Soul Cry by Asya

Melodic And Inspiring

Where do you think your music stands in the world now?

I think my music has a special place in my supporters’ world. My supporters always message me about how much they relate to my music and lyrics and how it’s helped them through rough times. The whole world hasn’t caught on to my music yet but I’m grateful for theonesthatIhavealready.

You mentioned on your new track 'Soul Cry'... "When I first heard the beat in the studio, I immediately jumped into the booth and started freestyling"...Can you share what was going through your mind and how you felt while creating and recording this single?

If there was one word to describe how I felt whilst recording ‘Soul Cry’ it would be powerful. I felt out of touch with my music for a while as I was so focused on graduating, that I hadn’t been able to fully indulge in my music. It felt freeing as I feel at home in the booth. The lyrics really reflected how I felt at the time and all thechallengesIhadfacedwhilsttakingabreak.

What was the biggest learning curve in writing/recording the single Soul Cry?

I think the biggest learning curve in writing and recording Soul Cry would be just getting back into the swing of recording and being comfortable in the booth again. I hadn’t recorded in months before this single so IfeltlikeIhadtodefrost.Ialsomadesuretoexperiment with new sounds, and to get out of my comfort zone. I made sure to add much higher background vocals to the main vocal for a better contrast and sound, which is definitelysomethingIwasn’t100%confidentinbefore.

How's your music journey been going since you released your first single, ‘The Right One’, in 2020? We're really interested to hear about your experiences as a young artist so far.

Since I released my first single ‘Come Up’ in 2020, I’ve been overwhelmed by, yet grateful for my journey. I thinkeveryone’sjourneyinmusicisdifferentandtiming is everything. Being at university whilst starting my career definitely had its challenges as I would have to travel 4 hours by train to get to a studio session and back.

My first year doing music was crazy, as I went from having no supporters, no following on my social media andnoclueonhowtoevenstartamusiccareertothen overnightgainingthousandsoffollowersandstreams.

Come Up organically hit 100k in its first few months of being released and this was without any video or promotion.Itgainedtractionfrompeoplefrommylocal cityandthenwidenedouttoLondonandevenAmerica. Knowing this I then continued recording at the studio, asIhadtokeepthemomentumrunning.

I filmed my first music video and released it in the summertime, which also hit over 100k views fairly quickly. As an independent artist, there are many challengesthatyouwouldfaceasyoudon’thaveallthe knowledge/resources/time/money as major labels, howeveritisdefinitelypossible,soit’simportanttohave a plan and to stay consistent. As I did take a year out to graduate, I’m only just getting back into the swing of things now, however behind the scenes I was always planning my next moves and working on proofreading mysound/imageandbuildingmysocials.

What's the best advice someone has ever given you?

The best advice someone has ever given me is to just keep going and stay consistent. A lot of people give up after the first hurdle, so that’s what will set you apart from them. Setbacks are necessary to grow. It always seemsimpossibleuntilit’sdone.

So, what are your big career dreams and goals?

My big career dreams and goals is to become the best artistIcanpossiblybecome.Levelupmysoundandmy image globally. I want to eventually help other smaller independent artists with the same dreams and goals, whether that’s by opening up my own label or just takingthemundermywing.Iwanttogiveback.

What's your secret music obsession that you secretly enjoy?

My secret music obsession that I secretly enjoy would be Hannah Montana. I grew up watching and listening toher.MyfirsteverconcertwasaMileyCyrusconcertat the age of 9 and I still remember the feeling of being there and taking in the atmosphere. She performed her hit single ‘when I look at you’ for the first time, which was a song I also covered at my dads friend's studio around that time. Her pop sound mixed with a slight country accent/vibe sounds beautiful and always takes metoanemotionalplace.