Added: August 8, 2002: Pics from Y100 Miami (Coming Soon: MP3s of the interview with Michael Yo)

OMG you guys we just got home and I cant even describe how good we feel. Well we got to the y100 studio at around 6:00 and we waited till she got there at almost eight. when we first got there my mom talked to the security gaurd at the front door and mentioned that we were just there to wait till Amanda got there. When she finally got there we noticed her through the passenger side of the car and we started taking pictures as she got out of the car .

She turned around and came screaming towards us saying "I saw that. I love you guys, Yay fans, this is too cool" and then she posed for us as she was walking and said cheese. OMG that woman is a million times prettier in person if that's even possible. Then we immediately noticed her new tatoo and we pointed it out to her and she was "oh yeah I got it like two days ago". Its so cute it says Rock-n-Roll under her Panda.

We asked her to sign the New york times. She was like "Isnt that cool I mean even though it was misqouted and everything" and she started to say "I still cant believe it, I see myself in a magazine and its like hey thats me I feel like is something my mom put together" The pen of course wasnt working so she was "oh dude I dont think this gonna work" Then we said dont worry about it we have pictures and she was like "NO NO I want to sign it". So she crouched down and was digging through her purse saying "I know I have a pen". While she was looking for the pen we told her we were from Jules Amazingly Amanda group and we were going to try and Post the pics and she was "AAHH really, thats so cool, you guys are seriously the best". Then the J rep was like do you need a signing pen and she was like "YES! thats right you have one".

Then she was like "that's just my rep not my boyfriend or anything. I get different reps from place to place so its like Oh ok Hi lets drive around for 18 hours" She was like "my official site and message board did you see, so exciting" We said we all have been requesting Cant take it back and harrassing the DJ"s and she was like "really thanks! you know the thing is that its now August 19th so their not allowed to play it till then. Then she said "oh did you hear Z100 picked it up, Wow that's crazy"

Then we said that more people wanted to make it but it was such a short notice and she was like "I know I didnt find out I had to do this till this afternoon, When I was reading my message board I saw someone had posted it there" Then we were like omg that was us and she was like "no way Thank you" (we are such dorks).

Then we handed a letter from An Italian fan who sent it to me. We told her she had alot of fans in Italy and she was all shocked " NO way really Wow, I mean I knew to a certain extent because they had done like a 4 page article on me something mia familia I dont Know. I was like Dude I have Italian descent but I cant speak it. I just kept looking at it not understanding nothing I just was like ok that's a picture of me."

My mom told her that she liked her hair and I mentioned she was prettier in person and she said "Thank you, you both are gorgeous, just like mom" We said yeah sure we are the pretty ones Yeah right! And she laughed. She would refer to Our mother as Mom it was cool then she was like "I still live with mom It's cool" and then my mom was like they are only 16 and she said "No way, you guys look 21" By then people had been calling her in bcuz she was late (sorry yes it was our fault).She said Bye ,hugged and kissed us and said "REALLY YOU GUYS,YOU HAVE MADE MY LIFE" Well she left and as you guys probably heard she mentioned us on air and thanked us. You could only imagine the amount of screaming and crying that went on in the car.

When my mom told her she liked her hair she said "Thanks, I did it real quick, Last minute thing, I like it too" and then she laughed. Also when she was signing the big pic from the NYT she was like "isnt this picture cool, I'm just walking and this dude is all just there looking (laughs)".

Oh I think its her real hair (looks like it). It was about 3 inches below the shoulder. Ok I think I didnt miss anything.

Sorry we are still so excited, we just keep on rambling. She is so Kick ass!!! What a nice girl and she is so funny she talks a million miles per hour But hey we can relate!

She is such a nice person!!!
xoxo
-Stephanie & Jennifer

What's up everyone?! Amanda Latona here. Well it looks like many, if not all of you, have read the N.Y. Times magazine article by now. I first just want to say how happy and blessed I am to have true fans like you that know the REAL ME sooooo well! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the tons of messages you sent in. You guys know how much YOUR feelings and emotions mean to me, and the comments on the N.Y. Times article lets me relax in knowing that "thank goodness" you guys know how the reporters story and MY story can be totally different, that you don't believe everything you hear, and that most importantly your right there by my side to support me all the way! Thanks guys sooooo much! REALLY!

Ya know when I went in to this interview, I was kinda expecting (but not really ya know) that the reporter might give a version of the story that's not really the way I said it, or told it, or heck, did it. And through this I've learned that you can't always be happy with every word that's printed about you, (I guess it's a good lesson to learn now right?) lol. My main concern was that everyone (and I know you guys do) knows that I sing what I want to and wear what I want to, and my opinions and input mean EVERYTHING to J-Records, and always has. We work together as a team and in no way has anyone tried to make me something im not. I've always made the decisions for myself. Okay, okay we could talk forever right?

