Ashnikko on their friendship with Ethel Cain and debut album ‘WEEDKILLER’

NME

While at Reading And Leeds 2023, Ashnikko sat with NME to discuss their newly launched debut album ‘WEEDKILLER’ and friendship with Ethel Cain

Transcript

00:00 (audience cheering)

00:03 - Hi, I'm Sophie from NME,

00:08 and I'm joined by the wonderful Ash Niko at Rennin Festival.

00:10 Ash, how we feeling?

00:11 - I'm good, how are you?

00:13 - I'm good, thank you.

00:14 So first of all, happy Weed Killer Day.

00:16 - Thank you.

00:16 - How does it feel that the album

00:17 is finally out in the world?

00:19 - Yeah, a lot of mixed emotions.

00:21 I'm like, feeling like I have to relinquish control

00:26 of my project that I've been working on for years,

00:30 and now it's not mine anymore, it's now everyone else's.

00:35 So that's a process, but you know,

00:37 I also feel elated that I get to share it.

00:41 And I feel so happy that I get to share it

00:43 with people who are excited to listen to it.

00:46 - Well, you posted to Instagram last night

00:48 that you celebrated with a Weed Killer dinner, right?

00:51 - I did.

00:52 - What was on the menu?

00:53 - We had breads in the shape of my Weed Killer sigil.

00:58 They were rosemary bread.

01:02 The whole, I posted the menu.

01:04 There was this, it was just a bunch of gorgeous

01:09 pieces of art that you could eat.

01:12 There was like a Cacio e Pepe,

01:15 a potato salad thing, there was this gorgeous

01:21 cream cake with thyme and berries.

01:24 There was, what else, like, just loads of gorgeous salads.

01:30 Courgettes and herbs and everything.

01:34 It was just fairy food, basically, yeah.

01:37 - And I guess, were there any guests

01:38 that maybe weren't there that you'd consider

01:40 inviting to your dream dinner party?

01:42 - My favorite author, Neil Gaiman, Bjork, Dolly Parton.

01:50 Who else?

01:53 Mort Garson.

01:55 Let me think, let me think of someone else.

02:03 Someone else really, really cool.

02:05 - Bit of a wild mix, I'm enjoying it.

02:07 - Yeah, I feel like that would be good conversation.

02:10 - Totally.

02:11 So you just got off stage at Reading,

02:12 and it was a surprise set.

02:14 How did it feel keeping that a secret from the fans?

02:18 - I mean, yeah, I feel like it was,

02:22 it just felt like the cherry on top of today,

02:24 to be able to celebrate by singing the songs

02:29 from the album live.

02:31 Yeah, it was special to be able to channel

02:35 that built up energy that I have from releasing an album

02:38 onto a stage and thrash around.

02:41 So it was very special.

02:43 - Totally.

02:43 And when you think about all the festivals

02:45 that you've played and been to over the years,

02:46 what's the one memory that sticks out,

02:48 whether that's the earliest festival memory,

02:51 a crazy set that you saw?

02:52 - I saw Tame Impala at Corona Capital in Mexico City

03:00 a few years ago, and that really blew my mind.

03:04 What else?

03:10 I'm not really a festival girlie.

03:13 - Right.

03:14 - I get really overwhelmed in big crowds.

03:16 I prefer a headline gig.

03:19 I saw Bjork at Coachella, though, that was really cool.

03:23 - Beautiful.

03:24 - But I've also seen her headline show,

03:27 and that was more special to me.

03:30 Yeah, but my first festival moment, I don't know.

03:35 I don't know, I honestly don't remember my first festival,

03:38 probably because it was messy.

03:40 Messy, messy time.

03:42 - Too messy.

03:43 - Yeah.

03:44 - Well, your friend Ethel Kane is playing Reddyn

03:45 later this weekend.

03:47 - I know, I just realized that she's here.

03:49 What day is she playing?

03:50 - Sunday.

03:51 - Okay, damn.

03:52 Yeah, we just put on a song together.

03:54 - Yeah, and what was it like when you two hit the studio?

03:57 What do you find so inspiring about her?

03:59 - Well, she has the most beautiful voice.

04:05 It makes you feel like you're in a cave,

04:09 but also in church, but in the middle of the earth,

04:14 but also in the middle of the forest at midnight.

04:18 And yeah, that's how it feels listening to her sing.

04:22 And she also did a lot of production on that song,

04:26 and she's just, I feel like a once in a generation

04:31 type of artist.

04:32 She's so cool.

04:33 I really love her, and yeah,

04:36 it was such a pleasure to work with her.

04:38 - And when you guys first met,

04:39 what were your first impressions of each other?

04:42 - Um, well, I was a huge fan,

04:46 and I was just so happy that she had taken the time

04:51 to come to the studio and work with me,

04:56 and we, yeah, we hit it off.

04:58 And yeah, it was a really nice experience.

05:00 I really enjoyed it.

05:01 - Beautiful, and going back to "Weed Killer,"

05:03 how are you hoping this album is going to make people feel?

05:06 - Um, I don't know.

05:09 I don't know.

05:10 I think what made me feel, which was incredibly light,

05:15 I felt so much lighter after writing these songs,

05:19 and I felt like it helped me step into myself

05:24 and evolve to my most healthy self.

05:31 So I'm hoping that people can listen to these songs

05:36 and attach their own stories and use them as little tools

05:41 to tell their own stories to themselves.

05:47 And yeah, that's what music is all about.

05:51 - Totally.

05:51 - Just processing your feelings,

05:53 whether they're good or bad.

05:55 - Yeah.

05:56 - Love and hate, I feel like, yeah,

05:58 that's why I listen to music.

05:59 So I don't want anyone to get one specific message.

06:03 I just want them to have a silly time listening.

06:08 - And just to wrap things up,

06:10 when you look back at the past year

06:12 and all the time that it took for "Weed Killer"

06:13 to sort of come to life,

06:15 what makes you feel proud of yourself

06:16 throughout that process?

06:18 - Say that one again, sorry.

06:21 - Sorry.

06:21 So when you look back at "Weed Killer"

06:23 and how long it took to get to this day,

06:25 what makes you feel proud

06:26 for sticking through and persevering?

06:28 - Yeah.

06:29 Everyone's been like, "Oh, it's been years."

06:30 And I'm like, "Has it been years?"

06:32 (laughing)

06:33 Gosh, time really slips.

06:36 Time really goes.

06:39 It felt like for me, it felt like it just happened

06:41 so quickly, but yeah, I'm really happy

06:43 that I took the time to really think through

06:47 all the songs on the album

06:49 and really pour everything into the visual side

06:53 of the album as well,

06:54 because I feel like the visual side of the album

06:56 is just as important as the musical one,

06:58 because there's a lot of storytelling that we do

07:02 through the comic that I wrote

07:03 and through the four different album covers.

07:07 I made four with my creative director

07:09 because I couldn't choose one.

07:10 So yeah, there's so many details.

07:14 We made our own little sigil language.

07:17 There was so much folklore and research,

07:22 so much scrapbooking, and I think just doing my best.

07:27 I'm proud that I did my best,

07:29 and I really poured everything into this.

07:32 And it really approached songwriting in a different way

07:36 with this album, and that was really special.

07:40 - That's beautiful.

07:41 Well, thanks so much for speaking to us,

07:42 and enjoy the rest of your festival.

07:43 - Thank you so much.

07:44 Thank you for your questions. - Thank you.

07:45 - I appreciate it.

07:45 Enjoy the festival too.

07:46 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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