EXCLUSIVE Q&A with "Dominate My Love's" AMBER DIRKS

I first interviewed Amber Dirks in 2012. Check out the link and see how many club hits you know by her. http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2012/07/exclusive-q-with-dance-diva-amber-dirks.html 

An amazing voice that at times reminds me of Loleatta Holloway (it's that powerful), at times Donna Summer (to whom she can bear a striking resemblance at times). Amber has a huge club hit now, "Dominate My Love," on the Carrillo Music label. It was time to speak again with one of the sweetest divas in the world, the one, the wonderful Ms Amber Dirks!

Dj Buddy Beaverhausen: Hi, Amber! Thank you once again for the opportunity to interview you. It's always such a pleasure, and your international fans eternally love hearing from you.

Amber Dirks:  I truly appreciate even being asked the opportunity of being interviewed and I love, love, love my fans!

DBB: You are back on the Billboard dance charts with a very, very hot number, "Dominate My Love." I can't get enough of this song! Were you surprised by its popularity? Where has it charted on Billboard as we speak?

AD: I am beyond excited!! Currently “Dominate My Love” is at #26. WOOHOOO!! This is actually the 2^nd song that has made the Billboard charts. The first one was titled “My Life” with Chris Panaghi (but my name was not listed) and landed in the top 20 dance charts. I truly appreciate everyone's support with this project!!
 

DBB: Well, you're going to be credited from now on, believe me! Your vocals are just amazing (as always)! What a powerhouse of a voice and, I think, the type that avid clubgoers desperately want to hear. What did you think when "Dominate" was first presented to you? And how did you connect with producers Bouvier & Barona in the first place?

AD: Actually I have to thank Bill Friar, of Bill Friar Entertainment, as he heard the track and recommended to producers Bouvier & Barona in giving me an opportunity to express my voice on the track. It was agreed to let me record and so Bill Friar recorded my vocals. It was later shared with me that I was not originally considered as the vocal for this song but I am very happy that everyone involved was happy and that its being received very well.
 

DBB: I know that, in your private life, you're a devoted wife and mother. Despite the obvious inferences of your new hit's title that made it a Black Party smash this season, what would you say "Dominate My Love" is about and how did you approach it?

AD: “Dominate My Love” is about someone that has control of his or her life, mind, body and soul and that nobody can take control of ones aspect of their life. I approached this track with confidence and being in control!

DBB: Your parents moved to Arizona from Holland with you when you were very young. You still reside there and recently spoke very eloquently with me regarding Arizona's proposed discriminatory, anti-gay proposal, which failed to be signed into law shortly after that interview.  http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2014/02/go-west-arisona-issue-part-two.html We've since seen other states propose and even pass discriminatory laws based on "religious freedom." When you see things like this in the news, what does it make you think about what's going on in the USA today?

AD: It saddens me that people in power feel the need to “Dominate” ones life’s views and that, with that power, they abuse it by creating laws to tell someone who they are allowed to “Love” and then to hide behind religion is ludicrous. How can we be the “Land of the Free” when you have certain powers dictating what’s acceptable and what’s not acceptable? Again, ludicrous. 

DBB: I always think clubs and the dancefloor are a great uniter, a kind of rainbow coalition where everyone can get together regardless of color, gender, affectionate orientation, nationality, religion or anything else. And when we hear our divas, we are lifted together in the music and the vocals and are united. What is your view on the underlying diplomacy of club life and dance music?

AD: Dance music to me is a freedom of expression and while the dance genre talks about life situations, its subject matters are those that everyone can relate to regardless of race, gender, nationality, religion and I love the way you stated this: “affectionate orientation." 

DBB: You were Miss Black Arizona 1994. What is there about that experience that you have brought to your singing career?

