So a little while back I got a chance to speak to Ashley Roberts one part of the globally successful Pussy Cat Dolls. That said however since leaving the Pussy Cat Dolls, Ashley has more than forged her own identity separate from the group; a stint on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here certainly helped but of course I am interested in her music.
This year Ashley dropped her debut album Butterfly Effect and far from settling for a mediocre re-hash of some Pussy Cat Doll tinged tracks, this is an album that proudly stands as Ashley doing her own thing.
With tracks like, All In A Day which is a clever cover of the track What A Difference A Day Makes (1959) made famous by Dinah Washington with its heavy bass and slightly dark edge; it could well be the perfect debut album that causes some interesting butterfly effects.
The Butterfly Effect
The name was a really funny and weird story actually. I sat down with Luke Armitage (the A and R of my label) and by that time we had recorded all the songs and so it was like we need to pick the album title. We went through and wrote down many different titles but nothing was resonating with us. So he went away to think about the title and so I did I. I was researching everywhere and then on my computer I found this image of a girl with pink hair and all these butterflies around her with the title ‘Butterfly Effect’ and I had this emotional reaction to the title I was like ‘yeh’ things come into your life and have an effect on your life. I came back to my A and R and we both found out we had exactly the same title.
The Recording Process
It was a great process to create my first album I was recording in America (LA) and in the UK. I actually recorded at Metropolis Studio which was amazing. I was in the studio where Freddy Mercury sang his last note before he passed away so that helped me creatively. Of course however the producers I worked with were amazing from Red Triangle, Charley Holmes to The Invaders-they all added something different but I think that Vince Crack and I really had a great musical chemistry. We would get into our own little weird creative bubble and create some great music.
Clockwork as the first single and other tracks
It is hugely rewarding to be able to put your stories and your experiences into your art. Clockwork was a track I recorded with Red Triangle and it was literally the last track we recorded but it became my first single. It was of course a big deal for me because there was a lot of bad press about the Dolls querying whether we could all sing and it was important to show I could sing and that I had grown as an artist with the video, I wanted to have that gritty look -a very different look to Pussy Cat Dolls. All In A Day that is the only track I did in LA and this was one of the songs that I just had to have on the album-that’s my vanilla chocolate side coming out-the bass is there.
Lasting Thoughts about your journey so far?
I just think I am so lucky and I am just so happy-from going into the jungle and coming out of the other side with so many opportunities it’s a blessing-I really hope people love the album.