Interviews
Ashlee Keating – Saucy
By: Alejandra Gil M.
Q) How would you describe your sound?
A) I like to call it Pop with a mixture of a lil salt and pepper. [laughs] I mean a little bit of this and that which contain all personalities of me. It has a lot of soulfulness and R&B as well as some hip hop aspects too.
Q) Who are some of your musical influences?
A) Man…I have so many!! I listen to a lot of genres of music, so I take influence from all of them. I love Madonna, Mary J. Blige, Aretha Franklin, Destiny’s Child, Rihanna, Fergie, Nicki Minaj, Beyonce, Gwen Stefani, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Jessie J…The list goes on and on. I take from so many different influences and make it my own.
Q) Your hit pop single “Saucy” is out now. Talk about the story behind it.
A) I came up with the concept behind it centering around my birthday party. It had been during the pandemic and as you know we were all cooped up inside a lot. It was during the time we could start going out to dinner and I decided to have a birthday dinner with my girls. Everyone started to arrive and was dressed to the nines, super gorgeous, and we all started complimenting one another telling each other how “saucy” we looked! It was such a positive, feel-good celebration. I was inspired to write “Saucy” to give a piece of that moment to my fans!
Q) “Saucy” was also released with an Official Music Video created by a top-tier team of (Producers) Tommy Brown, YNG Josh and Tommy Parker, (Director) Combina Key and (Choreographer) Shirlene Quigley. How involved were you in developing the concept art for it?
A) I was very heavily involved like I always like to be in everything I do. I love the creative process. I had some zoom meetings with director Combina Key. We bounced basic ideas around until we felt something was cool, then we maximized on those ideas. It really came to life when I was in creative meetings with the VFX team and director.
Q) The track was produced by Tommy Brown (who works closely with Ariana Grande), YNG Josh and Tommy Parker. What attracted you to work with them?
A) I always loved their work. I also think energy is super important while creating your music and to have people that understand exactly what sound/style you’re going for. I really felt Tommy Brown and the Champagne Therapy team would kill it in the direction I wanted to go and be a great gateway into beginning to show that side of myself.
Q) How much of a hand do you tend to have in the production side of your music?
A) As I said before, I always love to be a part of the creative process. I don’t just like songwriting, I love picking my tracks that fit the vibe of what I’m going for as well as creating from scratch in the studio. I’m super hands on when it comes to production as well.
Q) What was your song writing process like? Do you need music before you can create lyrics?
A) It’s funny because we were still heavily in the pandemic at the time of starting my writing sessions. We did our writing session via zoom. I find it so cool because I can literally be working with anyone around the world and create music! I always love writing to tracks. It depends because I wrote my single “Hurt Me So Good” that charted on my couch alone with no track and knew exactly how I wanted the music to play out. My favorite way is to write to a track which is how we created “Saucy.”
Q) “Saucy” has become an anthem for both female empowerment and PRIDE Month. What do you hope people take away from it?
A) Aw, thank you so much! That means a lot. I hope people can feel their most confident selves while listening. I want people to feel like they want to groove, feel good, dance and get ready to go out with this song. It’s truly a self-confidence anthem.
Q) You performed at the NYC Youth Pride Event Friday June 25th in Central Park. What did that experience mean to you?
A) It was AMAZING! It was such an honor to perform at PRIDE in NYC! It was my first festival performance and my debut performance of my new single “SAUCY.” It meant a lot to be on stage sharing the message of self-expression and love and see the audience dance and sing along to the lyrics of my songs on stage. It meant the world as I have family members in the LGBTQ+ community and I am huge activist.
Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?
A) I am obsessed with Saucy Santana at the moment. I mean, duh! His name is “SAUCY” (wink wink). [laughs] I think our vibes would be super dope, but I also love Lizzo, Bruno Mars, J Balvin and Cardi B. There are so many people I’d love to collab with.
Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them?
A) Breezy (Chris Brown) and the queen Beyonce! Honestly, both artists never miss with their albums. I love both of them so much. Iconic!
Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?
A) I love connecting with my fans so much. They’re my whole heart. They inspire me every day to keep going as much as I inspire them. I think social media is cool from the aspect of getting to see my life in real time. I post a lot on my IG stories and Twitter too and have been vlogging recently on my YouTube channel. I think with the vlogs that my fans can really get a piece of my life. I am a strong believer in not only allowing my fans to see the beautiful and most amazing days but also the raw and real moments because well…that’s life and we’re not all perfect.
Q) What would you like to say to fans and supporters
A) Keep streaming my new single “’SAUCY” out now on all streaming platforms and check out my music video too on my YouTube channel! Stay tuned for live performances and so much more!
Follow Ashlee Keating on Social Media:
www.tiktok.com/@ashleekeatingmusic
www.instagram.com/ashleekeating
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