CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS 154: ASHLEE ARBON ON HER GENERATION Z PERFORMANCE

Interview by Brooke Gibbs.

Futuremag Music sat down with Ashlee Arbon ahead of her live performance debut at GENERATION Z tonight.

FMM: I'm really excited to see you perform at GENERATION Z. How are you feeling leading up to it?

Ashlee: I'm actually very nervous. It's a bit of both excitement and nerves, but the nerves are really a little bit overwhelming.

FMM: I think I heard that this is your first time performing live. Is that correct?

Ashlee: It wouldn't be my first time performing live. I did a couple of live performances throughout school, but they were never for gigs. They were always for school stuff.

FMM: But still, your first gig, that's very nerve wracking, but also very exciting. How are you preparing leading up to the night?

Ashlee: Well, I've done a lot of rehearsals with Jules and Kesh, so they've been helping me through it and working through the nerves and just preparing a lot. I've also just been practicing at home. Jules told me I did have to do a bit of crowd work or speaking in between my songs, which has me pretty nervous, but I think I'm working up to it.

FMM: What sort of things are you going to be talking about between your songs? Its the vibe sharing what your songs are about?

Ashlee: Yeah, stuff like that.

FMM: So for anyone that's going to come and see you perform and may not have come across you before, can you give us a bit of a rundown of who you are and what your music is about?

Ashlee: Well, I was born here in Darwin, so I've lived here all my life. My music is just a lot about my personal experience. I can't really decide on a genre that I am. I feel like I'm a mix between, like, soul and RnB.

I have a couple of songs that are really different. A couple of them are love songs about my love life, and some are about experiences I had during high school and exploring life.

FMM: I'm really excited for people to hear it. Can you tell us a bit about how you got into music and what inspires your music?

Ashlee: Well, I've always been singing. I remember as a kid. I would write songs, but they were pretty typical for writing kids songs. I got into it a little bit more in high school when I was going through some tough times. That's how I kind of dealt with my experience and it was my own kind of therapy in a way.

But after a while, I kind of stopped writing and just put it on hold for a bit because I had other things going on. With this opportunity coming back up, I'm really excited to get back into songwriting.

FMM: How did you get involved in this opportunity? Did they reach out to you? Did you put your name out there? How did this come about?

Ashlee: Well, actually, I believe… Do you know who Reese is? One of the sponsors. She's one of my long time friends and when she knew about the gig, she recommended me. I sent a couple of demos through to Kesh and Jules and they just asked if it was something I would be interested in. Of course I said yes.

FMM: Amazing. So good to see an opportunity like this for young people in Darwin. Are you at school at the moment? How do you find balancing your schoolwork as well as your music journey?

Ashlee: So, no, I'm not at school at the moment. Actually, last year would have been my last year at school. I work for Hot 100, so the radio, but I'm trying to find a job with more flexible and stable hours.

FMM: Yeah, but that's still a really cool job as because you'd be around music a lot and hearing what other artists are putting out there. I've spoken to some other artists on the lineup and they say they're dressing up. Do you have a costume in mind for the night?

Ashlee: I actually am really struggling to find a costume. At Landmark, it's emo night and me and my friends were really keen on going to that, so I'm thinking about dressing up maybe as a trad goth or an emo. And if I don't end up going, I might just do some cute little deer makeup with little ears.

FMM: Yeah, at least you've got a few options. I'm the same. People are asking me what I'm wearing and I'm like, look, I don't even know. It's a one week out and as you know, it's so hard to find costumes in Darwin, and if you order online, it’s not going to come in time.

I’d love to hear about your experience as a young musician, trying to get your name out there. Have you found that in Darwin it's been very supportive? Or do you think there are some gaps in the industry?

Ashlee: I think there are some gaps in the industry, but at the same time, it is a very supportive community. I don't think I would have gotten so much into it if it wasn't from the support of Kesh and Jules and also some of the other people I work with.

FMM: What do you think we need more of? How can we support our young artists?

Ashlee: I think more gigs and more advertising, because I know there are still some people who haven't performed gigs who do write their own music. I just don't think they've had the opportunity.

FMM: What are your plans for after GENERATION Z?

Ashlee: I think I'm just gonna see how it goes. I do want to pursue music a little bit more. I want to do a couple more live gigs and maybe start producing some of my music whenever I'm ready. I definitely want to take it somewhere, but I'm not sure where.

FMM: Your friends must think it's really cool that you're releasing music. Are they supportive? Do you have people coming out to see you perform on Saturday?

Jules: I actually have quite a few people back when I was in high school and writing music a lot. My friends were really supportive of me back then, and so for them to hear that I'm getting back into it, they were really keen.