Sometimes it’s difficult for us to put into words everything we are going through, so when we listen to someone’s experience and we relate to it, it all makes sense. That’s exactly what Ash Lune’s songwriting does and that’s why so many of us connect to her music. Today the Brisbane based artist born in Mumbai releases her single Before.
Before is a song that came about from a conversation with a friend of hers, where she describes how what may seem easy to others makes her collapse. “Any tiny little problem that falls into my life, falls into a cup that’s already filled to the brim. Anything that falls just overflows”, she explains to us. This new single the last track on her upcoming EP Broken Science Experiments, the most personal project she has ever done. The EP will be released independently on 11 February 2022.
Growing up surrounded by music, she has learned how to express what she isn’t able to say out loud in front of someone and that’s what makes it so intimate. Listening to her I feel at home and as if a weight off has been taken off my shoulders. We’ve all undergone tough times personally and you’ll find it relieving when you hear her soft voice singing “I’ve been here before”.
First of all, could you introduce yourself and your art to those who may be discovering you now?
Hello, my name is Ash Lune, I’m a twenty-four years old Bombay bred, Brisbane based artist and songwriter. I think I make music that’s somewhere on the pop spectrum, but I just cannot put my finger on what sub genre or sub-sub- genre of pop it is. You decide!
You’ve been in touch with music since the day you were born and you even sang before properly talking. What do you hope people take away from you with your songs?
Yes, music has been a very important part of my life since I was little. I’m actually just trying to make music that people can link their memories to. Like a soundtrack to their lives. I’m not interested, for now, in making traditional bubble gum pop, not that there’s anything wrong with that. I think it would just make me happy to have someone say that a song that I wrote changed their lives, or that they played it at their wedding. However, I think it's a little bit selfish of me to want to control how people perceive my art and what they do with it after. Whatever time my music takes them back to is entirely up to them. Whatever memories they associate these songs with is up to them. I just hope it makes it to the soundtrack of their lives.
You are releasing Before, a song that came together from an intimate conversation with a friend of yours. He tells you how he believes your life should be easy if you make a living out of music, but you know more than anyone else that you still have to live with the demons inside your head. Could you tell us more about the thoughts and feelings that went into this song?
I was having an anxiety attack and I was telling my friend about all the things that were going to be difficult in my life and they simply explained how those are actually easy things and that I did not have to worry. In theory, it made sense and they were just trying to help me feel better. Eventually, they did, as they always do. In the hook, I explained why the easiest things don’t seem easy to me in my head. I know that in the second verse I sing about how I do still have social support, which helps me get through my bad days. However ultimately, any tiny little problem that falls into my life, falls into a cup that’s already filled to the brim. Anything that falls just overflows, that’s what makes it so hard to breathe.
In other interviews, you’ve said Before is part of your upcoming EP, Broken Science Experiments. What can you tell us about the rest of the tracks? Does it all explore the same concepts and sounds?
The EP, Broken Science Experiments, is meant to be a cohesive piece of work. However, each song is different in its theme, instrumentation, production and so on. This project is very personal to me because the songs are about my honest experiences. Every song was written one after the other so it just felt very natural to put it into one EP. I am a very depersonalised human being, every second is an out of body experience. I have ADD, which I don’t often talk about, so my brain has too much going on all the time. The only way to function is to distract me constantly so that I’m not in my body. Last year, I had to get back into my brain and learn to feel, just to be able to write music. It was an interesting experience, I did not know I had so many symphonies bottled up in there. I did not know that this EP would come as naturally as it did. This project has been a pleasant surprise. It’s the most real thing I’ve ever done in my life.
Your debut single Panic At The Party talks about the contradictions you find when living with social anxiety. Situations like wanting to be at that party but at the same time realising you just can’t deal with it. You managed to put into words what many people go through because of mental health problems. Don’t you find it intimidating to talk about such personal feelings?
This is going to sound strange but I usually keep a lot to myself. I don’t enjoy sharing my life with people. When I write music and when I sing, I don’t feel like I’m talking to one person so it makes it easier, to be honest. It’s harder imagining that the people I hang out with everyday listen to me whine about heartache in my songs. It helps to know that the people I’m closest to hardly ever listen to my music. I feel more comfortable with the people who only know me through my music, I feel safer with them. I also think that singing is a way to sugarcoat everything. If someone sang a swear word at you as opposed to saying it to you, you’d probably laugh or you wouldn’t take that much offence. I take it as an opportunity to say the things I could never say for one reason or the other. So, nope, it's not intimidating when I’m singing the words I’ll never say.
