IS: Who did you most enjoy working with?
Ashley - Oh, that's impossible to answer, that's like saying who's your favorite kid. I really enjoyed working with everyone. They were all very funny and kept it light, but when it came down to it, everyone was professional, fast, accurate and very talented. I really enjoyed Dustin Turner, he was very funny, but everyone was great and very helpful in working with me on my first big project.
IS: What was the overall experience like?
Ashley - Actually, overall my parts were surprisingly easier than i thought they would be. But we did a lot of things to the songs, that i would never thought of, like more streamlined arrangements and the background vocal layers. It was so cool to see these things help bring the songs to life. Now that I've seen up close how professionals tweak those things out, I'm thinking of things like that ahead of time and it's been helping me in my new writing. Overall I would say it was a big, very enjoyable learning experience.
IS: Name your best, worst and funniest memories.
Ashley - Hmm, I really can't say I had a bad moment. There is always some frustration singing to try to get something perfect, but Jay was very calm, and helped me through the vocal production very well, and most of it was just a lot of fun, with some cool experimentation. He pretty much knew what he was looking for from me, and we understood each other well, so it was really not that hard. The best memory I would have to say was arranging the songs and doing background vocals. Seeing my songs get bigger, better and more complete was an amazing thing. The funniest moment had to be watching this comedian on the TV in the artist lounge with "Squeezel" a friend of the label guys, and listening to his constant personal comments. That was hilarious.
IS: What have you been most pleased with so far, from the recordings?
Ashley - I am definitely pleased with the layers of instrumentation behind the recording and all the production elements that have really made the songs larger and more interesting. Basically, having the songs become more than i thought they would be. That is the really cool thing about working with a team instead of just by yourself. Everyone adds their own elements and expertise and the end result is just that much better.
IS: If you could give any advice to young songwriters, what would it be?
Ashley - Hmm, I would say, don't be afraid to go out of norm. Don't always go to the first place your musical mind takes you to automatically. Go somewhere else with it on purpose and see what happens.
IS: What are you most excited about coming up?
Ashley - Well, I'm always excited to play live, but I would have to say I'm really excited to get back in the studio again. Now that I've been a part of the professional arrangement and production side of things, I'm very excited to be more involved in that area, along with my producers and the musicians and bring more ides to the table for arrangement and production.
And since the Fifty-Fifty label and production team are so totally open to that, I am very much looking forward to our next round of sessions.
IS: Thanks for the time Ashley and we'll look for your releases from these sessions, as well as your upcoming live dates.
Ashley - You're so welcome, It was great talking with you, hope you enjoy the music.
