Ashley Allen, a New York native, is an up and coming pop star with a thriving young personality and a heart full of lyrics and love to share with the world. With a tough upbringing through battling anxiety and depression, music has become her escape and hero. Ashley performed at NYC's BB King’s Blues Club this past Friday the 17th and sat down with Joonbug to talk about her past, present, and future.
Friday! Friday! Friday! Ashley Allen, a born and raised New Yorker is taking the pop scene by storm THIS Friday at BB Kings, baby! Ashley’s fresh and intoxicating talent will have you thinking way past the sound of her music; it’s stimulates that party gene we all retain.
Daughter of Music Executive Jeff Allen for Universal Attractions, Ashley is no newbie to the music scene. Many assumptions can be made for a normal New York girl with a voice and a musically connected parent, but when you open a book you’ll find it’s full of pages. Ashley suffered from depression, anxiety, and bullying at a young age, giving her a drive for deeper lyrics than your basic ’let’s party’ radio hit. At one point things got bad enough that drugs were her only answer, but not for long. Ashley’s music pulled her right out of her darkest pit and helped her escape her sadness. She also took an interest in writing poems (that later turned to songs) to express herself and deal with her emotions in a safer way. As a fifth grader, she made her first song ‘Love Will Find A Way’ inspired by the sounds of her and her mothers favorites like Celine Dion, Cher, and Barbara Streisand. Her first single ‘Body Say No, Heart Say Yes’ was released in 2012 and set her path straight for her up and coming pop career.
Ladies, start freshening up your playlists and turntable skills because a big opportunity is about to hit the US. She Can DJ is a nationwide talent competition to find the country’s top female DJ/Producer. It's set to kick off in July bringing together the partnership of CBS Radio and Astralwerks, a label that is home to an impressive list of dance music's top talent such as Fatboy Slim, David Guetta, Hot Chip, Swedish House Mafia, and The Chemical Brothers.
New recording artist Sebastian Mikael recently signed to the Epic label imprint Vested in Culture and he is definitely an artist to watch. Originally from Sweden, Sebastian further cultivated his musical talents at Berklee College of Music in Boston, which profoundly shaped the direction of his career. With a soulful, emotional sound, he's being compared to Fitz and the Tantrums, D’Angelo and other breakout artists. His original style is heartbreakingly clear and honest. I was lucky enough to chat with this up-and-coming artist about his journey, his process, and more.
You won't find The Rolling Stones or Daft Punk headlining at this year's Coachella but If you're heading into the desert this April, it's still going to be a legit mix of artists. Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Phoenix, and The Stone Roses are the big bands headlining along with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the Lumineers, and Hot Chip will all be taking the stage. Huge electronic acts like Eric Prydz, Pretty Lights, Bassnectar, Dog Blood, Wolfgang Gartner, Dillon Francis, Danny Avila and Major Lazer will also be spreading their sounds across the desert land of Indio. Some fun Indie acts include Jessie Ware, Tegan & Sara, and Passion Pit.
Coachella 2013 passes go on sale Tuesday, Jan. 29 at 10 a.m. PST. Take a look at the full lineup below and fore more information and tickets visit the offical Coachella website here.
Identical twins and indie pioneers Tegan and Sara debuted their new single “Closer” off of their new album Heartthrob a few months ago, which you probably know because every music outlet has been cheering it on since – and for good reason.
Though the song has been out for a while, the official music video has just been released. What better way to show off a dance track than by throwing a party where people smear make-up all over themselves and you sing karaoke to your own song? Check out the video below and see for yourself just how close people can get to this track:
The Governors Ball Music Festival 2013 is back for its third year and will be yet again taking over Randall's Island and as always, comes in first as NYC's best indie music festival! The fest is taking place over three days from June 7-9. The 2013 lineup has been annoucned and includes headliners like Kanye West and Kings Of Leon along with super talented artists such as Azealia Banks, Icona Pop, Kendrick Lamar, Nas, Pretty Lights, The Knocks, Dillon Francis, Crystal Castles, and Paper Diamond to name a few.
Charli XCX's latest video is pretty rad. The brassy singer's new single "You (Ha Ha Ha)" takes us through what seems to be a party in a gun factory of girls donning 90s clad duds and platform sneakers a la The Spice Girls circa 1997.This chick proves to be on the cusp of cool and takes her sampling of electronic producer Gold Panda's "You" on her level of pop.
Overall, we're loving the song and the rave-esque fashion. Looks like we're about to sport fishnets and some cool printed spandex pants and we're good to go! Check out the vid below and stay tuned for the official single to drop on February 10th.
London-born singer and songwriter, Jessie Ware has already sparked some buzz in her native U.K. with her highly acclaimed debut album 'Devotion.' She's now ready to do the same in the U.S. with the release of her debut EP 'If You're Never Gonna Move' out on January 15 on Cherrytree Records/Interscope. The British beauty is also setting out on a U.S. tour playing sold out shows in NYC, LA, and San Francisco.
The EP features Ware’s first U.S. single, “If You’re Never Gonna Move,” (plus a remix), two tracks from the Mercury Prize-nominated Devotion, and a cover of Bobby Caldwell’s “What You Won’t Do For Love.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, news has broke that Justin Timberlake will be releasing a new album soon. Timberlake took to Twitter late Wednesday night with an ambiguous tweet reading: "Thursday, January 10th, 2013 at 9:01 am PST...” possibly hinting he'll be dropping new music.
Since his last album, the highly acclaimed FutureSex/LoveSounds dropped in 2006, Timberlake has been focusing on his acting career but sources say he's been working with longtime collaborator Timbaland and has about 20 new tracks recorded already.
The past seven years have been successful for the singer. He's made movies, revived MySpace...but we're definitely ready for him to bring sexy back and drop some new jams.