When Amber Swenor was ten, she found two cassette tapes at a local park in her small Wisconsin hometown. One was Metallica. The other was Ini Kamoze’s Hotstepper. “It was that two eclectic-like mix,” she laughs. “Hip-hop and metal. I didn’t know what to think at first, but I’ve always identified with rock and roll. I loved Pat Benatar and Joan Jett. It was about the feeling and expression.”
That intensity has followed her ever since. Now, decades later, she channels that same energy into Morningstar, the Madison-based hard rock band she fronts with her lifelong partner and guitarist, Brandon. Their latest single, Free, isn’t just another anthem, it’s a declaration of self-liberation.
Early Sparks and Finding Her Voice
Swenor’s earliest memories were musical. “There’s videotapes of me making up songs at four years old,” she says. “Even back then I’d experiment with dark leather and then white angelic (outfits). It’s wild. Who we are as kids; we’re still that as adults.”
Like many musicians, her first connection to music was more emotional than technical. “I was a really sensitive kid,” she recalls. “I was processing a lot of things, being very empathic and being surrounded in some sense by a level of turmoil in my life. I felt the expression of intensity that metal and rock brings. It was an outlet.”
But music didn’t become her path right away. Life took her through college, career, and entrepreneurship. In her professional life, she built a name as a leadership coach and author. Yet, she admits, “My earliest memories were that I was meant to be a music creator.”
A Classified Ad and the Birth of Morningstar
Every great origin story has a twist of fate. For Swenor, it came in the form of a small-town newspaper ad: Wanted: Singer for a Band. Must be 18–24. She was almost 24. “I thought, who are these little high school boys trying to start a teen band?” she laughs. But curiosity won.
She called. Brandon answered the phone, shouting over a bunch of noisy kids. “I thought, wow, he’s young to have all those kids,” she says. “Turned out they were his siblings.”
When she met him, it was April in Wisconsin, snow still on the ground. “We rehearsed in a freezing garage surrounded by farm cats. But that was how it started.”
That unlikely rehearsal turned into a band, then a partnership, and eventually, a shared life. Her younger brother later joined as drummer, and for years the trio anchored Morningstar’s sound, blending metal power with melodic introspection.
“We were told we were too heavy for rock, too light for metal,” she says. “We just had to keep going and exploring.”
Evolving the Sound: Light and Darkness
Morningstar’s music sits in that emotional space between power and vulnerability. Swenor calls it “radical authenticity.” “For years I struggled with how to be myself as an artist,” she says. “There was always this dichotomy. I was drawn to rock and metal, but not the lifestyle that sometimes comes with it. I wanted meaning and depth behind what we sing.”
That sense of self didn’t come easy. “I doubted myself for years,” she admits. “But my partner and I were always on the same page…to keep evolving, to write something real. Not to preach, but to express something meaningful.”
Now, the band’s lineup, rounded out by drummer Zach and bassist Ricky has solidified around that mission. “It’s been awesome,” she says. “We finally know who Morningstar is.”
The Message Behind “Free”
Free, the new single, grew out of Swenor’s book Unleashed. “I knew while I was writing it that it would be cool to have an anthem to go with it,” she says. “It’s about removing your masks to be your true self. The more authentic we become, the freer we feel.”
The song marks a milestone in Morningstar’s evolution. It’s a distillation of everything Swenor has learned from her years in business, coaching, and personal growth. “My whole journey of becoming a business owner and doing the deep work, it all walked step and step with my journey as a musician,” she says. “Now I just fully embody it. I focus on connection with the audience. I don’t care anymore if my lipstick smudges or if my shirt falls weird. That’s freedom.”
A Healthier Kind of Rock
Gone are the nights of post-show chaos. Swenor and the band plan their festival appearances around sleep, hydration, and green juice. “We laugh about it,” she says. “It used to be all Red Bull and late nights. Now it’s, ‘What time are we going to bed, so we’re rested?’”
Morningstar’s rehearsals are just as mindful. “We call it our weekly therapy,” she says. “If someone’s having a mental health struggle, we ask, ‘Is it supportive if we rehearse, or is it better for you to be with family tonight?’ Family always comes first.”
That level of care extends to how she views women in rock. “I’ve lived that change,” she says. “Years ago, people would talk to me differently because I was a female front singer. They’d tell me how I was supposed to be. It’s wild. But it’s changing.”
What’s Next
Morningstar recently completed the Midwest’s Rockfest and are now laying the groundwork for a new album and tour. The band is chasing its next big goal: the charts. “Not like Billboard yet,” she says, laughing. “But one step at a time. As many listens and shares as we can get.”
And if you ask what Morningstar stands for, she doesn’t hesitate. “You are accepted and awesome as you are,” she says. “That’s what our music is about; radical authenticity, honesty, and connection.”
Listen to Morningstar’s “Free” on all major platforms and follow their journey at morningstarmusic.com
Writer: Randal Wark is a Professional Speaker and MasterMind Facilitator with a passion for live music. You can follow him on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. His Podcast RockStar Today helps musicians quit their day jobs with out-of-the-box advice from Ted Talk Speakers, Best Selling Authors and other interesting Entrepreneurs and Creatives. He created the Rock Star Today Music Business Jam Session for musicians. Randal is a collector of signed vinyl, cassettes and CDs.
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