Catching up with Ashlinn Gray
JOBURG – Teen musician marks her place in the industry all by herself.
Taking on music with passion as the wind beneath her wings, Ashlinn Gray doesn’t plan to end her musical journey anytime soon.
Young, determined and undeterred by the struggles of breaking into the music industry, Gray is still in pursuit of a career in music without the assistance of a record label.
Catching up with the not-yet-20-year-old Sandtonite, City Buzz found out what she’s been up to on the road to solo success. “It’s been great – I’ve started playing live by myself. Usually I would hire session musos to come on stage with me, but now I play instruments by myself and that’s been a work in progress.”
In addition to working on her one-woman act, she has been working on something new. “Some new singles are coming out soon. Finally Home, being one and my latest single will be released before then called 19 at the end of August.
“There’s talk of a new EP coming out in the next 12 months – just to be safe – but I’m hoping six months.”
Gray explained that she has chosen to stick out her time as a growing musician with the help of her ‘momager’ and not an agent or record label, because paying her dues has taught her to value the process of making music and the people who contribute towards it. “I think it’s by choice because by doing this process, I’ve been able to be hands-on and see what goes into it behind the scenes.
“If I had someone do it for me I wouldn’t really know the hard work that goes into it and I wouldn’t appreciate it as much; and for me it’s been a huge growing and learning experience – being able to be grateful to the people who have helped me and learn about the things that I can do myself.”
On this humbling journey, Gray has found her favourite part of performing – and it’s not the make-up or stage clothes. “My favourite [part] is seeing it move someone. Sometimes you’ll catch a face in the crowd either smiling or thinking about something that’s happened and you can see that they’re not just zoning out, they’re actually thinking about something that means a lot to them.
“That’s the kind of music I want to make. I want to make music that impacts people, and seeing it impact people, is the greatest feeling and lets me know that I’ve done my job.”
