BTS: What inspired you to write your newest single and debut release “Hate To See You Happy”?
ASHTON: So I had this chorus idea for “Hate To See You Happy” which is obviously a more simple chorus. I recorded it in my voice memos and didn’t really think anything of it. Then I had this random co-write with a person that I got paired up with in Belmont University Songwriters Association. She and I were both pop writers and I had kind of been writing country before that. I remembered I had this “Hate To See You Happy” chorus idea, so I thought “Oh, maybe we could write something with this”. Then we kind of brought to life this story of you and this person that you’re no longer with are separated and they’re kind of thriving and you’re still kind of going through it, trying to just make it through, and it’s almost even harder to get over that person when you also see “oh, they’re fine without me”. So this song was just kind of a reflection and expression of that and I hope that if anyone is going through that right now they can listen to this song and know that it’s okay to have a little bit of “gosh it sucks that you’re doing better than I am right now”. That doesn’t make you a bad person, that doesn’t mean you loved them any less – or love them any less in the present tense – it just means that you’re human and you compare yourself like everyone else does. That’s kind of the inspiration behind it and what I hope people can kind of get from listening to the song and relating to the song.
BTS: What is the story behind your artist name ASHTON?
ASHTON: I’m from Georgia, so I’m a southern girl at heart. My full name is Sara Ashton Copelan, and I actually go by Sara Ashton, a double name, very southern. When I first started releasing music, I was releasing country music under Sara Ashton. When I started writing more pop it felt a lot more like the person I am now and less like Sara-Ashton-country-music-girl. So I knew I still wanted to release music and I wanted it to be recognizable as me. I didn’t want to just delete Sara Ashton because I still love that music and I have a lot of people that still listen to it. So I was like, “Well, I could just go by Ashton, like my middle name.” Kind of lame, but I was just like I’ll just go by half of my name instead of all of it. When my parents were naming me they wanted one half from each side. Sara is from my dad’s side and Ashton’s from my mom’s side.
Ashton is actually my Nana’s mother’s maiden name. I just thought the all-caps thing was cool, there’s not really any symbolism behind that. That’s where ASHTON came from.
BTS: How would you describe your sound?
ASHTON: That’s a good question. Like I said I’ve kind of gotten a little bit more into the pop scene in Nashville which has been really fun, but a little silly because when I came to Nashville I thought I was going to be country through and through. So when I started writing more pop stuff I was like “What’s going on?” But I’ve always loved pop. I grew up a little farther out so we did not have internet at my house. The only time I would listen to pop music was when I would play the radio in my room because country was playing everywhere else. I’ve always had a lot of love for pop music and coming to Belmont and writing with a lot of other people from different places and different influences I’ve been able to really tap into that.
One of my influences for that pop sound is Maggie Rogers. I love everything that she has been putting out so far, she’s literally amazing. I love Phoebe Bridgers’ lyrics and I’m obsessed with Holly Humberstone at the moment. Kacey Musgraves will always be somebody that I look up to and admire who is doing both the country and pop thing. The sound of my music is definitely a pop, upbeat sound with really honest, true, country storytelling in it.
BTS: What was your process like for creating the final version of “Hate To See You Happy”?
ASHTON: It was the first pop song I wrote, and I was really interested to see what it would sound like because I wrote it on my guitar. Obviously, stuff on guitar usually sounds more country so I wanted to see what it would sound like produced. I got in touch with one of my friends whose song I was obsessed with and I was like “Oh my god, who did you get to produce this I have to know”. So that is how I got in touch with Scott Borel. When we met up for the first time, I basically only had like two ideas for the song. He was great, he was like “Perfect we’ll do that and we’ll take it from there.” I honestly didn’t take it super seriously, I was kind of like “Oh I just want to see what this would sound like it’ll just be a demo, whatever”. But Scott would say “We need to keep working on it, when do you want to record next?” It took almost a year to produce it and get all of the ideas flowing. I’m grateful that Scott was patient and believed in the song. I feel like giving it that time and not rushing it, we were able to just kind of be experimental. We worked on figuring out “Okay, this is the first thing you’d be putting out, what do you want to say? What do you want to make it sound like? How do you want to make people feel?” There was a lot of thought going into the song, which is why it took a little bit longer.
