Ashleigh Ashley Flavoured: -

Right, so I've given you a little snap-shot of November, but I think it's about time we got to the nitty gritty! As you've probably guessed from the title, in this post we're going to cover the when Ashleigh Ashley met FLAVOUR MAGAZINE. Looking back through my emails I realised it had been over a year since I first tried to make contact with Flavour. But it was a lucky encounter at RAWW rehearsals (Brixton based soul/jazz band), that finally led to me being officially introduced! This encounter was with a chrasmatic young man named Mr Midas - Dancehall MC, face of Boom TV - and close friend of Flavour...he made the introductions. I'd heard good things about Flavour Live as a must perform/must see live music event and with artists like Loick Essien and Scorcher having graced the stage at previous shows, I was thrilled find out that I had a slot at CARGO for Flavour Live, Nov 2010!!

So, gig secured the obvious dilema became WhaT to WeaR lol. If I was going to do Cargo I had to make an effort right!? Well I took a trip down to Felicities ... and with the fashion season shifting from Winter to Spring/Summer 2011 the show room was full of new and wonderful creations :D Check out these EPIC trousers by Lall London...a personal favorite of mine this guy has an amazing eye for texture!


And these space age accessories are courtesy of another fab designer, Jacob Kimmie. As beautiful as they look they were a bit of a stylists nightmare to attach (oh and don't watch the hair lol):

And check out these beautiful shosies! From budding shoe designer Dionne Gooding (I went to school with her younger sister). I had a look at several of her designs and though I didn't get the chance to rock them this time,I cant wait to test drive these hot wings hehe: Well, other than a minor wardrobe mal-function during my end of night interview, the night went swimingly...the band really delivered the icing on the performance. Check out some of the pictures taken by DJ Chef and Jr.JK! And check out my end of night interview with DJ Longers...talking Swag hehe:






Thank you FLAVOUR MAGAZINE!! And massive thanx to the BAND and Felicities for helping to make this night possible!!
@sh.x
P.S. Happy Birthday to ME hehe

FLASH Nov-Dec 2010:

Its been an intense 6 weeks people!
3 gigs, 4 rehearsals and a funeral, 2 new costume designs, (1 week on the poverty line lol), 2 new songs and a freestyle, 1 top secret photoshoot, and a handful of new friendships :)...
On top of that I've somehow blown up my laptop charger and have resorted to typing out this post on my BB lol!
(Thumb cramps to ensue :D)

It was touch and go for a second there I must admit! Being busy is never a bad thing, but working your way through a long-ass to do list makes it hard to remember how much FUN this journey should be! Now that I've had time to sit and reflect I feel confident to say that these last few weeks have been the pinnacle of my year in music!!

With all the pictures and video's still trickling in from various sources the time line is still a little sketchy but all should become clear in my next two blog posts:
Ashleigh Ashley FLAVOUR-ed and Angel Nights :D!!

@.x

A Taste of Ashleigh Ashley Live-r than EVER...

How many of you have seen my YouTube channel: TheAshleighAshley?? Other than my demo-shoot film and one crazy Stereo Addict all the recordings are from gigs I've done around London! For me, these videos are not only personal memento's from each event but also an important way for me to share my journey with you! I'm so grateful for all the positive feedback and encouragement I've recieved...but a lot of you have said how frustrating it is to watch these video's because of bad sound quality! The ineffieciency of in-camera mics mixed with crowd noise mean that you find it hard to get a real taste of Ashleigh Ashley :( This influenced me to get plotting *mwahahaa*...and hopefully my most recent project will put an end to all that ear ache! :D

THE CONCEPT:
Don't be fooled...this is not a music video! Drawing inspiration from operations like The Cordless Show and SBTV I wanted to put together an extra special set...raw...intimate and REAL! With a dash of our trusty Ashleigh Ashley eccentricity lol

LOCATION:
Queen of Hoxton (c/o Tomo @ Random Magazine)
This club in the heart of Shoreditch is one of my favorite London haunts! So you can imagine how amazing it was to have the place to ourselves for a whole day!
The Rooftop Garden


The Basement



STYLING:
I planned the first part of the shoot to take place acoustically on the roof, so I kept it simple to start off with. I had 2 more costume changes in mind so I had plenty of time to get real you know...ExpressivE lol:

(Ignore the look of angst on my face lol...no Ashleigh's were hurt in the making of this video lol)

The second out fit took a little more planning! I wore a little black dress from our favorite urban outfitters FLY 53 and I dressed it up with some home made accessories. See what FLY had to say about this here :
Shoulder Pads

Faux Nails (of sorts):



The final set was dedicated to Metal Man lol! I really let my hair down for this one. But there wasn't a circuit board in sight :o. My make up girl Prisca had her work cut out though because I handed her these pics as references:



The acoustic set will be hitting your screens first. And soon after you'll have some quality Ashleigh Ashley on the netwaves...singing out 2010 in style ;D
Massive thank you to everyone who helped out...I will name and shame you all in due course lol!!