So, on a wonderfully happy and extremely excited note. I just wanted to say that in the big picture, this article is a huge, HUGE opportunity for me with great exposure! So all I ask is that please don't have any negativity involving this article because this is truly an awesome thing (it's obvious that all my fans are excited for my record). Thanks again for your amazing support and for listening to me. Talk to ya soon.

I love you guys,
AMANDA LATONA

I was also informed earlier this week that the radio date for "Can't Take It Back" has been moved to August 19th. But your requests so far are certainly starting a buzz about the song at radio.

In fact, "Can't Take It Back" was added to the playlists @ WINK (Ft. Meyers, FL) and KLLY (Bakersfield, CA) this week!

Amanda is scheduled to be the cover story in this Sunday's NY Times Magazine.

And, finally, Amanda has started traveling with the YM Fashion & Music Explosion Tour. Here are the remaining dates --

Saturday, August 3rd - Tacoma, WA (Tacoma Mall)
Saturday, August 10th - Lakeside Mall (Sterling Heights, MI)
Saturday, August 24th - Woodfield Mall (Schaumburg, IL)
Saturday, August 31st - Rosedale Center (Roseville, MN)

All performances are at 1:45 p.m.

This information is from Jules (More Than That: Amanda Latona)

That's RIGHT! I have gotten the go ahead to release the name of Amanda's debut album: PANDAMONIUM! Isn't that grrreat? Amanda came up with it herself and is soooo excited, i love it! What do you guys think, it's fitting, eh?

As promised, I have uploaded, tagged, coded, and put my blood, sweat, and tears into getting some new pictures up for you guys. I've got pictures from the YM Fashion and Music Explosion Tour (on stage, and meet and greet), two new HQ scans from the album photo shoot (one you've never seen before) and I said i'd scan one new little picture of amanda and i, so i threw that one in as a bonus! (or a punishment.. however you wanna look at it! ::wink::)

There you go! I will post some more personal pictures of Amanda's that she's taken on the road during the radio promo tour! Check back for those. Also, any of you attending the YM show this weekend please contribute your pictures when you get them, we would all love to see them!

More exciting news, Guess has asked to outfit Amanda during the tour! They have taken her sizes and are shipping her wardrobe, how excited do you think she is? she gets to keep it all! Even Guess has fallen in love with Amanda!

Okay on to some more exciting news, I don't know how many of you saw the new Austin Powers movie this weekend, but from what I've heard the "Slap Her, She's French" trailor is playing before the feature! The most exciting part is, after the trailor guess what flashes on the screen? "FEATURING NEW MUSIC FROM AMANDA LATONA!" yeah buddy, that's right! The movie was expected to be seen by some 50 million people this weekend! You can actually view the trailor online at Slap Her She's French.com so go check it out!

Also, I want to thank those of you who have emailed me about WWD magazine. Womans Wear Daily is a trade newspaper for the fashion industry. It's been around for more than 90 years and services designers, retailers and editors in fashion! Amanda looooved the photo shoot, she said the clothes are really awesome! The feature will be in the August 8th issue!

The New York Times feature has been postponed to next Sunday, August 4th! So don't pick up your copy this weekend looking for Amanda!

Another change of plans, Amanda was leaving to continue the radio promo tour when she received a phone call from her manager saying to get on a completely different plane! A fashion magazine, Womans Wear Daily (WWD), saw Amanda and immediately wanted her for a 4-page feature! So she got on a different plane, and headed in for a frantic one day photo shoot and interview for the magazine which should be out next week! We don't know much about WWD, other than it's a new fashion magazine, and I'm not even sure if it is available nationwide.

Also, a promo single, which are the CD's released to radio stations, seems to have been swiped by a sneaky DJ who put it up on Ebay. CTIB will not be commercially released so these few radio promo CD's are what you want to get your hands on! The auction is already up to $38.00 for a single which is amazing! This just shows how much support Amanda has, this thing is about to blow up!

That's it for now guys, please sign the guestbook and let me know what you're thinking, this site is about fan feedback! check back soon and be sure to keep PRAYING!

Source: Vteens.org

07.12.02
Amanda Latona: New Face On Vteens.org (July 2002)
By: Melissa

Our story begins in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the year is 1990. A nervous 11 year old waits patiently for her turn to audition for "The Mickey Mouse Club." As she waits, a petite 9 year old named Christina Aguilera performs Mariah Carey's hit "Vision Of Love," blowing away the competition, and ultimately landing the coveted spot on the popular kids TV show. Show off.

