Interview by Carol Wright | Photos Courtesy of LPR Agency

We got to chat with singer/songwriter Johnny Ashby about his new song “Lucky” and expressing himself through music.

Has music always been a way for you to express yourself?

I think so. I used to like anything creative as a kid. Paint and crafts was always an initial outlet for me. I ended up learning piano when I was 7. It was something my parents thought I should do. I enjoyed it but I always felt restricted by the “classical discipline” with it. When I learnt guitar everything changed, I just couldn’t put it down. It felt like there were no creative limitations to what I could do.

You found a love of music through your dad’s mixtapes. Who were some of those artists that moved you and sparked your passion for music?

There was a lot of Fleetwood Mac, David Bowie, The Police and Bob Dylan. He used to slip some Britpop stuff on there too! Those songs feel like a part of me, as much as anything else. 

Tell us about “Lucky.” What inspired the lyrics?

Songwriting is a bit like therapy. This is one of those songs that took some time to write because I felt stuck in other places in my life. “Lucky” was written in two parts. The first half just came out and I wrote those lyrics in about 20 mins. It’s like, sometimes a song just wants to be written. Like most songs I write, I wasn’t sure what it was about at first. But when we went back to finish it I was able to see what I’d written previously and it was easier to make sense of it. In the past, I’ve written a lot of songs about running away from something. Like I’m trying to escape. So I think “Lucky”, in the first half, is kind of addressing this “running away” thing as being a problem for me. It feels dreamy and nostalgic like my thoughts are “foggy”. And the second half of “Lucky” is that breakthrough moment, when you look back and see the benefits of being more present in the moment when you let go and trust in the things that are out of your control.

“Lucky” is about loss and hope which are feelings a lot of people are going through right now. Do you think the song can serve as a reminder to people that there are things to be hopeful about?

Absolutely. When it came to recording “Lucky” we really wanted it to feel like a change between those two feelings, both lyrically and instrumentally. It was a challenge trying to find the balance between the two. Along with everything I write I want the music to connect with the listener in some shape or way. That’s what writing songs is all about for me. If songwriting acts as a form of therapy for me, then perhaps it can help the listener in some way too.

Have you found yourself writing more music during the pandemic? 

Loads! I didn’t really know what to do with myself at first. I had loads of gigs planned for 2020 and they were all cancelled overnight. Shortly before lockdown I reconnected with some old friends, Seb, Fred, and Bill from the band Grizfolk and we got in the studio together and wrote “Born Again” (Released – August 2020). Then lockdown happened and we started writing and recording remotely instead. We’d write a couple of sessions every week. It gave me something to focus on and for the first time ever I was writing and recording from home on my laptop, which has totally changed my approach to songwriting for the better. I used to write the initial blueprint of the song and record it on my phone’s voice notes. Now I’m almost completely skipping that part of the process and incorporating the recording process from the start. It’s made it easier to see the bigger picture from the beginning and I think that’s been a huge part of what’s made the songs sound the way they do. Whereas before everything was very, very stripped back because I was so used to the scratch version I had saved in my voice notes!

What advice do you have for aspiring singers?

I used to practice guitar for hours because I wanted to be really good at shredding. I quickly learnt that wasn’t for me so I started trying to teach myself how to sing. Initially, I was learning covers and then when I started writing songs, I wasn’t in a band, so there wasn’t anyone else to sing them. I put the same amount of practice in learning to sing and write songs as I did learning the guitar. The hardest part was trying to find my voice. Finding your own voice is what gives you your identity as a singer, it’s what makes you you. That’s something I really struggled with for a while. I spent a long time trying to emulate other singers who inspired me, and that just doesn’t work, because you’re never gonna sound exactly like them. Like everything in music, I feel like the breakthrough moment comes when you’re just sick of trying and it feels like you’re not making any progress. You’ll get frustrated learning a lick and then you step away and come back to it, and that’s when you start to make big jumps and spot improvement in your playing. So, without me realizing, that’s what happened! I gave up trying to “sound like” this and “sound like” that. Eventually, over time my voice came into its own and became its own thing. But all that time trying to “sound like” other singers wasn’t wasted because naturally finding my own voice meant blending in some of those influences. Just like on guitar, when you learn a solo, and then that lick slips its way into another solo, on another song you play. So, practice a lot, as much as you do on your instrument. Copy techniques from your idols, but don’t get too hung up when you don’t sound exactly like them, that’s only going to hold you back. You have to find your own voice. That’s what makes you, you. It makes you unique. Music is a creative outlet and to get the most out of it, you’ve gotta tune into you!