Check out TheAshleighAshley youtube channel for the final VIDS.

@sh.x

REALISM from the depths of the Underground...

I was lucky enough to meet Kasha and team Vivid Imagery at the beginning of 2009! Kasha (who featured on my track Stereo Addict) is a dope rapper/wordsmith from the Southeast. He's been on the scene for years having started out on D'n'B circuit and I was honored when he entrusted me with the task of styling the leading ladies in his new music video!

(The VI crew)

Having listened to the track 'Realism' like a million times (it's kinda addictive like that lol) I was ready to get researching the brief I was given! Kasha wanted a tribal/Mad Max feel for the video...with a hint of glamour! HOW EXCITING!!

The VI boys found the most AMAZING location to set the scene for this music video...




Life being as crazy as it is I was really pushed for time to get all the 'tribe-glam' accessories ready for the shoot...so I enlisted the help of my trusty mum :D. These are a couple of snap-shots of the results:




Obviously the beautiful ladies I had to dress: Carmen and Carmel (you can imagine how confusing that was lol) made these pieces look a damn sight better!! This is just one set of costumes, you'll have to wait to see the other outfits in the video!





Jonathon from VI rocking his mask to the strings of his violin :D


The final cut of the video out NOW...click here! So you should be seeing it on a TV/Laptop near you very soon! Til then though here are a couple pics from behind the scenes! Well done Kasha & crew ... I have no doubt this vid is going to bring a bit of Realism to the masses!!





@sh.x

METAL MAN you feeeel like ElectrO...

We've all heard the track "Last Night a DJ Save My Life" haven't we?! Random I know but bare with me as I try and break down the Metal Man concept into bitesized chunks! Metal Man is a Hero...no wait...a Superhero who posses the same powers as our life-saving DJ (rescuing the hearts of all those who've lost their groove!). He is made up of hardware from a golden stereo...he's fired and wired with more magnatism than CAT's MBX speakers, and since his closest living relative would be Iron Man...lets just say being 'fly' runs in the family lol!
Can you see him yet?? Oh fudge it...just listen...Introducing METAL MAN:





This imaginary super hero came to life while I was researching my demo photoshoot and though I mentioned him briefly in my post Who is Ashleigh Ashley, he's been in hiding ever since! Now that the Metal Man song is finished and our imaginary Superhero has a theme tune I thought it was only fitting for him to have a suit of armour! Crazy bitch that I am...I really brought this concept to life by rigging up these bad boys:





Made from the nuts and bolts of Metal Man himself (and a few re-configured pieces of stereo hard-ware) pulling on one of these pieces transforms the wearer into a Warrior of Sound!! Not REALLY lol...that bit is still just a figment of my imagination :o But they don't look half bad on:


Me and my girl Petrina @ The Factory earlier this year.



My boy Alex aka. ALEX PRINZ rocks a Metal Man chest piece DJ-ing at MTV Sweet 16 Party!

The Metal Man artillery continues to grow with more designs in the pipeline...including masks ... Hit me up on ashanneash@gmail.com if you want yours ;D!

Ah...it Must be the Music I guess!

I saw my face on TV for the first time last Sunday :o and I couldn't belive my eyes...or ears!! Do I really look/speak like that LOL???
It might sound strange but no matter how many times you've looked at your reflection in the mirror nothing prepares you for seeing yourself through TV eyes. It was SO surreal...like that unruly feeling you get when you hear a recording of your own voice played back to you...you're not quite sure if it's actually you or a well-trained imposter! Not being able to control what went out to thousands of people on a Sunday night was also an uncomfortable pill to swallow!



Despite the 3 big, fat, red NO's, and that awful facial expression the camera's caught when I saw them, I really enjoyed the audition experience! The outcome of the broadcast remains true but there were several moments left out of the edit that I'll always treasure....