Not to be discouraged, our confident and self assured heroine kept singing, knowing that a career in music would eventually find her. Four short years later, our heroine and her family decided to pick up their Pittsburgh roots, and set their sights for the land where boy bands and belly baring divas grow. That's right folks; they had their sights set on Orlando, Florida.

Who is the fearless hero of our story? It's none other than J Records' own Amanda Latona, poised and ready to kick ass and keep it real.

Continuing our story in sunny Orlando, Amanda and her brother soon began to frequent the local theme parks, particularly Universal Studios, where they would often sit in the audience and watch the Beetlejuice show. This is where Amanda met her first friend, Joey Fatone, hometown boy later turned Nsync stud.

"My brother and I were hanging out in the audience of the Beetlejuice show, and Joey introduced himself. He was my first Orlando friend," recalls Amanda. "We got to talking for the longest time! He told me that I should go to a school where I could learn dancing and singing, and I ended up in the same group as Joey and Chris (of Nsync). "

Well, how about that. Disney was right; it's a small world after all.

Soon after Amanda began attending her new school, she decided to audition for the role of Pocahontas at Disney World. Pale faced and dressed as Disney's Native American Princess, Amanda reveals why the role wasn't exactly best suited for her.

"I remember my mom helping me to get the costume just right, and heading to Disney World, and seeing this long line of girls who looked exactly the part. I remember looking at myself, then looking back at them and thinking to myself 'Amanda, what the hell are you doing?!' I looked NOTHING like Pocahontas, "Amanda exclaims with a laugh, " I was pale as a ghost, and it was probably the most embarrassing moment EVER."

Despite Amanda's embarrassing moment and audition as an albino Pocahontas, she landed the job, and soon began work as the main female Disney characters.

"Working at Disney was too much fun! You dress up as all these fun characters like Belle and The Little Mermaid, and in the meantime you get free park passes. You can't beat that," says Amanda in reference to her stint at Disney World.

Cut to a few years later, and Amanda had just become member to a girl group called "Innosense, " formed and funded by the very mogul who sends chills up boy band spines everywhere, Lou Pearlman. A then 18-year-old Amanda had seemingly arrived. But alas, our heroine wasn't happy. Curses.

"Innosense was my first real professional gig. In the beginning I honestly thought to myself, 'This is it Amanda, you've made it,' but it just got to a point where I wasn't happy," she explains. "It wasn't just one particular thing…it was well, everything. It was the direction the company took us, the way the group itself was going. "

After much consideration, Amanda decided to leave the group, taking her powerful and growing legion of loyal fans with her, realizing that if the group became huge, it was something she'd have to live with for the rest of her life.

But for the record, has anyone outside of Orlando ever heard of Innosense? I particularly didn't think so.

After Innosense, Amanda decided to take a sabbatical from the music scene, opting to try her hand in acting. Not finding it to satisfy her natural love for entertainment, Amanda decided to dive head on into her music career, but on one condition--- that she do it all on her own. Amanda Latona, independent woman, extraordinaire.

"When I decided to pursue music full on, my boyfriend at the time, AJ Mclean, kept saying 'Amanda, let me help you get a deal,' " says Amanda. "I never wanted to use AJ or his connections. I never wanted to be the BSB girlfriend who got everything thrown to her because of who she was with."

Continuing, Amanda says seriously, " When I do something, I always have to have self worth in what I do. I wanted to get the record deal myself. That way I knew people wanted me for me, not because of a favor someone owed AJ. "

You go, girl.

Following a two year relationship together, Amanda and AJ parted ways, and literally two weeks after the break up, Amanda's career changed for the better.

Through a writer/producer friend that had a production deal with DreamWorks, Amanda was slated to be signed to the label. He then introduced Amanda to her current manager Larry Mazer, which led to her eventual home on the J Records roster.

"After I made a demo, we sent it to James Deiner at J Records, and he called us up everyday for 3 weeks screaming, "WE NEED HER!," exclaims Amanda with a laugh. "The signing of my record deal went by so fast. I literally flew up to New York on a Monday, met with James on a Tuesday, sang live, met with the publicist and all that good stuff, went home on a Wednesday, and literally, as SOON I got home, I got a phone call. It was my manager, and he said they wanted to audition me on Thursday! I think I screamed my head off! I met with Clive Davis and sang to him on Friday, and I was signed in ten minutes. Is it supposed to be that fast?" Amanda laughs, "I'm still not sure if it's supposed to go like that."

