Singer Songwriter ASHY won't be a TAG: I've never felt being Indian has held me back

In what feels like a saturated market, South Asian New Zealander Ashy is the bridge between desi roots and pop perfection. With a growing following across New Zealand and America, her music has been featured on the Top 10 I-tunes chart and recognised by MTV. Ashy is positioning herself a simmering star steadily blazing her path. We sat down with Ashy to talk to her about her experience navigating the music industry.

M: When was the first time you realised you wanted to pursue music?

A: I started playing guitar and singing at 11 years old and then I started writing songs at 13. I always knew I wanted to be a recording artist, so I pursued it full time at 18 when I left high school.

M: The music industry can be polarising at times, what would you say has been a major learning curve for you?

A: The biggest struggle as a creative has been getting the word out there about my music. The pop industry is very noisy in terms of how many people are releasing music everyday and how many people pursue it.

"I've never felt that being Indian

has held me back "

M: Being South Asian in the music industry do you find yourself thinking about how that may or may not impact the music?

A: I think representation of my ethnicity in the media is limited and I think that can play a huge role in what music consumers gravitate towards. They may choose to see someone they've always seen in mainstream media over someone that has my background. I guess it's just a constant case of winning people over, I've never felt that being Indian has held me back though, I identify as a New Zealander and I hope people see me that way too.

M: Do you have any advice for artists looking to grow in the industry?

A: What I've learned from this journey is that if you know what you want and you're willing to work hard then no matter where you are from or what you look like anything is possible, as cheesy as it sounds. I've always loved this quote from Taylor Swift "people are going to judge you anyway, so you might as well do what you want"

You can find out more on Ashy's music journey on our upcoming Youtube Series "The Artist Journey" Stay Tooned!

Her new track 'Mirror' is currently streaming on all major streaming platforms, Apple Music, Spotify and Youtube. You can follow Ashy on Instagram and Twitter