An Interview with ASHE

 Written for Unclear Magazine, August 2022

Ashe was the talk of everyone at Mo Pop Music Festival in Detroit, Michigan, this July. Commenting on everything from her incredible stage presence, her contagious confidence, and most notably the fact that she performs barefoot, people were waiting hours before her set to get a good view of this Californian singer/songwriter. She has been rising through the ranks ever since her 2019 single, “Moral of the Story”, blew up a year after its release. Since then she’s been credited in songs alongside One Direction’s Niall Horan, Finneas, Quinn XCII, just to name a few, and shows no signs of slowing down.

This October, Ashe will be releasing her sophomore album, Rae, which portrays her in a different light, than its predecessor, Ashlyn. Ashe is gearing up to leave all of her emotions behind and adopt the true version of herself. One that is assertive, sexy, and ready for anything.

How did you first get into music?

ASHE: Well, it's the only thing I'm good at, but I'm pretty good at it. It also was just the only thing that ever made sense. I took piano lessons when I was really little. It was always this reprieve for me. I was a competitive gymnast for a long time and I wanted to go to the Olympics. It was  just like all or nothing, whatever I do is pretty all or nothing. Then, I broke my arm and I learned that I was not invincible. After that, I made a pretty quick shift from gymnastics to music and it just became my world. I went to Berklee College of Music. I didn't know, I didn't think I was good enough to be an artist. 

What did you think your career path would have been? 

ASHE: Purely songwriting. I moved to Nashville right out of college, and thought, ‘Hey, I'll be Carole King without doing the artist's plan’. Then, about halfway through Nashville, maybe six months into living there, I was like, I want to sing songs. I don't want other people to sing my stories. I want to sing them.

Did you when you made that transition from gymnastics into music, did you already have any musical influence?

ASHE: I'm so the odd duck in my family. It's funny, too, because if you talk to my mother on the phone, we have the same speaking voice. She's me, but taller and wiser and prettier. She's the same human and our voices are exactly the same but she can't hold a tune to save her life, it makes no sense. I know that my great grandma was an amazing pianist. I just kind of somehow snuck up on me.

One of your biggest songs, and probably the one people know you the most for, is “Moral of the Story”. How do you feel like you've grown since the release of that song?

ASHE: Wow, I've grown so much. I mean, I definitely am not the same human. I'm a similar writer, I would say, but I've become a lot more confident. I think the success that came along with “Moral of the Story'' probably influenced that confidence. You know, it was very validating, especially a song that like no one thought would do anything and like people thought it was good, but we're like, eh… It was out for a year. here, and it didn't do anything really. Then it was in this, and that movie was like this catalyst to it really catapulting.

I'm sure it was kind of like an ‘I told you so’ moment for you without pushing anyone's buttons.

ASHE: Yeah, I think people just didn't know what kind of box to put me in. I mean, it's just a specific kind of record and song. I remember feeling like that's the best song I've ever written at the time and it was doing nothing. It was really de-validating, is that a word? De-validating? If it's not, I coin it!

You have your debut album Ashlyn, your next album is Rae, and your name is obviously Ashlyn Rae, so do you feel like these two albums portray two different parts of you or do they help to tell one, overall story?

ASHE: Oh, good question. I think that they're both objectively me. Rae is a very different hat that I put on. I think I was a bit more like conservative in my writing, and not politically, but just in my vibe, and like what I was saying, whereas Rae is much more liberated, I would say. This is probably like, the most confident I've ever felt, the most confident I've ever felt in my writing, and in who I am as a person, so I think that's kind of like the persona of the album. They're both me. They're just different shades of me.

Just looking at the album covers alone they tell two completely different stories. 

ASHE: Yes, one's buttoned all the way and the other has this huge red backdrop. I'm just like, it's time to like, feel so good in my skin. I don't think I did. I never felt any body negativity, specifically. I think I just, I never felt like the sexy girl or the like, pretty girl. I always felt like I was supposed to be the buttoned-up, cool girl with the big jackets. Yeah, I don't know and I never felt like the sexy girl. I remember dating this guy that was like, you should try wearing a skirt or you should try blah, blah, blah. At the time, I was definitely not ready. It was not where I was at. I just remember it feeling so wrong or dishonest to where I was at at the time. To be fair, I have not worn a skirt yet. I’m going to tap into that, maybe for the third album.

You're coming off of a UK and European tour, in the middle of a U.S. tour, and going to Australia and New Zealand towards the end of the year. How are you feeling about everything? I mean, that's a lot all in one year! It’s impressive.

ASHE: Thanks! I feel really good, very exhilarated by it. I feel lucky that people care enough to want to show up. The fact that we put tickets on sale and people buy them at all still amazes me. Not in a negative way, I just let myself be surprised. I never am like, I expect this to blow out or anything like that. I feel a little bit tired, but I also wouldn't really want it any other way. I find ways of decompressing and sitting alone in my car with no music on and just letting yourself be alone. I also really like myself, so I don't mind being. I think that's like, my best way to recover is like, you know … I just started dating this guy and I'm like, ‘You know what, I want to hang out, but also, I need a full last day alone’. It's good to like, just kind of be by yourself. I like her, I'm good company!

You do a lot of your shows barefoot, people really seem to love that.

ASHE: Yeah, you know, it's honestly just one of those things that I'm less likely to eat shit on stage. On stage I just find that [shoes] slip. The day some person tries to make me wear shoes on stage is when I will slip and fall. I think the only time I ever did is when I sang “Till Forever Falls Apart” with Finnease on American Idol. They didn't even tell me that I had to wear shoes, I just felt this weird feeling that I'm gonna get chastised if I go on TV on American Idol barefoot. I should have just stuck to my guns but I did it. It felt fine, they were pretty grippy shoes. When I got off, I was like, never again. I am a barefoot gal. It's not even a statement. I just really feel better. 

Did you ever expect that that would be your thing? Or know that people recognize that as being different or cool and unique about you?

ASHE: I mean, that's nice. It's an easy thing. Yeah, that's a low lift for me, literally just don't put shoes on. I didn't know that. I do get asked the question once in a while, but it's really not that deep. I just enjoy it. I'm just gonna  know I’ll do better. I dance a lot and run around a lot. In fact, this bandana is probably going to come off by song two. I don't know how long it's gonna last. I found these photos of Faith Hill from the 90s and she's wearing this white tank top, red pants, this bandana and some sunglasses. She was at an outdoor festival type thing and I was like, that's the inspiration for today. Literally, my photographer went out this morning, found this bandana, and I was like, we gotta get the photo!

I just have to say, I love your photographer, Muriel!

ASHE: Yeah, you know what's funny is when I first started working with her, I had no idea how “photographer famous” she was. Yeah, I mean, I knew she was great. Obviously, I stole her from my friend Adam Melchor. I knew she was taking photos of him and I was like, nope, she's mine now, but I had no clue, then I started hearing all these stories, and I was like, are you lowkey at a big fucking deal? She just really nails it.

What is one song by another artist that you wish you could have written?

ASHE: Oh, shoot. I mean, there's a lot. There's so many. Either Carole King’s “So Far Away”, or literally, I was just listening to it, “This Kiss’ by Faith Hill. It's just so fun. Also, I feel like all of Harry's new album.

Ashe

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Listen to Ashe here.