Amanda's luck and hard work had paid off, and judging by Amanda's tracks that Vteens.org has heard, she has a unique pop/rock blend that will undoubtedly have America saying, "Britney who?"

Amanda gives the inside scoop on her upcoming debut release.

"Can I just say that I love my album?! It's got great songs, and this whole female empowerment theme to it," gushes Amanda. " It has such a live band sound with drums and guitar. My favorite song I've cut right now is "Can't Take It Back." It's just cool 'cause it's a really rockin' song. It's the first song I learned on guitar, and I'm just proud of myself for learning an instrument I never thought I would play. In all honesty, right now I just feel like the most blessed girl ever."

In short, our heroine seems to have reached her goal through hard work and dedication. It looks like our heroine truly is living happily ever after.

Amanda Latona's first single, "Can't Take It Back", is scheduled to hit radio airwaves on Monday, July 22, 2002! Be sure to check with your local radio station to make sure they add Amanda to their playlist.

To hear the song in compressed .wav format, click HERE

Amanda recently did the album photo shoot in New York and it went awesome! she had several outfit changes, the photographers were really really good, and the shoot lasted from 9 in the morning until 9 at night and they got tons of great shots. she's trying to pick out her favorites and choose the pictures she wants for the single cover, the album cover, the back of the album, and the inside booklet shots. first she has to pick the single cover and she was wondering what you guys thought would look nice so i told her i'd stick up a poll and let her know.

While in New York she did another photo shoot with the New York Times, who is putting together a huuuge article on Amanda. There will be a 5-6 page feature documentary style on Amanda in the NY Times around the time of her album release! They've been following her around during recording and doing all kinds of other things.

Also, more great news! Amanda has signed on to do a 5-Saturday YM Mall Tour. She will be performing 3 songs and doing a meet and greet with fans during a runway show. Below are the dates for these 5 shows:

Saturday July 27, 12:00pm
McAllen, TX- La Plaza Mall (No performance, just Meet 'N Greet)

Saturday Aug 3, 12:00pm
Tacoma, WA - Tacoma Mall

Saturday Aug 10, 12:00pm
Sterling Heights, MI - Lakeside Mall

Saturday Aug 24, 12:00pm
Schaumburg, IL - Woodfield Mall

Saturday Aug 31, 12:00pm
Roseville MN - Rosedale Center

More Than That held a contest for the one person who can make a faux album cover for Amanda's album. The winner won a 15 minute phone call from Amanda. Check the More Than That site for details on that phone call.

In the article, she lists 10 things you can find in her suitcase as she travels promoting her budding career on J Records.

Pick it up at your local magazine stand today!!

Once you join, please send an email to JTeamsAndrea@aol.com letting her know that I requested your subscription.

If you have any friends that are Amanda supporters, please ask them to join the Official J Records Amanda Latona Street Team (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AmandaLatonaTeam/), email JTeamsAndrea@aol.com and put my email address in the subject line, fanofamandal@yahoo.com.

Thanks and keep the Amanda Latona pride and support alive!!

Amanda Latona's New Album Still In Limbo
Posted on Wednesday, May 08 @ 04:51:26 EDT

According to a recent feature in CosmoGirl magazine, Amanda Latona was supposed to see her already delayed debut single 'Do You Still' hit the radio in April, in preparation for her debut self titled album. Still no sign of the single from the ex-girlfriend of Backstreet Boys star AJ McLean. Speaking of, she did leave a somewhat stalker-ish looking letter (buy hey, she does admit "Dude, I'm crazy!") to fans on her official website saying of her single life: "I am single... no boyfriend! You'll be able to relate [to her new album] if you're single too! Or have been hurt by a guy, or lied to by a guy."

Producer Richard Marx, engineer Doc Wiley, mixer David Cole, and guitarist Tim Mitchell may have just opened the gates to the future of audio collaboration.

The quartet was one of the very first to test and use DigiStudio, Digidesign's online Pro Tools collaboration tool offering the ability to collaborate together on the same Pro Tools session to any registered user, anywhere in the world with an Internet connection.

The collaborative working environment of DigiStudio allows remote users to post dynamic updates to a master online session on a secure DigiStudio server, which in turn gets copied to each user's local drive. Users can exchange audio and video files as well as playlists, control settings, automation, plug-in info and more.

Marx, Wiley and Cole recently tested DigiStudio's capabilities on a new recording by singer Amanda Latona for Clive Davis' J-Records label. Marx was in Chicago, Wiley was in Miami, and Cole was in his home studio in Southern California. Cole and Wiley were already connected to DigiStudio and used the DigiStudio chat window plus speakerphone to communicate. At the last minute, Marx was unable to be on speakerphone, so he communicated via cell phone.