And how was the creative process of giving these feelings a visual representation?
I’m very camera shy but it is something that I have been working on because the visual aspect is still a big part of my art. I had a fantastic time filming the music video for Before. I had the opportunity to be involved not only in the concept of the video, but also the process of actually filming and directing it. It has been an amazing learning experience and every opportunity to learn is priceless. Growing up, I was somewhat frightened of looking at mirrors in the dark or sleeping whilst facing one. So of course, I use it to symbolise fear and more specifically the fear of being trapped in an endless loop of negative emotions.
This song came about in a difficult time for you, when you were going through so many things at once you constantly felt like giving up. Do you always write from frustration, heartache or dark times? Has music helped you as a healing mechanism for your mental health issues?
My music allows me to be honest, I don’t know if it helps me. I like writing beautiful music, that’s what makes me happy. I think that I write a song every time I feel anything on the full spectrum of human emotion. I’ve written plenty of other songs that are happy, creepy, meaningless etc. It just happens to be that the two songs on this project that are about anxiety are following one another. I don’t have a problem with that, I love these songs, they are both mine. One day, every song I’ve ever written will be out. Perhaps, it’ll all make sense on that day.
Have your studies in Counselling psychology affected your music expression by having a deeper understanding of your emotions?
Studying Counselling and practising as one has helped me become a much better listener and empath. I feel like I find it easier to make people comfortable around me. I think that’s a superpower. With music being a listener is everything. Every song is a story and not every story is mine.
What's your favourite line or lyrics of yours so far?
“You say you see me but seeing is deceiving.” Or “It’s blurrier when it’s up close”. My most favourite line is from a song I’m still not sure will be in the EP. It’s “I touched down near the water of an endless summer land, but you took all my sunshine when I took you by the hand”. Let's hope it makes it in the EP.
I can see the influence of Lana del Rey when I listen to your music. You've previously said that you admire how she has stayed true to herself since day one. Why do you find it so important to stay connected to who you are? When do you consider someone is betraying their essence as an artist?
I feel a lot of pressure to be liked. I’m a giant people-pleaser with a “devil may care” vibe attitude and look. I see what works nowadays on social media, I see what kind of music blows up and I often feel the pressure to make music like that so that I can be liked. Lana Del Rey doesn’t change genres. She sticks to what she wants to make as opposed to what the industry expects of her. I think that’s very brave. I don’t know what’s true of me or what the real me is. I’m only just finding myself. When I do find myself, I hope I’m brave enough to accept it and stay with it as Lana does for herself.
You’ve talked about how living in India shaped your music references while growing up, missing female indie artists and always listening to songs from the male perspective. Have you seen an evolution in this sense? Are you still in touch with your Indian background? Do you know if you have many listeners from there?
India is home, it will always be home. My parents and friends are back in Mumbai so yes I’m in touch with India every single day. I was brought up there, so much of what I am is because I grew up in Mumbai. It's impossible to separate that and I would never want to. I could tell you that yes, I love Indian food, the crowds, the traffic and the festivals. However, regardless of wherever I go or whatever I do, my culture will stay with me. That doesn’t just go away. I get told that my melody making is a little Bollywood. I don’t know what that means and I don’t know if it’s true but I don’t have a problem with that. The industry has definitely evolved with some more female voices being front and centre. I also see how the 2000s are coming back in terms of sound. I’d like to take the spot of a female somewhat Death Cab for Cutie, Plain White T’s and Two Door Cinema Club if I could. It’s a bit of s stretch, but that’s the dream.
What does Ash Lune usually listen to? Could you tell us three songs you currently have on repeat?
I listen to too much music all the time. Every genre you could possibly think of. Currently, I keep switching between Lana Del Rey's Blue Bannisters, A$AP Rocky Cozy Tapes Vol. 1 Friends and the New Moon Soundtrack.
What is your biggest goal in your artistic career? Who do you dream of working with?
I’m not sure about any goals as of yet. I just want to get my music to as many people as possible. Every time I achieve something I have a new goal set up, it’s endless. I’m just trying to find my own place in this industry. I want to contribute to it in some ways and change it in other ways.
And lastly, what can we expect from you in the near future? Are there any new projects you are working on? Any live shows?
The live set up is currently being developed. Two EPs have been finished and even after that I still have other finished songs. I’m sitting on too much music right now. I don’t need to be in the studio even though I absolutely love being in the studio. It’s always too much and yet it's never enough, never enough for me. I love working, I’m sure you’ll be hearing from me endlessly.