How Ameria, DJ, Producer and Artist, Quarantines and Chills
- Story by Shirley Ju / Photography by Marija
Meet the Hungarian DJ Ameria who is thriving in quarantine.
The Hungarian DJ, producer and artist Ameria has been an expert at the stay-at-home lifestyle, her preference when she’s not tearing down nightclubs and functions around the world.
She’s established in the dance music world for her wide palette of skills. Having toured at a young age as a singer, she went on to sign a deal with Warner Music Hungary‚ but she always wanted to create her own lane and sound. After much success, which includes two No. 1 hits, she hopped on an overseas flight to Los Angeles in 2014. She graduated from UCLA with a master’s degree in sound engineering and production, which is how she began producing. Then, she enrolled in Dubspot Music School, which added even more abstract layers to her music.
Her current sound transcends pop and dance music, throwing down on the turntables at some of the industry’s biggest venues from OMNIA Nightclub in San Diego to Marquee in Las Vegas to Avalon in Hollywood, and the list goes on. Now after five years under the moniker Ameria, she’s working on a new project currently signed to Atlantic Records.
We caught up with Ameria in the midst of quarantine to learn more about her and how she’s surviving COVID-19.
What are you doing to survive the quarantine life?
To be honest, it’s not that different from my life. Have you seen those memes where you’re locked in your room, you can’t go anywhere for weeks so work on beats? I got you, that’s what I do anyway. Other than obviously not being able to go out and play shows, that’s the hard part. If there’s an up-and-coming DJ who doesn’t have any savings, it’s harder to survive right now with no gigs. I’m hoping this will end pretty soon in the next couple months and things will go back to somewhat normal.
This is how I live my life: I’m working on music. I have my own schedule all the time. I usually sleep until noon, and I stay up until 4 a.m. I work at night, so to me the whole world just got on with my life rhythm. Everybody who’s a DJ is probably not as freaked out as everybody else. I can imagine if I had a regular job where I’m meeting people and going in, I’d be freaked out too. I’m more anti-social anyway, so to me it’s cool. It’s not that serious.
Any digital parties or live Instagram DJ sets coming up?
Yes! I did one recently on Saturday. I’m going to start doing a showcase for my upcoming music. I’m going to actually start singing live. Today, I set up this little studio inside my apartment. I’m going to do live sets, playing the song and singing on top of it.
What are your favorite hobbies when you aren’t working on music?
There’s this area called Outpost, the hills between Runyon Canyon and the Hollywood sign. I live by Outpost. I go out there, I have this favorite street I go up. It’s a pretty intense hike or workout that I do. I usually do it at night, which is weird. I do it around 9 p.m. when literally no one’s out. The city is really pretty; it looks really dope.
Go-to shows on Netflix?
I used to love “Breaking Bad,“ because it wasn’t too much. I have a super addictive personality. If I find a good show, I quit my life. I watch it until there are no more episodes. Because of that, it’s dangerous for me to seek dope shows. Because I know I’m literally going to sit there until I’m done. I’m not going to get anything done.
Favorite snacks during quarantine?
I actually went and bought so much food a couple weeks ago that I almost broke my fridge. We brought $800 worth of groceries because I had this theory that after months of “you can’t go anywhere,” people are going to clear everything out. I bought all this food because I thought: “I’m going to keep picking up and Postmates until I can’t.” If things get gnarly and you can’t go out on the streets, that’s when I’ll attack everything in the freezer. Until things are normal and operating, I try to do deliveries. I’ve been doing a lot of tacos, I love tacos. Do you know Sweetgreen, the restaurant? It’s a salad with rice in it. It’s filling, but it’s still a salad. I do a bunch of those.
Do you like to cook?
I’m literally the worst cook ever. You have no idea, I’d die first from my cooking instead of the virus. That’s a bigger fear of mine, to eat my own cooking. You have no idea how bad it is. It’s terrible. I think it’s because I’m so impatient that I [will eat] half the food while it’s not ready—that [messes] up my stomach. It’s bad. I’m not cooking until I’m absolutely forced and I have to. My friends who actually know how bad of a cook I am, they cook for me. They leave it outside in a little bag, I take it home and eat it. Friends are everything!
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You have to make a DIY cocktail, what are you mixing?
I’m drinking a bunch of wine, I’m a wine person. If it’s a DIY cocktail, it’d be something basic like tequila, soda, lime. Something where you can get really wasted without getting super fat.
Walk me through what’s on your playlist these days.
I have this one playlist I keep adding songs to, it has 600 songs. It’s just for me. It’s pretty much hip-hop, the type of hip-hop that’s more ratchet. There’s some pop music, electronic music, but mainly hip-hop. I’m actually working on a hip-hop song as we speak.
Where I grew up in Europe, I listened to Eminem. In Europe, only that type of hip-hop came through that was big enough in America. It’s usually more house music in Europe. When I was 10 years old, hip-hop didn’t cross over in Hungary. I want to be authentic and sound genuine, so I have to have a different approach than all the rappers who are coming from a different place than where I’m coming from. I found that having a different take on it might not be a bad thing. It might be my angle. I’m experimenting.
What song transports you back to a great night at Omnia SD?
There’s one song: TLC “No Scrubs,” which I always play. It has a real trap vibe. After five or six heavy trap songs in a row, I think “let me keep this up.” I have my own transition on how I do it.
“It always has an impact and hits so hard that the whole club starts singing and screaming. Every time I hear it, I have this moment.”
Because I do it every time I play. I have the same exact three songs in a row, I transition into “No Scrubs” from anything in any BPM and it always works. I pull up 10 videos on Instagram at Omnia, every time people are screaming! I just became a headliner at Omnia, but Corona messed it up for me. I’ve been a resident there for a couple years now, [and] I just became a headliner. My first show was supposed to be in May, but it got canceled because of the virus.
What do you miss most while being away from gigs?
Gigs are my way of connecting with people. I go to the gym, and I have a group of friends I usually see for dinners, etc., but there’s not many chances for someone to meet me other than when I DJ. I don’t really go out unless I DJ. My whole social life has been when I play, and none of that’s happening right now.
For me, it’s about connecting with people. Especially at Omnia, it’s the type of club where even if you’re not there to see me, by the end of the night you’ve seen me so many times that physically you can’t look anywhere else other than the stage. You’re going to leave with some type of experience with me. It’s a very special way for me to connect with people and make friends, I really miss that.
What’s the first thing you want to do when the pandemic is over?
Before everything was shut down, this national Hungarian TV show came out here to interview me. There’s another Hungarian show that wants me to be in the show, I’m doing my auditions through videos. If I end up doing it or be a guest on the show, I’ll probably go back there and start shooting.
