Ashlynn Malia – navigating galaxies

By starrymag | July 28, 2023

By: Sammi Turano

 

 

Q) How would you describe your sound?

A) I would describe my sound as dark pop, but I tend to write similar music to what I’m listening to at the time, and it ranges from folk music to indie to pop/R&B. For that reason, this EP is very singer songwriter sounding because that’s what I was listening to when I wrote the songs.

 

Q) Who are some artists that inspire you?

A) Lorde is one of my all-time favorites. Her songs were some of the first to grab me by the heart – her lyrics especially. Listening to her work reminds me of what I’m trying to do with my own songs.

Frank Ocean, SZA, James Blake, Lucy Dacus, and Mitski to name a few others.

 

Q) What was the inspiration behind your EP navigating galaxies?

A) I’d say the inspiration behind navigating galaxies is my own writing process – all of my songs start out as a voice memo of me singing and playing a single instrument. I remember listening to these recordings last year and thinking about how badly I’d want to hear the bare bones, beginning stages of some of my favorite artists’ songs. I believe I’d feel closer to them, in some way. I wanted my listeners to feel closer to me in that way, and so I tried my best to open up and let them into this vulnerable process.

The writing itself was inspired by my past. I did a lot of reflecting, and honestly through writing these songs I think I gained a more mature perspective on a few different parts of my own life.

 

Q) Each performance is so powerful and moving. What kind of process went into making each recording?

A) We had some fun here, recording in different locations, such as my apartment or a recording studio or even a water tower! We played with placing the phone at different distances from me or the instruments to see how much variation was possible in a project recorded entirely through voice memos – that’s why in some songs the recordings feel intimate, and others feel a bit larger, roomier. A lot of the quality control came in during the editing process.

 

Q) “Comfortable” was the first recording to be released. Tell me the story behind it.

A) I wrote “Comfortable” while reflecting back on an experience I had in a past relationship of mine where it felt as though my feelings were met with indifference. You know that stage of a relationship where you feel yourself starting to lose the other person, and any attempt to fight to get that love back is brushed off? That’s where my lyrics came from.

 

Q) What has the fan reaction been to the song?

A) I’ve had a couple of people say it describes their own situations, some past, some present. It’s always really cool when people tell me that something I wrote resonates with them. It’s very validating, it makes me feel more connected to people and is more encouraging than they may realize.

 

Q) Which recording would you say was the most difficult to do and why? 

A) I’d say that recording “Navigating Galaxies” was the most difficult since it included a nature hike. We recorded the vocals for it in an abandoned water tower in Malibu. It was really sick. When recording it we had to make sure that I was holding the phone at the right distance from my mouth because too close and we wouldn’t get the echo-y quality we’d come all the way out to the water tower to get, but too far and it wouldn’t be intimate enough. We also had a camera crew with us, and having a lot of people on a shoot where there had to be as much silence as possible for the live recording in a public space was tricky.

 

Q) You recorded the performances on your EP using only iPhone with your voice and a single instrument, which is so unique and hauntingly beautiful. What made you decide to go that route?

A) I got the idea while on a walk late last year, listening to a few demo songs I’d written and just recorded on my voice memo app. All my songs start out as voice memos in one way or another. That’s just my process. But there was something raw and comforting about listening to my songs in their voice memo infancy. They felt more intimate than what I had out already as an artist, and I wanted to see if I could make a project that still meets my quality standard while keeping that intimacy.

 

Q) What were some of the challenges of doing the EP on your own?

A) I wasn’t completely alone. While the recording setup was extremely simple and a good portion of it was done on my own (mostly because I was fresh out of surgery and couldn’t move or go to the studio), I had my two producers helping me making sure the voice memo recordings sounded good enough, editing them to fix their tone and polish what we had.

 

Q) What do you hope lingers with listeners who explore navigating galaxies as a whole?

A) I hope the lyrics linger. As a listener, the songs I hold closest to my own heart are the ones where the words feel like they came from my own brain, the ones that describe a feeling or a situation in my own life so perfectly that I feel as though I may have a friend in the songwriter. I hope a song on this EP is that for someone else, and I hope they see a friend in me.

 

Q) You’re a TikTok sensation thanks to your EP. What made you decide to use that as a platform for your work?

A) I don’t know if I’d call myself a “TikTok sensation” by any means. [laughs] But TikTok has DEFINITELY played a role in getting the EP out to new listeners. Seeing engagement like that when I make posts about my songs or about my songwriting process, makes me want to keep using the platform. When it comes to finding my people online, I feel it’s my best bet.

 

Q) In what ways do you hope to connect with your fans using the platform and your music together?

A) I hope that these connections remain, and that I can keep finding people who want to go on this journey with me. I’m just getting started, and I have so much music to make. I’m really excited about what’s coming next in my career, and I hope I can find some more people who are down for the ride.

 

Q) Who are some people you’d like to work with?

A) The first artist that comes to mind is Lucy Dacus. Her lyrics do something to me that hardly any others can. I feel like just being in a room with her would make me more talented by association.

 

Q) What would you like to say to your fans and supporters?

A) Just a big, massive THANK YOU with my whole entire heart. Stay tuned <3