Ashley Turi
Ashley Turi is one of the most talented up and coming artists coming out of 2019. It's no surprise why Ashley is making a name for herself in the indie-folk music scene. Here at Hazy Days Music, we loved her first album "Split" and are stoked we had the chance to chat about her new album "Daydream" (which is being released today (09/09/20). Hazy Days Music would like to thank Ashley Turi for taking the time and having a chat.
Ashley Turi, you are one of my favourite up and coming artists, with amazing vocals and catchy songwriting, how did you get into writing music? You have an incredible singing style and vocal range (similar to Julia Stone). Your songs “Honeywine” and “Autumn” really show off the power of your voice. Is singing something you have had to work hard on over the years, or is this something that happens naturally? Currently, living in Sydney, was it a tough decision to move from California to Australia? How have you found the Australian music scene?
When I was 10 I started teaching myself how to play the guitar and shortly after that was when I started writing songs, I've kept every song I've ever written, I've got a binder that’s full of 100's of songs from over the years. For my writing process, I like to keep it simple and easy. Writing music is something that I like to work on all the time, I try not to spend more than an hour or so writing on each song, so when I'm feeling inspired, I’ll jot down some lyrics, or a melody and it tends to flow from there. If I get stuck on a song or it’s not really moving forward, I don’t push it, I’ll leave it where it is and move onto something else. I don’t like to work on songs for hours and hours if it's not going anywhere. I find this writing process is pretty similar to writing in a diary.
Thanks, I’m not too sure where my singing voice has come from, I’ve never taken a single singing lesson, it's just something that happens naturally. Even though I have been playing and writing music since I was 10, I have always been pretty shy about my singing voice. Last year I finally built up the courage to start sharing and posting my music, it feels great, the response has been amazing! And I love having it out there.
The idea to move to Australia happened pretty quickly, I decided over about 3 weeks to make the move. The main reason I moved to Sydney was to start studying a Veterinary/Science degree. I haven't regretted the decision at all, I have met a lot of interesting people and started building some great connections in the Australian music scene. I’m considering playing a couple of live shows here, which I never would’ve done if I was still in California.
You work with the artist “About Esme” (Nathan St John) on most of your music, sharing your first album “Split” and features on the new album “Daydream”. How did you two meet and start writing music together? "Greenhouse" is one of my favourite songs you wrote together, could you go through the writing and recording process for this song?
He’s a childhood friend, I met Nathan St John, in elementary school. Nathan is an amazing musician, he has always been playing in bands and doing great things in the music industry. The first time I showed Nathan some of my music was back in my undergraduate degree. I was in this band and we needed a hand with mixing and producing the songs. I immediately reached out to Nathan because I knew that he had a lot of experience and had done the mixing and producing for all his bands. From that experience, we realised that we worked really well together and it grew from there.
It’s great that moving to Australia hasn't affected how we work together. We are working remotely, but it’s so easy to communicate with each other by emails, zoom, or whatever. We’ve known each other for so long and are on the same page with how the music should sound and have similar ideas for what the songs might need. I still write all the music, I record the vocals and guitar and send it off to Nathan. Sometimes he will add electric guitars, drums, synth or what he thinks might be a good addition to the song, other times it might just be fixing the levels and mixing the track. We send the songs back and forth until we are both happy with where each song is at. Even when I was living in California, we never got together to work on our music or jam. We worked remotely, just like how we do now, I would send him drafts of the songs and get his help adding in more instruments or fixing the levels of the track. I think now, even though we are so far away from each other, we are even closer than when we have ever been.
For the song "Greenhouse" - The idea for this song started with the main guitar riff. I wrote that riff one day, saving it as a voice memo on my phone. I tend to name the riffs or song ideas a random word on my phone and not think much else of it. I do this with most song ideas I have, for this one, I named it "Greenhouse", I hadn’t thought of any lyrics yet, "Greenhouse" is something that just came to me. The next day, I had the riff playing on repeat and decided to start working on the lyrics. Straight away, they started forming around the idea of a "Greenhouse", and I just rolled with it. "Greenhouse" was one of the easiest songs that I have ever written, the whole song just flowed and was written within 30 minutes. I'm really proud of this song and think it's one of the best I've ever written. I love the metaphor of a greenhouse and feel like it carries through the song.
Your new album “Daydream” is out on the 9th of September, all the songs are incredible! This must be a really exciting time. I feel that “Daydream” is a step up from 2019’s album “Split”, exploring more in-depth, delicate, flowing sounds, with your powerful vocals beaming through. How was writing this album? Did you notice any difference between writing "Split" and "Daydream"? Which new songs are you looking forward to playing live the most?
For the album “Split” they are all songs that I had written over a couple of months, but there wasn't too much connecting the songs together or an overarching theme for the album. For my new album "Daydream" I felt like this album had a clear purpose straight away, again the songs are all from multiple months of writing, but I feel like all the songs are sequential, and for me, I think "Daydream" is like reading a chapter of my diary. The overarching theme of it is something I feel anyone can relate too, especially now with what is going on all over the world. It’s based around the idea of being stuck in one place but wishing you were somewhere else, which is the aspect of being in a daydream. I felt really good about writing this album, it was a very releasing process for me to go through, and a happy thing for me to do in such a weird time.
Two songs I am looking forward to playing live are "Greenhouse" and "Venom", the feedback I have received so far for these songs are incredible! These are some of the funnest songs for me to play and just create a really good vibe. "Seven of Hearts" would also be amazing to play live, but I would need to organise a full band, and playing that song acoustic wouldn't be the same or as special. If I get a full band together "Seven of Hearts" would be on the top of the list.
Over the last year, you have been featuring more and more on new music. Is being a feature artist something you have been focusing on doing more of? How have they been organised? How have you found this experience? Is it a good change up and an opportunity to experiment with your songwriting? Do they ever not work out?
I still feel like I'm pretty new to the music world, I’m in this stage where I'm eager to explore and try all types of music. I like connecting with as many artists as I can who share the same passion for music. Other than Nathan, growing up, I didn't have any other friends who shared this creative side of writing music, so it's great being able to chat and connect with all these different artists now.
I have loved collaborating, most of the time it happens through SoundCloud, artists will reach out to me and ask if I'd be keen to sing on their song or help write one. SoundCloud has been a really good platform for that, I've met artists from all over the world, and most of the time it's really easy to work and communicate with them. I've written for all sorts of music from EDM to reggae, and those genres are things I'd never write music for on my own, it's a cool way to push myself and test my songwriting capabilities. I have enjoyed writing something that isn't just for me or my idea, it's someone else's, and they had this idea and worked hard on getting this project off the ground. For the most part, I'm pretty responsive to collaborating with new artists, and if it doesn't work out, it’s because my uni work gets in the way.
Coming up - I have a gig on the 30th of September at The Vanguard, find the event details and tickets here.
New Music - I’m currently chatting with a local artist, it's still in the early stages, so I'm not too sure what it's going to turn into yet, but it's an exciting project. I’m always writing and working on new music, so it wouldn't be a surprise if I write and release a new single before the end of the year.
Stay up to date with Ashley Turi on Instagram.
Stream Daydream now on Spotify, SoundCloud & Apple Music.