AD: I was Miss Black Arizona 1994 and then I went on to represent Arizona in the Miss Black USA pageant. It was a very different experience for me as I never once thought of myself as pageant material.It was nice to see young, intelligent, beautiful women of color come to together and represent what they believed in and show how real camaraderie really works. It showed me how important listening skills are, poise and how to always be classy and ready to take on challenge and hard work and to always stay true to self. These types of pageants require dedication and hard work and it's not all about the glitz and glam. Although it was a great positive experience, it further helped me realize how much I love singing and performing and that I was ready to take on the needed task to hopefully become respected as an Artist.

DBB: When you get to relax, what do you like to do?

AD: Relax? [Laughs.] Is there such a word? I am very involved with my children’s education and extracurricular activities such as football (I’m also a youth tackle football coach) and gymnastics.  I enjoy cooking, spending time with family and friends and a game of racquetball. 

DBB: "Dominate My Love" is definitely red hot and one of this year's club hits. Any last shout-outs to your fans about the song, and just generally?

AD: I want to thank everyone who is and has been supporting me throughout the years in my musical career. It’s a privilege having the opportunity to share what I love to so many people in the world and one that I never take for granted. I will continue to do my best to give the listeners my heart in every note that I sing!

DBB: Amber, thank you so much for this Q&A. We will certainly all be listening to the incredible "Dominate My Love" dominating the dance charts. Best wishes to you, your family, and lots and lots of love!

AD: Thank You so much for this incredible opportunity and what you continue to do for Indie Artist! Much Peace, Light and Love to You and your family and to all that inspire me to continue on with my musical journey!!

Dj Buddy B's Weekly Diva Dish 3/21/14

Kate Bush

Divas top the trending news this week and Buddy B blithely blabs about it!

First and foremost, have you heard that Kate Bush is running up that hill once more, after 35 years? It has been that long since Bush ~ who is now an almost Garbo-like recluse ~ has performed live! But in August and September this year, she will be performing in London at Eventim, Apollo Hammersmith for a 15-date gig. No plans to take it across the pond and I don't think that will happen. Might be a good excuse to revisit my second-favorite city on the planet over a long weekend! Of course, I expect she'll do "Babooshka" (my fave) and "Wuthering Heights."

Kate Bush's last album was 2011's 50 Words for Snow. The 55-year-old diva's 2014 concert tour is dubbed "Behind the Dawn." Tickets go on sale March 28.

Here in the USA, it seems there's a warrant issued to Ms Anita Baker. And it's all about her chiseling the people who decorated her home. Tacky, but that's how a true diva behaves. Sense of entitlement. Tantrums, legal disputes and la publicite, of course!

"WHATTT??!!... sittin' in the kitchen watching this on TV. BIG time crazy. Atty on his way to TV Station. Devil sho is busy," Ms Baker Tweeted yesterday. Huffington Post reports: "Baker, 56, is accused of stiffing a painting and decorating company of more than $15,000 for work done in her home in Grosse Pointe, Mich., just outside of Detroit." Anita, baby, you may be a diva but $15k is a lot of money and you do NOT want to piss off the queens that redid your place. Not to the tune of that dollar amount, honey. Scandalous!

I also learned about Jennifer Lopez' hot new video at Huff Post! They reported:

Jennifer Lopez is on a crusade to "objectify men" in her new music video, but not without a nod to the infamous Versace dress that she wore to the 2000 Grammys. After a pitch meeting, in which she's given the idea of shooting the "I Luh Ya PaPi" clip at a water park or zoo, Lopez and her two pals decide they want to turn the tables on male singers who are featured "up in a mansion with all these half-naked girls, or maybe even in a yacht."

Cue a mansion and a yacht with lots of half-naked men and general J.Lo sass. French Montana makes an appearance toward the end, reminding us amid all the lavishness that, "Even though we made it to the top / Still J.Lo from the block."

Actually, the video seems to be tailor-made for her gay as well as her straight female fan bases. Hate the song, love the hotties.



