sometimes thrive in the chaos of dysfunctional relationships (“Speak Low”), or that brewing desire that so many of us have to just call bullshit on the whole thing (“Wasting Time”) and raise a little hell from time to time (“Further”), there is a substantiality to this band’s lyricism that not only embodies the unhinged atmosphere of this era, but when positioned against a backdrop of infectious backbeats, makes things feel a little less heavy, even if only for a little while.

“There’s been a weird air in our culture lately,” says Devon. “We’ve become so accustomed to picking up our phones and being bombarded with all of this shitty news, that it can really make you feel lost and a kind of hopeless. I think it’s our job as songwriters and artists to find a way to talk about the things that are affecting us, but it’s also our job to allow music to be an escape from those things, and to genuinely try to make a difference in the lives of people who need that the most.”

For Amadians, they get the opportunity to fulfill that need during every one of their live show.

“We look at our live show, which is very much this upbeat, high-bpm, 45-minute dance party, as an open invitation for people to get out on the floor and just move,” says Roth. “When we hit the stage it’s kind of like, ‘Hey! Here we are. We’re gonna play some tunes for you. Why don’t we all just forget about the stress and forget about our fears, let’s have a good time together and savor this moment while it lasts, before we have to go back to the real world.”

Wasting Time
Amadians Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Someday I'll pay 10K and it'll be cheap
Someday I won't need weed to sleep
I pray the lord my soul to keep
Somehow some way I'll make that leap
But for now, for now, for now
For now, for now, for now

I'm wasting time, wasting time on you

I'm wasting time, wasting time on you
I'm wasting time, wasting time on you
I'm wasting time, wasting time on you

Flower petal picking trying to cover my bases
I'd stop tripping if I just tied my laces
But one glance at you and it was off to the races
And baby this dart board's seen a lot of faces
But for now, for now, for now
For now

I'm wasting time, wasting time on you
I'm wasting time, wasting time on you
I'm wasting time, wasting time on you
I'm wasting time, wasting time on you
I'm wasting time, wasting time on you

Happy as could be staring at a screen
An empty-headed we, but for now it's just you and me

For now, for now, for now
For now, for now, for now

I'm wasting time, wasting time on you
I'm wasting time, wasting time on you
I'm wasting time, wasting time on you
I'm wasting time, wasting time on you

For now, for now, for now
For now, for now, for now

Overall Meaning

In Amadians' song "Wasting Time," the lyrics express the feeling of being stuck in a stagnant situation, wasting time on someone who may not be worth it. The opening lines suggest that the singer recognizes how much they are wasting their time on this person but hopes that one day they will be able to move on and let this go. They mention that it will cost them, but in the end, it will be worth it. The lyrics then describe how the singer is struggling with their feelings towards this person, and even something as simple as tying their shoelaces becomes a challenge because they're so distracted by the person they're wasting time on.

Later on, the singer sings about how their happiness is tied to this person, describing themselves as "empty-headed," but for now, being with this person is enough. The wording "for now" repeats throughout the song, almost like the singer is trying to convince themselves that one day they'll be able to let go and move on. The overall feeling of the lyrics is one of confusion, frustration, longing, and the desire for something more.

Line by Line Meaning

Someday I'll pay 10K and it'll be cheap
In the future, I'll be able to afford anything, including things that are currently expensive.

Someday I won't need weed to sleep
Soon, I will be able to sleep without relying on marijuana.

I pray the lord my soul to keep
I ask that God takes care of me and my soul.

Somehow some way I'll make that leap
I have a goal and I believe I'll achieve it by any means.

But for now, for now, for now
However, currently, this is not the case.

I'm wasting time, wasting time on you
At the moment, I am spending all my time on you without any fruitful results.

Flower petal picking trying to cover my bases
I am trying to cover all my bases but it is just a pointless exercise.

I'd stop tripping if I just tied my laces
If I just take control of my life, I can stop worrying about everything else.

And baby this dart board's seen a lot of faces
I have had my fair share of relationships and experiences in my life.

Happy as could be staring at a screen
I'm happy doing nothing, just staring at a screen.

An empty-headed we, but for now it's just you and me
We are not using our brains but spending time together still makes us happy.