We had the pleasure of being able to talk with ASH, who is part of the winning trio of the Melodifestivalen 2020, a very pleasant interview that makes clear to us the way of thinking on a personal and group level, their objectives and the message they want to send with ” Move
OGAERLA: What emotions define you as a musician and person?
ASH: The emotions that define me as a musician and person coincide. I don’t do music just for self-fulfillment but to also share my gift with the world. To provoke emotions of change and equality. I want people to feel love. I believe that that is what people are here for; to share and spread love.
OGARLEA: What musical genres are you identify with?
ASH: I love so many genres of music; R&B, Jazz, country, pop, and gospel. I grew up on all different kinds of music, so i can identify to most in some way.
OGAERLA: Which artists inspire you?
ASH: I love Gregory Porter. He inspires me by the way he can use symbolisms of love in the way he writes. I also love Sarah Vaughan. Her voice and technique are immaculate. Love the way she delivers any song with so much passion and feeling. Beyonce too!
OGAERLA: What do you think that The Mamas represents in the music industry?
ASH: The Mamas represent Love and diversity. We represent what it looks like to be different and still share the universal language which is music. Our stamp on this industry will be positivity and love.
OGAERLA: It seems that music runs through you veins, do you see yourselves in the future doing something different from music?
ASH: I can only speak for myself (Ash) Music is my first and true love. I can’t imagine my life without it but i also love painting and being a makeup artist. I imagine my life doing those things but music will always have to be in my life at some capacity.
OGAERLA: You became known at the Melodifestivalen 2019, after being the amazing backing vocals of John Lundvik, how was the opportunity to collaborate with John and how did you live this first experience with the Melfest and later in ESC?
ASH: First, thanks for the amazing compliment. 🙂 working with John was so much fun. It was the start of our dreams as musicians to come true on a whole new level. ESC gave us the opportunity to see someone’s dream come true right before our eyes which awakened hope. Possibilities became even more endless for us. John showed us what hard work and resilience can do.
OGAERLA: When you arrived in Tel Aviv you swept the stage and achieved the fifth position in the Grand Final, what feelings did the result leave you, was this experience decisive to try as protagonists of your own proposal?
ASH: Wow, 5th place!!! All of Europe voted and out of every country, we ended up in 5th place! How exciting and honored! Of course you want to win but honestly, our thoughts were always that if we do our best, we could help John win! Top 10 for us was winning and when the opportunity came about for us to be a group, we didn’t know for sure at what capacity but the question to do Melo was there and we were pumped and ready to take it on!
OGAERLA: It has been a lot of expectation since it was known that you would be participants of the Melodifestivalen 2020, how did this opportunity come about?
ASH: Well, it wasn’t the plan to become a group but we knew wanted to continue to work together. When our management questioned us about doing the competition we had to oblige! Why not! I think it was inevitable for us to do the competition and keep the momentum going.
OGAERLA: After being tied with Dotter in the International Jury vote and winning the televoting you were proclaimed as the winner of Melodifestivalen 2020, How did you live those moments? (it was like if it would have a heart attack)
ASH: The moment the announcement was made that we won, we were completely flabbergasted!! We knew the possibility of winning was there but we did not expect it! Dotter and her song is so good and we were prepared to be happy for her. But when we won, we def were just so so happy and couldn’t contain our emotions.
OGAERLA: One of the most emotional moments, was the delivery of the trophy from the hands of John Lundvik himself (who was remarkably excited), what did you feel at that time?
ASH: When we were walking up and John was so excited and proud it was an putter body experience. The emotions were so high. We felt like OMG we accomplished something together that was so monumental and certainly unexpected. John knows what this competition intels so he was able to understand the hard work and the journey this has been. We were elated to receive the trophy from him. He’s our brother.
OGAERLA: What advice have he gave you?
ASH: On his birthday, he came to our rehearsal to give us some advice. He told us to continue to be ourselves and to work hard because we are on borrowed time. Give it 100% but also take time for ourselves to decompress. He told us that it will be a lot of work but we are so capable! So nice of him to come see us on his birthday- he’s just that kind of guy!
OGAERLA: What is the story behind the lyrics of “Move”
ASH: Move is a song written by people that have become our friends – Melanie Wehbe, Patrik Jean and Herman Gardarfve. We lift each other up and that is what ‘’Move’’ is about. No matter what your religion, race, lifestyle, we have to lift each other up in love and keep moving. We don’t always have good days; don’t allow yourself that time to be down but you have to keep it moving and if you can’t, we have each other to make sure we’re on the path to happiness no matter what! It’s a song to uplift you and bring us all together in love.
OGAERLA: What is the message that you want to deliver?
ASH: No matter what we are singing, The Mamas message will always be Love. We are required to impact the world in this way. We all have traumas and life issues that we face but at the end of the day, we all want to feel love. Every single person deserves love and that what The Mamas will continue to show.
OGAERLA: Tell us which proposal for ESC has been your favorite so far
ASH: So far, we absolutely LOVE Malta! She’s our favorite. We think Iceland is fun- we like those moves! Germany is so good this year!
OGAERLA: Eurovision has a large number of fans in Latin America, have you visited any of our countries?
ASH: We would love to go to CUBA! A music video there and a vacation would be a dream! I would like to go everywhere so FLY ME OUT lol
OGAERLA: Would you like to bring your music to this continent?
ASH: We want to bring our music to Latin America, we love you all! That would be a dream and we hope to get more love from everyone because that’s exactly what we’ve been getting via social media! What an honor it would be to share our music with you guys over there!
OGAERLA: Any Latin artists that you would like to collaborate with?
ASH: Omg YES! Christina Aguilera, Shakira, Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez Just to name a few!!!! I wish we were together when Celia Cruz and Selena were alive. That would’ve been magical.
OGAERLA: Finally, a message to our readers…
ASH: We love you all! Thank you so much for your continued support and rooting us on! We really want you all to know how amazing you are and that you are utterly loved by The Mamas! Keep Moving and always be kind to people! Peace and blessings to you guys!
Interview: Christopher Estrada
Traduction: Alberto Delgado