What do you get if you mix bits of Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller, Ray Davies, The Who,
The Enemy in a big old blender?
You’ll get the talented singer songwriter that is Ashley Stacey.
This South London lad has been putting out consistently brilliant songs over
the last 18 months, from his debut album last year “The Sun still shines
on you” which is played a lot at Tanner Towers, right up to his recent
singles Palace Pier, We’re all going mad and his new song There’s no telling
you.
I decided we all needed to know more about Ash Stace, so I got out my trusty
never let me down questions and asked him to give me the low down.
This is what he had to say for himself:
Introduce yourself – Who are you? Where are you?
Ashley Stacey… South East London
And what do you do?
Write & record songs, Play gigs… The good stuff!
How long have you been performing?
I’ve been gigging since about 2017. My mate started an open mic in Greenwich
around then. I’d never heard of an Open Mic before that tbh, but I went along
and loved it. I ended up going to nearly every one, every other Friday. Playing
and partying ha-ha… I transitioned into gigging shortly after!
Have you always been a solo performer?
Mostly yeah. I do a lot of solo gigs. I had a residency in a pub, played
festivals and private functions solo too. I have done a few duet gigs though.
And also, recently got band together. More to follow on that though!…
When did you start to play guitar?
Started about 12 years ago. My mate Steve Holbrook (who I released a few
songs with under the name “Stash” Steve + Ash. It’s a very creative name!) was
in a band and kind of introduced me to the idea of actually playing.
Who are your influences?
I often get heavily into & inspired by the songwriters. But I see you’ve
asked my top 5 musicians below, so I’ll throw a few of the bands that I love in
here: Oasis, The Beatles, Arctic Monkeys, DMA’s, Libertines, Babyshambles, The
La’s, Last Shadow Puppets, The Kinks, Stone Roses, The Streets, The Doors
Do you just sing and play guitar? Can you play other
instruments?
I play a bit of harmonica in live sets. I’ve done a couple of piano cover
vids and put keys on some tracks I’ve produced at home, but you get 2nd takes
with all that stuff so it doesn’t count… I’m no pianist.
Describe your sound?
Depends on the track I guess but I think there’s a definite Britpop sound
and style in there.
What’s your favourite record you have done? Your favourite by
someone else?
My favourite single is probably currently “Palace Pier” – I think it’s more
difficult than people would expect to write a decent & cool/credible
uplifting pop song. And I’d love to think that’s what I did with that one. It’s
got a real mod sound too it too which I love. Different songs obviously mean
different things though.
My favourite album is probably Definitely Maybe. Although I hate choosing
favourites! I just feel like I cheated on about 20 other albums!!
Favourite musician top 5.
The top 5 individuals are probably Noel Gallagher, Alex Turner, Pete
Doherty, John Lennon, Kelly Jones
What are your hopes and dreams?
To be playing some of the big festivals! Playing the stages that I’ve seen
amazing sets on and sharing the bill with artists that I want to watch!
How have you coped during lockdown?
Musically it’s been alright as I’ve written a lot of songs. I was also live
streaming sets so was able to build up the following a bit and keep my hand in
playing live. But yeah, Lockdown in general I was glad to see the back of as I’m
sure most of us were!
Have you started gigging again? What’s your favourite venue to
play?
I have started gigging again and it feels amazing. Have been quite busy
which I’m obviously well grateful for! Every venue is my favourite. Especially
that night ha-ha.
What are your views on the current music scene?
I think it’s really strong! Forget the mainstream… That’s been nonsense for
ages and probably always will be now. But there are so many great artists and
bands out there, signed and unsigned! The talent is bursting and there’s some
great promotors fighting to get them out there too.
Of course, there has been massive problem with the industry being overlooked
during lockdown so let’s hope and pray that the venues survive cos they’re so
important to so many of us!
Your just about to release your new single – Can you tell me about
it? – What’s it about? How it came about etc? When is it out?
Funnily enough it’s the first song that I wrote that I considered to be
decent. I wrote it about 10 years ago! It’s based on real life events. But I
don’t like to explain songs too much outside of the song, so take from it what
you will, and I hope you enjoy it. I’m quite proud of it as it was a
breakthrough song in my song writing. It was produced by my friend Tom Monks
who never fails to amaze me. It’s a bit experimental in sound. A bit more out
there. Like some of the mad The Kinks and Blur stuff. But I think it works
really well. It’s out Friday 16th July!
What are your plans for the next 12 months? New album?
Gigs? Etc
I’ve got an EP coming out in September. It’s ready and recorded and will
feature my latest 3 singles and a couple more. I’m really looking forward to
that. It will be my 2nd physical release too after I released CDs
for my debut album (The Sun Still Shines On You…. A little plug there!)
The main thing is the band though!!…
Some properly talented lads have joined me. And I’ve got a couple of really
exciting full band gigs in the pipeline for the end of this year now. I will be
announcing details for those very shortly and I can’t wait!
Watch this space cos the venues are great, and the songs sound brilliant
live!
Well, there you have it – what a top fella, great answers and a really
talented song writer.
What do I think of his new song then?
Here’s my review:
There’s no telling you picks up where Palace Pier left off,
with almost flamenco guitars and some beautiful orchestration, it then changes
tack and is reminiscent of some of your favourite artists as Ashley mentioned
above, you get Blur/Graham Coxon vibes, but also a Squeeze type jaunt, Ashley
is excellent at painting a picture with his words and telling a story. It’s got
a great summer vibe to it with a killer chorus and some great “Wonky”
guitar parts. It really showcases his all-round talent and I hope you all check
it out as well as he has a great way of making you feel uplifted.
The single is out now at the usual streaming places.
Ashley’s Linktree is here https://linktr.ee/AshleyStacey so go and fill your boots.
If you want to go to Spotify make sure you stream him a million times.
Please let me know what you think and as always Read, Listen, Share, Buy, Repeat etc.
PNL
Michael
The Rebirth Of Cool 