INTERVIEW | Ash discusses how teenage angst and the band dynamic has altered her style
“Once I had all the musicians, I really started to like that band dynamic more than ‘Oh, it’s just me’ - it’s definitely not just me…”
It’s always a good sign when a song can tear me away from Plastiscene, Velvet Starlings, or Kula Shaker. Back in May, I heard Ash’s third single, “Floating Away,” and was immediately entranced by the vintage style of instrumentals combined with the modern pop style of vocals.
As my first review with a perfect 5/5, I had to take the chance to sit down with lead singer Ash McMillan to inquire about her background as a classical musician-turned stage band, especially after the angsty start that was her first two singles, “Wolves” and “Airplane Streaks.”
[Madeline]: So, would you like to start off by introducing yourself?
[Ash]: I’m Ash McMillan. I’m the songwriter and lead vocalist of the band, Ash, and we recently released a song, “Floating Away,” last month.
I was reading about you yesterday to prepare for this interview…and I was like, “This person is me!” basically. (laughs) I thought it was really cool that you were born in England if I’m correct?
Yes, I was.
And then you were a classical musician that was introduced to rock when you were like 15 years old?
Yup.
How did that work out for you, going from a classical environment to this louder, more spontaneous genre?
It was a really big transformation for me. I’d been introduced to that kind of music because my parents played it when I was younger, but only kind of. And I think personality-wise — just totally brought me out of my shell. I was kind of a quiet, shy, really awkward kid in middle school, and then all of a sudden I was super loud. And even just how I talked and my personality, I feel like I became so much more confident and so much louder about everything. (laughs) Just being in that environment where people were confident and it was more of a group environment than an individual thing — I mean, just as a person was huge. And then obviously music and career-wise totally shifted what I was doing. That was just a really important moment in my life for sure.
Living in England, do you remember much about the music scene? Was it any different than how it is in America?
I lived in England until I was about nine and was not a musician at all. (laughs) So the music I listened to as a kid was a bit different. My boy bands of my childhood were like Take That, which just never quite made it to America. So the albums I grew up on were a bit different but I didn’t really get a taste of how the music scene was ’cause I was young and all I did was ride my bike. (laughs)
So you were a classical pianist. Coming from that to wanting to do pop music…was your family pretty supportive of that?
Yeah. Well, the way I got into louder things was my parents — I think as a Christmas gift — they signed me up for this program called School of Rock, and they have a bunch of different schools around. I wouldn’t say that School of Rock was the reason I became how I was; I would say it’s the teacher I happened to end up with that really shaped me. But yeah, they were very supportive of it and they loved watching me perform, and they’re still very supportive of it now. They really took an approach of not trying to shove me into doing one thing in my childhood, which was really awesome.
So pop and R&B. That’s a really weird style. How did you get inspired to combine those two genres together?
Well, I listened to a lot of R&B and soul. When I was younger my mom introduced me to that stuff, and as I got a little older and I started going to college, I started to emburse myself in that a lot more. And I’ve just been listening to pop music all throughout my teens, ’cause you know. Teens. They just came together, I guess. I just suddenly started writing like that about a year ago, and I was like, “Oh, this is cool, I guess this is what I do now.” (laughs)
Yeah, I have noticed “Wolves” and “Airplane Streaks” were your first two singles —
Very different.
Yeah, very different. How was the transition between those two singles to “Floating Away?”
I think when I first started writing, I was like 15 and 16, and I had an acoustic guitar and a lot of feelings. ’Cause I was 15 and 16. I just was getting out a lot of teenage angst. So once that was over, then it was thinking more about what sound I actually wanted, what I enjoy listening to, what I enjoy preforming, and the sad, acoustic stuff like “Airplane Streaks” — I just don’t like preforming sad stuff. So I was like, “I’m just gonna stop performing that stuff and try to write less of that stuff.” So yeah, big tranformation. I definitely feel better about what I do now than the stuff I used to do.
Do you count Ash as an artist or a big band? Because you do have a seven-piece band if I’m correct.
Once I had all the musicians where it was like, “This is the band, this is who I play with,” I really started to like that band dynamic more than being like, “Oh, it’s just me,” because it’s definitely not just me. The horn arrangements are me plus my horn players; they also help me with the arranging. Everyone has their own say and their own piece in it, and I really just don’t think that it’s just me anymore. I just don’t even think it’d be fair to say that it’s just me because my band gives so much of the sound.
I am curious, how did you meet up with your band?
We all met at college, which was awesome. We all just came in at different times — I had a gig at the bitter end in New York City with my really close friend, Julia Klot, and we did this weird mash-up kind of gig thing, it was cool. And we were like, “Okay, we need a band.” So we just picked random people, and that’s how I started playing with Grace Goss (who is my drummer), and Logan Maxwell (who’s my bass player), and also Marty Scott (who’s my trombone player), and then eventually Lee (who’s one of the other horns) just kind of showed up, and I was like, “You’re great.” Same with my guitarist, Zack…we met and we were friends, and I was like, “Wow, you’re really good.” Actually, he came up to me after a gig and was like, “Please let me play with you,” and I was like, “Done.” (laughs) So yeah, everyone just kinda came in in different way and I was like, “Oh, well I guess I have a band now.”
The world is shut down right now with the coronavirus, and with that kind of band dynamic it is kind of hard to do that right now in quarantine. You did release your new single in May or April?
Yeah, in May.
How does working with your band or how does releasing songs…how does that affect your band during quarantine?
I would say we’ve come to a little bit of a halt, which sucks. We recorded a bunch of stuff this past year which was great, and mostly the only thing that’s missing is my vocals. So I’ve been spending a lot of time doing my vocals. Seeing that I am a mixer — I am a recording engineer and I tend to work with my friend, Todd Siesel as well (who is my co-producer) — but I do the mixing. I do have this nice, big amount of time to finish things, so at least there’s something. But we can’t perform, and we’re all super spread out. I know people have been doing rehearsals and they stand like six feet apart outside, but that’s just not gonna happen for us. We’ll keep releasing music, but it’s definitely been a little hard and I miss them a lot, and I really miss performing. But we’ll open up when we open up, and we just gotta wait for that.
Is there anything we can expect from you in the future?
Yeah, we’re planning on releasing another single this summer, which’ll be great. We have about an album that’s already recorded, so probably a couple more singles and then an EP within the next year, I’d say.
Follow Ash on social media:
Instagram (@ ash._.music)
Facebook (@ Ash Mc)
YouTube (ash)
Website (ash-mc.com)
Spotify, Apple Music
