Ashainë White, from North London, creates music that blends grunge and soul and is influenced by ‘those who’ve gone before her’ including Ella Fitzgerald and Radiohead. Despite this big-bang collision of sounds, Ashainë doesn’t view herself as a pioneer but is determined to deliver her unique sound with clarity and nuance.
Her latest EP ‘Ash’ is an iconic introduction to this moody yet bright creative lens, an enigmatic world of opposing emotions that just seem to work together in harmony like rainbows and storms.
The former 2022 Ivor Novello ‘Rising Star’ nominee sheds light on her ‘bright and dark’ journey and why she isn’t afraid to use her voice as an instrument to replace a grunge guitar solo.
How did ‘grunge soul’ genre-spanning evolve in your music and has there been any challenges in sharing this new concept within the music industry so far?
At my core I’m such a moody babe. So everything that comes out of me that isn’t my smile is on the moodier and darker side of things. When thinking about the music I wanted to make, that felt like ‘me’, it was a mixture of those two things. My favourite colours are yellow and black- the most opposing things. I wanted to just exist in that. In terms of grunge, I really liked how Nirvana changed music so authentically was so good. Existing as themselves happened to change the sound of music and that’s really inspiring.
I’m one of those really cringy people that says they listen to everything, because I love music, so I don’t understand why you’d only listen to one thing. So, obviously, when I’m going to make music, all of these influences are going to come in. I do think I’ve found it harder being a Black girl from London making this genre-bending music because when they see somebody that looks like me, or somebody that’s from where I’m from, they already expect one thing. Then not only am I not giving them the one thing they expect, but I’m also giving them a variety of things that they don’t expect. This has made it a little bit tricky to find my feet in playlisting and press coverage.
Luckily with my Ivor Novello rising star nomination last year, part of the music industry is starting to understand what I’m doing. The music industry is very institutional and corporate which is silly as it should be creative. They want to make profit and when something hasn’t been proved in a timeframe, they are slow to jump on board and support it.
The music kind of speaks for itself. I’ve been working with a producer called Gibbi Bettini who has helped me develop my confidence as an artist and songwriter. The fans in my community and my friends and family get my music straight away and get what I’m doing. People are hearing more of my music and with my new EP being called Ash, I can’t really exist as anything else, take it or leave it, and that’s been really good. I’m not trying to be the next Ariana Grande or Beyoncé.
How do you avoid getting drawn into the current trends and TikTok algorithms that come with being an artist in 2023?
The music comes from me so I can’t be anything else. I don’t want to hate what I do, I want to love what I do for the rest of my life. If you don’t like it, you don’t like it, music is subjective and not everybody has to like what I do. I think people are ready to hear real and authentic music where artists enjoy what they’re doing, and not just making trends for TikTok or to appear on a playlist. I just want to make what I like and I feel confident that it will take me to where I need to be and that’s what I want to keep doing.
Since deciding to go ‘all in’ as a professional recording artist, how easy has it been to find the right collaborators?
I’m lucky as an artist as I haven’t really had to do the shopping around or producers or things like that. My management team approached me and I haven’t gone searching for anything. It’s been great how people and relationships in my music career have been naturally drawn together. I also have a strong work ethic because I’ve been doing this myself professionally and I care about it, which I feel works well with the collaborators I have in music. I take it very seriously as it’s my career – just as a doctor studies for five years to be a surgeon, I’m investing in what I’m doing for myself.
How did you develop your songwriting inspiration from a grunge soul perspective?
Like I said before, my life is like black and yellow, dark and bright however I always thought that I had nothing to write about of substance. I was like ‘yeah I’m living a good life and having fun’ so focused on being a session vocalist and musician, doing things like backing vocals because I loved doing them.
It wasn’t until I decided to enter a music competition that required me to have my own music that pushed me to write something. Alongside this my final project at university had a performance element, and I was able to create something. I started playing guitar in my room and wrote a song called Prince Charming and thought to myself ‘actually, I think this is I think this is quite good, I like it!’ as it was dark and light at the same time. The way it came all together meant that by 2020 I decided ‘this is it, I’m going to release music’. My songwriting focuses on friendships and relationships through the dark and sunny perspective, those moments in everyday life that can exist as brightness and dark. Like when you’re making plans with your friend and then they turn up an hour late and you’re just not feeling it anymore!
When it comes to using your voice as an instrument, what role does your guitar play in inspiring and supporting this?
I’m inspired by rock, I’m inspired by guitars I play guitar but I consider my voice my main instrument and that’s kind of the instrument I use to connect to people. My guitar is more of a support to my voice to help take it to the next level. When I was in the studio, I’d reached the bridge and didn’t have anything. So at first, I said ‘let’s do a guitar solo’ but then thought about it more and realised I could freestyle and use my voice as the instrument instead of the guitar to create something new. It added an emotional contrast between the delicate and loving parts of the song to create a feeling of implosion. Ultimately, I’m a soul singer and a jazz singer as I love using my voice as my instrument and evoke emotion – this is how I express myself. My singing voice and my talking voice are the same thing.
Ashainë White’s new EP ‘Ash’ is out now. For more information, follow Ashainë on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/ashainewhite/ and TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@ashainewhite
