MMIM had the plesure of interviewing up and coming artist Ashaya. We first featured her last month with her single “XOXO.” Check out the interview as we chat with the beautiful songstress about her upcoming album.

MMIM: So is Ashaya your real name or your stage name? It’s a very pretty name; does it have any meaning behind it?

Ashaya: Thanks!! Yes, Ashaya is my real name. My dad named me…he read it in a book

MMIM: Who are some of your musical influences?

Ashaya: My musical influences range from my favorite powerhouse singers like Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey. To the eclectic Alanis Morrisette…and the timeless artists like Donny Hathaway and Stevie Wonder. I think the common thread between each of these artists is the content and storytelling of their music.

MMIM: Since you are also a songwriter, what makes you write? Do you have to be going through something at the time for a song to “come to you”?

Ashaya: I don’t have a certain time that I tend to write…I just write whenever something comes to me. I find that it’s generally driven by something that is going on in either my life or someone close to me. But I don’t think I ever set out to write on specific topics…I feel like when you do that it becomes contrived. I like to get to the authentic feelings…I do that best when I just write freely. A lot of times the “first draft” of my songs kind of lack song format and focus more on having a beginning middle and end. Then I go back and try to make it sound more like a song.

MMIM: After you graduated Howard University, what made you want to continue with music?

Click on more to see the rest…
(more…)