Former London Rose Amy Gillen has just released her new single, We Can Do Anything with a new sound taking inspiration from artists such as Dua Lipa, Lady Gaga and Annie Lennox under her new artist name AYM-ZEE.
The song is described as a confident, feel-good summer anthem about honesty, chemistry, and knowing your worth.
Amy Gillen represented London in Tralee in 2023 and is an award-winning Irish flutist, multi-instrumentalist and teacher.
A graduate of the Royal Irish Academy of Music/Trinity College Dublin (First Class Honours) and the Royal College of Music London (Distinction), she was named the Irish Freemason’s Young Musician of the Year in 2018 and was awarded the prestigious Tagore Gold Medal by the then Prince Charles.
Amy has performed at renowned venues including Wigmore Hall, the V&A Museum, the National Concert Hall in Dublin, and for HRH King Charles at Windsor Castle.
She has also played with top orchestras such as the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra and the Ulster Orchestra.
Her debut album, Flute Chapters, was released in 2023.
Amy played the Royal Albert Hall earlier this year accompanied by Frasier Hickland.
The new single may represent something of a departure from her classical inclinations but pop has always inspired Amy.
Amy Gillen told The Irish World: “I am so excited to have the single out because it’s been a lot of months of hard work.
“I wrote the song myself and produced it alongside engineer Kevin O’Reilly so it’s been a lot of hard work and just really wanting to get it as perfect as can be.
“I’m just so excited for it to be out and I’ve already had some really great feedback.
“I think people are really liking it because it’s so unexpected as well.
“I’ve had a few messages from people saying they love it and it’s really nice to hear that as well and to hear that it’s going down well.
“I just want it to be a good, feel good summer anthem that people can just dance along with as well.
“Just excited to see where it can go from now.”
What inspired the track?
“It was probably coming from my own experience and knowing you’re always looking for that person where your morals and chemistry align and then together, you can do anything together.
“I wanted it to be a song about honesty and you’re telling the person what you want and you’re asking them to kind of match your same values, your same chemistry and then when you have a team that can unite, then you can do anything together.
“That’s the message I wanted to put out with that song, just to know your self worth, be honest and everything else will come from that then.
“I kind of wanted to write a song that was a feel good dance pop summer anthem that kind of encompassed all of that together and getting it into one song.”
Some might consider it a big change but I get the feeling you don’t, you’ve always had this other side of you..
“Yeah, absolutely.
“I think it would be very unexpected for a lot of people but I’ve always had this passion for pop music.
“I used to play several different genres of music growing up.
“It was mainly when I went to Abu Dhabi.
“During the pandemic I worked over there as a music teacher and I was invited to work with the UAE’s First Emirati rock band Ashen Runway.
“They wanted me to compose and co-write features for two songs.
“That kind of piqued my interest even more because I loved being in the studio, I loved writing music, I loved just exploring and improvising.
“I think it’s just continued since then really.
“I realised just how creative you can be songwriting, writing music, and I’ve kept it going since.
“I’ve always been songwriting, always been dabbling.
“I did a music production course at ICMP in London so I could learn how to produce music myself too.
“I thought, ‘Okay, 2025 I’m just going to finish a song and just get it out’, because there’s so many I have in my drafts that I’ve never finished yet or are nearly finished and I was just like, ‘This is the time, I’m just gonna do it’.”
Is there flute, your signature instrument, in We Can Do Anything?
“Yeah in the instrumental bridge section, there is flute but I wanted the flute to sound a little bit more modern so I used production techniques to alter the sound a little bit but you can still tell it’s a flute, I think.”
Did you feel that was necessary with the new sound to have a new moniker?
“I did.
“Yes, I thought that it would be a good idea to have the two kind of different genres separate in a way.
“The name came from a little pet name that my mum calls me.”
You’ve described your new sound as Dua Lipa meets Lady Gaga with a twist of Annie Lennox. They’re the touchstones that have inspired you, isn’t that right?
“Absolutely, I’ve grown up listening to those artists as well as many others and it’s definitely their kind of genres and their vibes that I’m interested in.
“They’re strong, powerful independent female artists that are paving the way in the music industry.
“I think it’s so inspirational and so impressive what they do so I like to encompass that when I write.”
Amy is now based at home in Donegal but has just returned from a major tour with Croatian crossover artist, Maksim.
“I was away on the European tour with Maksim (Mrvica)’s band.
“We were in Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary and then prior to that, I was in China with the same band.
“We were touring all around China with the band and it was an absolutely incredible experience.
“China is amazing. Amazing.
“It was a wonderful experience.”
It must be good to work with Maksim because blending genres is very much your ethos as well, isn’t it?
“Absolutely, it came at a perfect time really in advance of releasing the song too and seeing how a big show like that was put together.
“It makes classical music more accessible as a genre of music to the wider public.
“That’s what I love to do really with playing the different genres of music and making it accessible for everyone.
“I love classical music but I also love pop and funk and disco and jazz and rock.
“I like to take elements of the different genres and see what can come of it in a song then.”
The last time we spoke to you you were playing the Royal Albert Hall, was that a lovely full circle moment?
“It really was.
“We couldn’t believe it.
“Getting to play there was a full circle, as you say, and having years of looking out over the Albert Hall from the Royal College of Music and thinking, ‘One day I hope I’ll play there’.
“And it came true.
“It was amazing.
“It was sold out.
“And even the week after it, a month after you’re kind of like, ‘Did that happen?’
“It’s still a pinch me moment that I’m so grateful I got to experience.”
You have played Electric Picnic as well, isn’t that right?
“Yeah, I played there before with the RTE Concert Orchestra.
“It was amazing.
“It was so cool to feel the electricity coming from the audience and everybody’s just there just to have a good time and to enjoy.
“It’s always a moment that sticks out in my mind getting the opportunity to play at such an iconic festival so that will hopefully happen at some other stage very soon.”
Amy is back in Donegal now having moved back from London but will be relocating again soon.
“I’m going to move to Belfast in September because I’m actually doing a master’s in Media and Broadcast production.
“I used to work at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital radio in London and I really want to get into more radio and production.
“I’m going to do a Masters at Queen’s University and I’m really looking forward to learning everything that I could possibly learn about all of that.”
What’s next?
“There’s definitely going to be more singles coming.
“I’m hoping to get one out soon ideally before the end of the year.
“And then we will see then the plans for 2026 so maybe more singles, an EP, who knows?
“I’m just going to continue songwriting and just get as much of the music out into the world as I possibly can.”
We Can Do Anything is out now.
For more information, click here.
