Billy Charles NY The Way I See It Xx: Songwriter

Ashley Parris or just call him Pa

Recently Ashley Parris has been tearing it up on the UK music scene and is now preparing to go international with his latest collaboration accompanied by Texas based rapper Ronnie Millionz...all at the ripe ol' age of 22! Ashley's positive energy and smooth voice are contagious and I am sure we are going to be hearing a lot more from him! I was very excited that Parris took the time away from his busy schedule to fill me in on what he has been up too as well as what is coming next for this music maven!

BCNY : State your full name and who you like to be known as..

AP: Ashley Ivor Parris but people call me Parris or Pa

BCNY: Where are you from?

AP: I'm from Cardiff in Wales but have recently moved to London in England (UK)

BCNY: How old are you?

AP: 22

BCNY: How long have you been making Music and writing songs?

AP: Since I was around 18. I started producing my own beats for fun and then went to music college from there. It was at music college where I started to write and sing more. I mostly only write and sing now but I also love opportunities where I get to co produce other projects!

BCNY: How would you describe your sound?

AP: Alternative R&B I think sounds about right but if I was to compare myself with other artists sounds I would say I have a Drake, Weekend, Miguel, Frank Ocean vibe.

Studio Time

BCNY: What are some of the things you draw your inspirations from?

AP: A lot of my songs are written from personal experiences but I also love to put myself in other peoples shoes and try and see things from their perspective...sometimes it can get emotional as you have to convince yourself you have experienced the subject/topic.

BCNY: Tell me about what you are working on currently?

AP: I have just finished a joint e.p with an American based rapper from Texas called Ronnie Millionz (@TheRMillionz). The E.P is due to be released in a few weeks. The E.P has an American vibe to it mixing rap and RnB vocals, we've tried to mix it up a lil by putting a dance RnB track on there while keeping to our chilled out meaningful roots.

I am also in the middle of writing my solo E.P which I have 4 and a half tracks for at the moment. It is slightly different to my debut mixture that I released in august (The Old Me) as it's less about relationships and aimed at wider situations we face daily as beings, release date will be around February.

BCNY: Where would you like your music to take you career wise?

AP: My aim is to be in the entertainment industry but the dream would be a singer and songwriter although I would just as happily settle for just song writer as that's where my main passion lies. If not, Sainsbury's (grocery store) wasn't so bad (both laugh)

BCNY: Tell me about your release " The Old Me " and how that came about ...

AP: The Old Me is the name of my debut mix tape which I released in August. It tells the story of failed passed relationships from beginning, middle to end. I had a lot of the songs for over a year some even 2 years but felt like I couldn't waste the material, it didn't deserve to be binned although the reason for writing a lot of the tracks on it weren't a factor anymore. The mix tape was initially supposed to be called "Pillow Talk" but after discussing with my good friend Dan, how the tracks were old and not emotionally relevant, that the mix tape was "the old me", Dan stopped me and said " call it The Old Me then". so I did. The mixture is mainly pure R&B bus has hints of my new found style in there.

BCNY: You have done a lot of collaborations which has been your favorite and why?

AP:Wow ( laughs) that is tricky, my fave would have to be the track I did with Ronnie Millionz called "Open your eyes" purely because of how random the collab was but then again Laura Wolfie jumping on "OverDosed" and that was real random too! Also Diamond jumping on " Living for today" so it's kind of a terrible answer! ( laughing)

BCNY:What do you want your fans to know about who you are as an artist?

AP: I am always smiling. If I'm not then there's something up.As an artist if I could write music everyday I would. I'm inspired by everything I see and everyone... so if you do some crazy shit in front of me you might make it on a track ha!

BCNY: Please give my readers 5 turn ons / 5 turn offs...

AP: Turn ons: Eyes, women's bums, pizza lover (pepperoni is a must) , being cute and some good old banter !

Turn offs: BBQ based pizza (including but not limited to sweetcorn, pineapple and onions), someone who is too organized, people who worry about simple stuff , people who don't love food and liars!

BCNY: Thank you for giving me the scoop pa!
AP: ( laughing ) Pleasure was all mine BC and thank you for featuring me on your site!

BCNY: Anytime! I look forward to your new release! Where can my readers find you and your music?