Biography – Amanda J. Christos & The Sounds of Melodies
Born in Kensington London to a Barbadian dad and English mum, I grew up in Essex and Hackney with three older brothers who were all soldiers in the British Army. I had a great love of travelling and used to jet off to wonderful locations in Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, New York and Guyana, accompanied by all the essentials in life – guitar, notepad, dictaphone and Bible!
In Jamaica 1989 I wrote my first rootical reggae track – A Song of Freedom. 1994 saw my first record release as Amanda Judah (Eurete Christos) entitled: Love, produced by Reuben ‘Niney’ McCammon and Carlton ‘Bubblers’ Ogilvie. The first band I ever played rhythm guitar with was the 12 Tribes of Israel house band and in 1990 I formed my own reggae band – Ancestral Home – based at Triangle Music Workshop in Hackney.
Ancestral Home Triangle Music Workshop 1991
The next ten years were spent in a kind of twisted lockdown as my little girl battled, and overcame by the mercy of the Most High, a terminal illness. In 2004 The Gift of Life was released on the Revone label and I spent years dancing and singing with my four children in Emashi, a Hackney-based African dance group, performing numerous shows including tours in the Gambia and Barbados.
I had great times working with Mad Professor on some of his shows and tours where I would sing a few of my original tunes or skank on stage with my dance group, The Heartical Movers. I also spent a few years with a Bob Marley tribute band performing as an I-Three harmony singer. I continued to write, compose and release a number of tracks with various producers including Stevie P, Entebbe Sound System, Revone Music, Dezzi D (Vibes House Music) and recorded with Rootsamala in Spain. In 2013 I released my first album – Roots of Rectitude – produced by Alpheous Little and Kojak (Paul Emmanuel Joseph), followed by EP Food of Life in 2016 produced by Stevie P Music Productions.
In December 2019, my track Wild Word (Stevie P remix) reached number 1 in the Stevie J Stingdem Radio Chart Show. Then came the Pandemic!! Through deserted streets and quiet skies devoid of aeroplanes, like scenes from a dystopian sci-fi movie, I travelled up and down every day as a key worker, while the lyrics kept rolling and the tunes kept building.
In the hot summer of 2022, Mellow Mix Studios in Hackney put on a showcase – Gone But Not Forgotten – to remember artistes and musicians who had passed on and to raise money for a commemorative plaque in Mare Street. It was a massive honour and pleasure to meet The Blackstones, who were performing on that showcase along with myself and others, and thus began an fabulous musical collaboration between myself, The Blackstones, Iron Sound Records/Alien Dread, and RULA Productions (Ravers International), resulting in the release of a number of singles – Together We Are Beautiful (Sept 23) – Dancehall Fever (Oct 23) – and Come Together (Nov 23) – as tasters of the forthcoming new albums and EP’s.
With 2023 being a New Year, with plenty of new fresh tracks ready to unleash, it felt right to incorporate my Ethiopian Orthodox name Eurete Christos into Amanda Judah, thus becoming Amanda J. Christos & The Sounds of Melodies, the latter being my trio of harmony singers. Inspired by a love of righteousness and justice, I continue on my quest to sing songs of praise and freedom as a contribution towards world peace and harmony.