Ash Koley has a lot to be thankful for. The talented Winnipeg duo, named after the female half – Ash Koley and Phil Deschambault - had their first tour ever this summer on the Canadian stops of Lilith Fair.
“Our manager is Terry McBride and our agent is Marty Diamond – two of the creators of Lilith Fair. So we had a little bit of a shoe-in there,” admitted Ash. “In every way shape and form it was positive and good. Everybody from the stage crew to the caterers was happy and not disgruntled. The audience was there to cheer for you and find new music, they were very supportive. We had people singing our lyrics back to us on stage which had never happened before. It was good for us and part of management’s scheme to get some exposure before we released the album.”
We sat down with the pair over coffee recently as they stopped by Calgary during a whirlwind promo tour for Inventions, their latest album which is now available. Ash was part of a Lilith Fair presser at McMahon stadium, where reporters watched as headliners Sheryl Crow and Sarah McLachlan interacted with the opening acts, including Crow expressing an interest in getting albums from the artists. As Inventions wasn’t complete yet, they didn’t get to give her one, but did get feedback from the singer, said Phil.
“We didn’t have product at all on the Lilith tour. But I got a chance to chat with [Crow] for some time and she is a wonderful person. Ironically we didn’t talk about music we talked about our kids. She did come to our show in Vancouver and had really good things to say.”
Going in to Lilith, their first single Don’t Let Your Feet Touch Ground was already a top ten hit, surprising everyone.
“Originally we didn’t think we would do well in Canada or the States at all because our influences are mainly from the UK,” said Ash. “Even the label said, we see you having more success in the UK but let’s release the album in Canada and the US first.”
“We expected no traction in Canada when we released Don’t Let Your Feet Touch Ground in Canada,” Phil recollected, “and I don’t think the record company did either. We kind of threw it out to radio and it caught us off guard when it became a hit song. I remember getting the e-mails and phone calls from the record company and radio people and going, what are you talking about?! Nobody expected it, it took on a life of its own and we are so grateful for it. It makes us even more excited for the second single Brighter at Night - we are really excited about that song.”
They have generated a worldwide following, one of the advantages of the internet, Ash explained.
“Up until a couple of months ago no one in the UK should have known about us. We just got a commercial in the UK for Lotto 649 so people are starting to hear about us. But before we released a song there, we would get messages online saying Come to Germany, Come to Europe! It is very flattering.”
It is interesting how the process of getting music out to the masses has changed. It used to be that a single was sent out to radio, followed by the making of a video. Now commercials get songs in everyone’s head (Feist’s 1234 for example) and having your song on a TV show can make your career. The song Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing will play on an October episode of Grey’s Anatomy, which has Phil excited.
“That is how you break now, especially in the states. Being on Grey’s Anatomy broke Ciara. It broke 7 or 8 acts. They are playing all 4 minutes of the song so that is huge.”
In a unique twist they have released “the bathroom sessions” on YouTube, featuring the two of them singing and playing in a bathroom. The videos show their raw talent which, Ash said, was under question.
“We had all our videos we had made, and some people wondered if we could actually sing - that they could hear the autotune. We don’t use autotune! So we thought we should do live performances so people could see that we could play. The bathroom has good acoustics so we set up a camera and sat down to play.”
“We showed that we aren’t produced,” added Phil. “It wasn’t any more calculated then that. It has been a lot of fun.”
Now with Inventions, the pair’s 5 years of history comes together to create a fun, energetic and, to be honest, pretty amazing album of 9 tracks. It took awhile to find their voice, but Phil explained it was important that the album directly reflect themselves.
“These are the first songs that were written and produced as who we were. No exceptions at all. We didn’t want to try and be someone else or sound like what’s happening and relevant now. It was so important to put fourth who we are. Those silly videos that you saw - that is who we are. We are pretty tired right now so it is a little low key, but we are both silly people. Musically it is very important as well, that what we did was an amalgamation of both sets of influences that we brought to the table, that both of us grew up on musically loving… The 9 tracks on the album really are 9 of 30 or 40 inventions that we wrote in the last five years. Selecting those tracks was no simple task. There are a lot of other tracks we wish were on it. We feel like these first 9 are the best introduction to what we do. Maybe on the second record we will include some, or throw out some iTunes stuff here and there, and move onto the next introduction of Ash Koley.”
Their sense of humor comes through in both their music and their in-person banter. Although so tired to have mistakingly said they were in Edmonton during a radio interview in Calgary, their sense of humor was still clear. In a press release for the band, they stated, “Don’t be fooled by the eponymous nature of the name. Ash Koley is a band comprised of two people. Phil concedes his name isn’t as catchy, and Ash is narcissistic enough to agree to have the band named after herself.” Ash explained how the goofy bio came about.
“I was laying in bed and went, we need to get a more interesting bio. We like to make fun of each other and ourselves so I wanted to throw a little bit of humor in it,” she said.
“There is so much truth to it though. My name is ridiculous, but Ash Koley is a perfect name. And she loves talking about herself. That is where the narcissism comes in,” Phil quipped. “She isn’t narcissistic at all but she is a lot of other things.”
Ash Koley is preparing to embark on a North American tour with a yet to be named artist, though both expressed excitement about the opportunity that came with it. For Phil it is somewhat bittersweet, as many dates away from home means time away from his family. One of the topics that came up repeatedly at Lilith was balancing parenthood and family obligations with music, something both Phil and Ash take to heart.
“Sarah [McLachlan] said something that is true, she is a human being first and an artist second. I am just human. You still miss your family. I love music, it is an important part of my life but it’s not the main part of my life,” said Ash, before Phil summed up his own feelings.
“I have a little boy, he is four years old. As soon as I get on the plane I miss him, but he is why I do this. There is a ying and a yang to that. A lot of great things in life are bittersweet. It is great, the success we are having, but the flip side is I miss my son and wife. We are so grateful for so many things but this is the part that is rough. It’s an endgame; means to an end. We absolutely love what we do.”
If this album is any indication, they will be doing it for a long time to come. 