Artist Interview: Lori Asha

By Resonate | June 11, 2021

Words by Ben O’Regan

Photos by Moon Immisch

Meet Lori Asha, the wonderous jazz and rnb-soaked Brighton based singer. With an extensive musical background working, at the early age of 16 as a sound engineer amongst the Brighton scene, she was never content with just controlling the sound desk. Her passions grew to beyond her 18-channel shield, and she now controls the crowd with her voice. A cocktail blend of neo-soulful baritones, playful and light harmonies, an array of Portishead inspired trip-hop production and sometimes even dark, introspective lyrics that really entrances the listener. Intoxicatingly genuine at its foundations.

What drew you to the city of Bristol as an artist?

Lori Asha: It’s nice being back in Bristol. I first started out here studying, music production, I had a lot of personal issues at the time and found that I wasn’t focusing on the degree, thinking what’s the point ya know?

Because I could still access the same contacts and use the same production software outside of getting a degree in it, it made me think, I did want to learn more about production but I didn’t want to pay all that money to go into it, which always felt like a major conflict. So, I left after about a year, then I was living and working here in Stokes Croft. I worked at Lakota, behind the bar doing loads of bass nights. It was a strange time; I was a bit lost and dealing with trauma. I felt like I didn’t have too many places to go. I already did sound engineering and singing back in Brighton so I decided to come to Bristol because I always believed to an extent, music was my thing.

“The singer from the band would come over and start touching my desk, fiddling with everything, mansplaining, the lot. And it felt really like he was trying to embarrass me.”

Do you feel that you background as a sound engineer has influenced how you make music now?

L: Yeah, I think it gave me a broader knowledge of all different aspects of music. When I do my vocals I know what sounds right and can communicate with the engineer or other musicians if something goes wrong or like is off. It’s good to know terminology, but also just knowing how to get the sound you want out of your performance, both

live and when recording. I realised when I was behind the desk, I actually really enjoyed writing tunes and wanted to be on the stage. Then the more I did, the more I found that’s what I should be doing.

In terms of artists, who do you look too as major inspirations for your sound?

L: I look to what my mum brought us up on, Lauren Hill, Whitney Houston, Beyoncé and Shakira. I’m very open to music though, bands like The Smiths, Portishead, Tool, I rate. drum & bass, techno… Billie Holiday, you name it. I can’t get enough of all music. My mother used to say I was born with a mature understanding of music and still now take creativity from such a melting pot of influences.

Do you feel there are still substantial barriers in aspects of the music industry for women?

L: Yes, but things are improving to some degree. For example, in Brighton, I was working in the Komedia and shadowing their engineers, so then I got gigs everywhere from that networking, but I felt like it would usually be some male artists that weren’t happy with me being their sound engineer.

There was one gig that made me cry. The opening act were questioning me loads saying, “are you sure? The normal sound engineer doesn’t do it like that,” it was just really aggravating. The singer from the band would come over and start touching my desk, fiddling with everything, mansplaining, the lot. And it felt really like he was trying to embarrass me, a young woman who was being dogged for doing my job. I replied to him like you can do it then, and yeah went a bit south from there.

The main band said I did really well, both technically, and dealing with misogyny like that. I was being paid to be there, it was my job. You shouldn’t have to put up with that. What shocked me more was that my boss explained to me that it was because of my gender that the act felt they could be that way with me.

He was quite brutally honest that I’d have to toughen myself up and not let this happen to myself, because they wouldn’t have done that if I was a man. I cried in the toilets, I was so happy for getting paid at something I enjoyed and was good at I’m doing well for myself, and then people put you down for something like that. The negative feedback like that is hard not to internalise and it made me doubt myself and my abilities. I stopped sound engineering for a while once I’d left Brighton because in Bristol it was like starting all over again.

I struggled finding any work as a sound engineer in Bristol because I didn’t have any repertoire. It feels like such a male dominated field too. You can’t seem to break in sometimes with so many many male counterparts all applying for the same role at a club, I’m not going to get it am I? Like I didn’t get one job. I got laughed at and had my references double checked like it wasn’t nice. I’ve been out of that for about two years now and it just feels like lost time and experience that could have been valuable, had I been taken seriously by employers in Bristol.

What upcoming content can you talk about with us?

L: I’m working on a track called Bare Ice, has a bit more of a pop sensibility but has a representation of my family and background throughout. Another 2 tracks I’ve got ready to release are Empty Bottles and then Stuck in the System. The influences coming in are more ballad-esque, Whitney and Adele vibes on this track. Both are a lot more wholesome, beat conscious and really brings sentimentality through, from feelings of fear of the unknown, rough patches of abuse, it’s all moulded into something more beautiful than the pain should let you create.

I’ve decided to dedicate it to my mother who passed in the last year. She had so much faith and passion for my abilities musically, and without her it has been alright at times. But I almost feel driven, more compelled that singing and making music is what I should be doing, for her.

I consider the music that I make to be a pure form of a release for myself, an outlet for my angers, a way for me to feel heard in a life in which you can feel lonely. I don’t have that loneliness when I make music because I have some hope that the audience can resonate with me and connect to my sound emotionally.

Check out Lori Asha’s latest release Confused and Conflicted on all streaming platforms.

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