I wish every person in the world was like Aimee Allen. She’s rambunctious, engaging, friendly, authentic, and generally all-around awesome. After releasing one of my favorite albums so far this year, she hit the road with Sugar Ray and Fastball. A week ago Sunday she played St. Pete, braved the horrendous humidity, and laid down a solid half hour of dancing, singing, and good times, all without stopping moving once. We managed to slow her down for a few minutes after her set to chat about weather appropriate clothing, turning off the TV, and staying grateful.

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Keath: Welcome to summers in Florida – if the sun doesn’t disengrate you, the humidity will sweat you dry.

Aimee: (laughs) I had no idea what I was getting myself into, whatsoever.

Keath: You came out in a zipup and I was thinking “Oh Lord, she’s going to melt up there!”

Aimee: Yeah, I lost that pretty quick (laughs)!

Keath: So how is the tour going?

Aimee: It’s going great! It’s everything I’d hoped and more. A tour with Sugar Ray – it’s a celebration!

Keath: The album is kinda laid back and then you get out there and you’re all “woo!” It’s a nice, new feel.

Aimee: Yeah, the thing is, live, especially being out with Sugar Ray and Fastball, you can’t come out and do some mellow set. Sugar Ray is the Jimmy Buffett of our generation. People come out to party, have a good time, and smile. We don’t want to bum them out – we want them to dance! That’s what we do, that’s the goal.

Keath: Are the songs taking on a new feel that way? Since you’re the songwriter, how religiously do you stick to what’s on tape?

Aimee: I’m very palatable .. no, pliable .. i’m both pliable and palatable (laughs)! I just feel like you get one shot, so you take the band you’re touring with and change the sound for the crowd. For example, if I was to do some cafe I wouldn’t be (stadium rock pose) “Everyone get the fuck up!” This is a summer tour and all my songs I recorded acoustic and performed acoustic, so it’s not that far – just picked up the tempo a bit.

Keath: Now you play guitar on the record, but not live. Do you prefer running around?

Aimee: I don’t like the crutch of it. I could do it, be like “oh, look, I can play it!” but I prefer to be the frontwoman, dance, engage the audience, and not get caught up in it. It’s like taking away your security blanket.

Keath: It is! You lose your shield. That’s what struck me about the album – it comes across very mellow musically but lyrically it’s very intense. There’s no protection there.

Aimee: Totally! It’s very autobiographical, it’s my life story. If I have one album to tell the world my life’s story, that’s it. It’s a little happiness. It’s not a lot of happiness but it’s an attempt at a lot of happiness. The music is very upbeat, reggae influenced pop music, but the lyrics are very dark, and that’s why it’s not a lot happiness (laughs). It’s a fucking great attempt!

Keath: So how are you feeling these days?

Aimee: I’m feeling great! I’m actually happy! So I think my next album might reflect that.

Keath: You’d have been totally justified coming out with something really dark, so it’s so awesome that you came out with a positive album. I have a three month old daughter and it’s really great to have albums like yours so I can say “this is how you should look at things.”

Aimee: There’s nothing that a child can’t hear on my album, which was a big goal of mine. My grandmother and mother haven’t been able to hear any of my music, and none of my nephews and nieces have been able to hear it. So I went in to make an album for everybody, not just for those “really pissed off females who are angry at their fathers records.” This is definitely a departure, and I’m really stoked it’s family friendly. I accomplished my goal!

Keath: It’s a whole new audience!

Aimee: Yeah!

Keath: Speaking of which, do you see any Ron Paul people out in the crowd? Holding signs maybe?

Aimee: There’s very few Ron Paul people, believe it or not. I was expecting that, but it’s few and far between.

Keath: You have a long line of new people at the merch booth. (FYI: Aimee signs CDs at the merch booth after her sets – stop by and say hello!)

Aimee: Yeah, that’s very good (laughs)! You know, I did that for the election and the election is over. It doesn’t mean I don’t believe in it anymore, but if people want me to get up and … I don’t know what they want from me but it’s not going to happen.

Keath: What I love about reading interviews with you is you’ve been talking about learning to be grateful for everything. All this week it’s been pretty stressful, so I’ve been doing a little “What Would Aimee Allen Do?”

Aimee: (cheers) Alright!

Keath: (laughs) I’m trying to learn how!

Aimee: You gotta force yourself! Think, “Alright, if I’ve had the worst day ever, what can I do to force myself right now to think about what I’m grateful for.” Even if it’s just your arms and legs – start there, spend a good ten or twenty minutes. “I can breathe, I can speak words.” Just start with the basics.

Keath: It’s difficult because negative thoughts are so pervasive.

Aimee: And they will eat you alive! And they do! They do eat me alive sometimes, unless I force myself to be grateful. And that’s the only way out. It’s like a horrible, skipping record of “I hate myself, I want to die” and I’m like “No, wait a minute – life is good! Stop!” and you gotta break the fucking record. As hard as it is to do.

Keath: And everytime you turn on the TV, they’re selling the insecurity to get you to buy something or selling the negativity to get you to tune in.

Aimee: Right! That’s why I don’t watch television anymore. I really have switched it off. I’ve detached myself from mainstream media and from television because, frankly, for my own physical and mental health, it’s not conducive to being happy.

Keath: So do you have any tips for everyone at home?

Aimee: Oh yeah, I got lots of tips! (laughs) Here’s one: exercise, even if you don’t feel like it. And the best way to motivate yourself to exercise is to think about how awesome your legs are and how weird it’d be if you didn’t have the ability to walk. If it was taken away from you, if someone said to you “you will no longer be able to walk” and really feel what that would be like. That’s what I do – it motivates me to walk. So I walk kinda fast and then I’ll be “maybe I’ll run, maybe I’ll won’t.” Then I’ll want to run, and it’s not a fear thing, like “Oh, if I don’t run I’ll get fat!” I only work out for my own brain, to get rid of some of the negative looping of insanity and neurosis.

Keath: That’s a good point – so many gyms sell exercise as anti-fat rather than pro-health.

Aimee: It’s good for your brain! (laughs) It helps you stop counting the tiles in your floor!

All photos are from Aimee’s set at Jannus Landing, St. Petersburg, FL, August 16, 2009.

Aimee Allen “On Vacation” video

Essential Links:

Buy A Little Happiness digital with an exclusive track at Amazon. You can also buy digital at iTunes and eMusic.

Buy physical at Amazon.

Keep up to speed at Aimee Allen’s Website and MySpace.

Catch Aimee on tour with Sugar Ray
Aug 24 2009 8:00P Cains Ballroom Tulsa , Oklahoma
Sep 11 2009 8:00P Showbox at the Market Seattle , Washington
Sep 13 2009 8:00P Humboldt State University – East Gymnasium Arcata , California
Sep 14 2009 8:00P Empire Events Center Sacramento , California
Sep 15 2009 8:00P Grand Ballroom San Francisco , California
Sep 16 2009 8:00P The Catalyst Santa Cruz
Sep 19 2009 8:00P Pozo Saloon Santa Margarita , California
Sep 20 2009 7:00P Ventura Theater Ventura , California
Sep 22 2009 8:30P Rialto Theater Tucson , Arizona
Sep 23 2009 8:00P The Marquee Phoenix , Arizona
Sep 24 2009 8:00P House of Blues Las Vegas , Nevada
Sep 25 2009 8:00P Hard Rock San Diego , California
Sep 26 2009 8:00P House of Blues Los Angeles , California