Idina Menzel keeps getting good buzz ahead of her official opening in the Broadway musical, If/Then.  http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2014/03/broadway-beaverhausen-ifthen-notgood.html Broadway World reported that she is the very first Tony Award winner to have a Billboard Top Ten hit with the beautiful "Let It Go" from Disney's Frozen. (The song won an Oscar.) Djs note that Joel Dickinson's dance remix is available from Sobel Promotions. Clubgoers note: there is also, even more recently, a Paperchaser$ dance remix of the song as we start to thaw out. Joel's mix is better, in my humble opinion.

"WooHoo Dominate My Love moved to #32 (from #39) on the Billboard Dance Charts!" Amber Dirks told us. "Thank you to all the Club DJs that are supporting it!" The Bouvier & Barona anthem is poised to dominate clubland fronted by Amber's divalicious vocals!

And on Italian tv's The Voice of Italy, a singing nun (Sister Cristina Scuccia, age 25) covering Alicia Keys' "No One" was the big, surprise winner. What a sister act, people! (See for yourself below.) The audience was enthralled! The judges were blown away! A rapper shed tears! Sister Cristina's family and nun friends jumped with joy! Even I was touched! Holy divahood! I wonder if the Pope was watching. We Luh Ya, PaPi!



Until next week, then, this is the latest diva dish! Eat it all up. And amen, sisters!

Dj Buddy B's Weekly Diva Report for 3/15/14

Evelyn "Champagne" King

"And tho' I'll admit I've dished you, I've gossiped and gloated, But I'm so devoted...," Jerry Herman, "Bosom Buddies" from Mame.

Divas Are Invading Queens! The borough that is. On Saturday, March 29, no less than the likes of disco divas France Joli (whom I interviewed last November http://blabittobeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/11/dj-buddy-beaverhausen-comes-to-france.html), Evelyn "Champagne" King and Anita ("Ring My Bell") Ward will headline NYC's Resorts World Casino's "Disco Inferno" night. So put on your boogie-woogie dancing shoes and prepare for a night of vintage diva power under the mirror ball!

Amber Dirks' latest dance tune, "Dominate My Love," is bound to be popular locally, what with NYC's The Black Party coming up next week. On the latest Billboard dance chart, "Dominate" topped from the bottom nationally, from # 47 last week to # 3. Amber was one of the first divas of dance to consent to a Dj Buddy B interview, back in July, 2012 (http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2012/07/exclusive-q-with-dance-diva-amber-dirks.html) and spoke to me again, this year, about the recent Arizona controversy (http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2014/02/go-west-arisona-issue-part-two.html). She is certainly one of the sweetest divas going with a powerhouse voice that sometimes reminds me of Donna Summer, sometimes Loleatta Holloway, but mostly unique, sensational and always divine.

Divas on My Turntables this week: Kristine W's "So Close to Me" gets a facelift for 2014 with new remixes, the best of the lot being Ranny's Big Room club mix. 

Funkstar DeLuxe remodels Kim Wilde's cover version of "You Keep My Holding On." Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" (this week entering the top ten at # 9 on Billboard's dance chart), nicely given new life by Alex Gaudino. These are two mixes that make us believe echos of the '80s New Wave are big again this year. 

Heather Small was the distinctive voice of M People, one of the monster club hit-makers of the '90s. Their early single, "How Can I Love You More," has been beautifully and energetically remixed by Julian Marsh (interview from last summer http://djbuddybeaverhausen.blogspot.com/2013/08/my-exclusive-q-with-remixer-producer-dj.html) for Sobel Promotions. https://www.facebook.com/groups/SobelPromotions/

And this week, Lady Gaga managed once again to spark a scandal. Wrote Refinery29: "Is Lady Gaga an actual philanthropist, or just a clever promoter? That's the question being raised after a close look at her Born This Way Foundation's 2012 federal tax report revealed that, out of more than $2 million it held in assets, just $5,000 was actually donated to charity. Hmmm."

Until next week, when we worship and dish once more, diva lovers, this is Dj Buddy B urging you to channel your inner diva, then let the fur fly!

Ciao for now.