Being told that I 'look sexy' by Dizzie Rascal was strangely satisfying *blush* lol!! (MassivE thanks to Mum for working her magic on those trousers and to FLY 53 for my beautiful jacket)! And thankfully all 3 judges made a point of complimenting my vocal abilities! But the most rewarding memory I have from my 5mins of 'fame' is having a near packed Hackney Empire applaud my humble efforts...and actively disagree with the judges decision! Apparently even The Sun had something to say about 'a young female soul singer...in crazy blue trousers'.
So what went wrong??



As an artist there are always things in any performance that you would change in hindsight! I probably would have sung a different song - the original Stereo Addict track is on a Primo beat...so when I couldn't get clearance I had another beat made up off the cuff and ran with it! Could my 2nd choice 'Take It' have got me through?! Or maybe it's just a case of me BEING better??!





The 'what ifs' are endless but it's pointless making excuses, or ranting about which song I should or shouldn't have sung! I'm encouraged by the love I received on stage, and SO grateful for all the supporters that have emerged since the show went out! But if Ashleigh Ashley really does have the potential to break through those Lean, Mean Music industry walls it's my responsibility to make sure she always puts her best foot forward and learns from each experience! For the love of music, but also for the love of all the people that have believed in me so far (and my Mum lol!)
;)

Must Be the Music, on Sky 1

A Date with Felicities - Lets JAMM!`

In my last post Asheigh Ashley meets Fly53 I touched on the importance of 'PARTYING HARD' and I guess this is just another example of how you never quite know who you're going to meet while out and about at parties / events!
I'd encountered the owner of Felicities a couple of times on the circuit but it wasn't until we both attended an interview day @ The Hoxton Factory that we really had a chance to talk! The day was hosted by renegade interviewer TOMO for a docu-film project!


(Meet Antonio, one of the many Weird and Wonderful interviewee's from the day. You'd be surprised how many places you'll have seen this guy!!) See my interview HERE!

So Felicities is a fashion PR company! Er...excuse my ignorance but what the hell does that mean?? Owner Alice L did excuse my ignorance thank god, and went on to explain to TOMO the inner workings of Fashion PR! Using Felicities Alice endeavors (successfully I might add) to get her designers work into magazines like Vogue, Elle & iD. She does an amazing job overseeing these budding designer-lets as they make the journey from creating their first collections...to selling them to the world! Later, during the course of our conversations Alice said that she could see me rocking one of her designers creations...'spikey leggins'...that very phrase had me sold lol!!


(Alice being interviewed by Tomo)

Alice invited me down to Felicities showroom in Shoreditch to check out these legendary leggins! I figured I'd save the opportunity for a real GOOD night...so when I was confirmed to do a 30min set @ BRIXTON JAMM I couldn't wait to call Alice and set up a meet - Mum in tow lol!

I walked into the showroom with air of thrill and excitement!! It wasn't a massive space, but it had plenty of room to house Alice's team, a seating / changing area, and the 9 + designer collections on show! Comparatively, rummaging through each designers section was a MILLION times more satisfying than rummaging through the rails at TK Maxx...true stories!! My mum and I were in our element working our way through all the innovative textures & colours dripping from each rail!




(One of the pieces I tried on-top. Lall London tops, Alice Palmer shrug)

Among all of those lovely clothes I was drawn to x2 designers in particular: Alice Palmer (who created the infamous 'spikey leggins') and Lall London! I knew very little about them, but Alice had a really cool punk to her designs and wearing Lall made me feel like such a lady - perfect contrast! I later found out that both designers have made quite a name for themselves with attention from the odd celebrity, broadsheets and afore mentioned magazines. Look out for them both in London Fashion Week, Sept '10!

BRIXTON JAMM ARRIVES!

I'm out gassed about this gig so I won't go into detail, but I can confirm it was an epic success! Check out the pictory below:





(pics from sound check & me with my cuz just before I got on stage! Can you spot the Spikey tights?)

Live footage from the gig here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheAshleighAshley#p/a





(The REAL THING!)
Check out live footage from the gig here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheAshleighAshley#p/a

Massive thanx to Sammy @ Neil Raja Photography and Lairy Love for the photo's from the night! And all my love to the BAND: Ashley, Nathan, Hurriane & Jonathan

@sh.x