Without You Even Being There
The idea of collaborating via DigiStudio surfaced while working on the mix for Latona's song "Without You." Cole suggested to Marx that they add a nylon guitar part for various parts of the song.

"I mentioned to him that we were beta testing this DigiStudio thing, and we could give this a real-world test," Cole says. "So he said 'Yeah, sure. Go for it.' And I called my friend, guitarist Tim Mitchell, who lives in Miami and records and tours with Shakira, Gloria Estefan and Bob Seger."

Of course, Wiley's DigiNote Studios is also in Miami. Through the guidance of Marx on cell phone, Mitchell recorded some nylon guitar ideas on a recordable walkman, just to cement the idea. After listening to and analyzing the ideas, it was time to head for the studio and lay down some takes.

"Tim and I both listened to those ideas in the booth and came back here and worked on Richard's ideas as David was listening in and getting the preview files," Wiley says. "Using DigiStudio, he sent me a simple stereo mix of the entire session. It was decent enough for a headphone mix and it was tempo-mapped already."

With the tempo-mapped session, Wiley was able to track Mitchell's performance in perfect time and then send the stereo file back to Cole in a compressed "preview" format for approval.

"We were actually sharing the same session file, with all of our markers and tempo information," Cole says. "And when we recorded guitar we were able to do multiple passes on multiple playlists and that information came across with the audio files, so that I didn't have to copy and paste or try and import a file into my existing session. It just kind of showed up, which was totally cool."

"David received the previews and started to chop them up as he got them," Wiley adds. "When we were finished with the session, we did some intros, some other ideas. First we did the ideas Richard wanted, then we just added extra stuff on the outros. By the time we were finished with the session, David had already chopped up what versions he wanted. By the time he got the sources, he didn't have anything else to do other than mix the tracks. It worked out to be really cool."

Cole explains the process further: "When they had something they liked, Doc would post it to me in preview mode and a few minutes later I'd have those couple of bars of guitar showing up on my end in a form that was easy enough to listen to and judge. We did a number of alternate takes on alternate playlists and that showed up as well. When Tim was done and we had all the parts we needed, I was able to make a comp of the preview tracks using the alternate playlists to get the performance that I liked. Doc then uploaded the final resolution files to me. When they showed up, they followed the comp that I had already mapped out, so that was cool that it all translated."

Comping from Playlists
Playlists -- a feature of Pro Tools that allows the same track to house different takes for comping together a final result from those takes -- played a big part in the effort. In addition to simple WAV and AIFF files, DigiStudio also translates complete Pro Tools session files, including alternate playlists.

"I'm a big fan of playlists," Wiley says. "So he would get the playlists of the different takes and comp from the playlists that I sent him. We were both really intrigued to see how that would work over the Net, and it worked fine. So he pulled up the playlists and shuttled among the three previewed tracks that we sent and started making a comp out of it."

Once the comp was compiled, the final 24-bit performance was sent to Cole to mix into the session. He says working on the session over DPN was not necessarily a time-saver in terms of getting the final performance they needed, but the time saved in logistics more than made up for it.

"In comparing this type of session to something I'd do locally, this type of overdub would take an hour to do in the studio. This took about an hour and a half in terms of reviewing parts back and forth and making sure we had what we needed before the player took off," Cole says. "So it wasn't really a time saver in that sense, but it ultimately saved time in terms of putting someone on a plane, flying them out and recording them. We were able to do this long distance which was pretty cool. My studio's in my home so I didn't even need to get dressed to do it. It just came beaming into the studio, and when it was done, I finished my mix."

Cole and Wiley are both excited about the potential DigiStudio offers. "To me, it's ultimately the way we all want to work," Wiley says. "You can access resources, personnel, or other studios that may be more powerful or specialized in a particular area. Instead of having to send someone on a plane, I think ultimately we all want to stay where we want to stay geographically, and still get work done. No longer is it out of control to say, 'Well, I'd really like to have a real Cuban percussionist on this track.'"

For Cole, the big draw of DigiStudio is in long-distance collaboration. "I think the strong thing is going to be in collaborating long distance," he says. "I could see where if I needed a solo on something, a background vocal, or if someone needed to send me a new vocal comp -- those are the ways I can see it being useful."

Wiley concludes: "Overall I think it's an amazing prospect, and hopefully more and more of us will adopt it."

Amanda is in the May issue Cosmo Girl. Go buy your copy today!

She's also got the last 5 songs for her album, all she has to do is record them. Also, Diane Warren will be writing some songs for Amanda's Album! Today she has a photo shoot, she said it will be taken at a club in New York City.

Back To Amanda