It was fun to show Scott songs that I loved and we picked out why we loved those songs from a production standpoint. I always listen to songs and love them more from a lyrics standpoint. And he would say “I love this drum sound” or “I love this vocoder” or “I love this synth melody”. That helped me listen to songs with a little bit more understanding of the production that goes behind them. It’s not just you write a song, then you record it, and then it comes out. There’s so much more behind songs – there’s so much more behind your favorite songs. Even if you’re not working in music and you’re just a listener, I hope people take time to listen to all aspects of a song. Not just lyrics, not just melody, but all of the production because you’ll find really cool hidden things. I definitely incorporated little secrets into this song. And my upcoming stuff. I hope people listen to it with intention. So yeah, it’s a long process [laughs]
BTS: To kind of go off of that, how does your musical community in Nashville impact your creative process?
ASHTON: Oh my gosh, well I feel like all of my best friends are just the most incredible and supportive people in my life. They also are very collaborative, which I really enjoy. Obviously, a lot of us are musicians, songwriters, producers, and artists. We write together, or we show each other songs and give each other feedback. I had my roommate do my pictures in our dining room which was so fun. One of my coworkers is even working on a music video – surprise! It’s all just a joy to work on. I always want my music to be made for community, made in community. I couldn’t make my music without the people in Nashville and all of my friends and family from back home that still follow along with my music – even though it took me three years since I left to put something out [laughs]. Couldn’t do it without them.
BTS: Where do you draw inspiration from?
ASHTON: I was talking about this with my co-writing friends last night – I feel like I’m a retroactive writer. I don’t really process the things I go through in the moment but I can process them a lot easier maybe like a week or a month or so later. I definitely write about my own experiences but it’s not always present time, especially with the new music I have coming out. I started writing some of these songs about two years ago. I am just now developing those ideas and figuring out what I was actually feeling. I definitely used my writing and my music as a way to process but it’s not always in the moment. But usually what happens when I’m writing a song is I’ll come up with a lyric and then boom into the voice memos immediately. My voice memos are taking up pretty much all of the storage on my phone right now and it’s so bad [laughter]. When I sit down to kind of write I’ll usually go through the top ten voice memos and just develop it from there. If I do get stuck that’s when I reach out to my cowriting circle. We’ll sit down, I’ll walk them through the idea for the song and what I have so far and we pretty much finish it!
But sometimes songs really do just flow out of me. I was texting two of my best friends from back home as I was writing my upcoming release “Blaming Denver” and it’s funny because I actually included bits and parts of them in the story of the song. That is one of the songs that just flowed out of me. That’ll happen when you’re writing songs – sometimes it’s just immediate and sometimes it takes days and literally months. I have another one that is coming out soon that I wrote last holiday season that I finally finished writing this summer and it literally took me months to finish it. I feel like there’s not a step-by-step process for writing and being creative – it’s just whatever comes to you in the moment. I really am not a firm believer in forcing it. Sometimes I get it, but sometimes I need to just sit with the song and let the song sit with me.
BTS: What do you want people to get from your music?
ASHTON: I just want to make music for community – whether that means it’s you and your bestie’s new favorite song or its the song that you always play in the car with the windows down or it’s a song that you can relate to so much that you feel like you’re not so alone. That’s when I feel like I have done my job as a musician. I hope my songs are written in a way that you can put yourself in the story and my experience. I just hope that people can feel that community through my music. With me, or with other people that they share my music with.
BTS: What are you most excited for in the future?
ASHTON: So I have a bit of a move in the future. I am going to be studying in London this next month, which I am really excited about. I’ve never been overseas and I actually get the opportunity to write and produce in London and explore the British music industry. I have been really trying to listen to more of The Beatles and One Direction, you know, the history makers from over there [laughs]. After that, I have about a five-day turnaround to get over the jet lag and pack up everything and move to New York City for the next half of the year. I have fallen in love with New York over the past year and a half and I am really excited to see what living there looks like versus just visiting there. I am going there with some of my best friends and I am hoping to learn a little bit more about what the New York music industry looks like. I am just really excited to learn what music looks like in places other than where I’ve been. So definitely going to be moving around the next half of this year but I am really excited about it. I don’t really deal with change and moving well, but I think it’ll be okay [laughs].
BTS: What can we expect from ASHTON next?
ASHTON: I have three songs that are coming out this next year, and they are three of my favorite songs. I am so excited to share them. I’m also really nervous to share them because they’re so deeply personal. I am kind of scared to bear that with everybody, but it also feels right and I feel like these songs deserve to be put out in the world. I’m really excited to share those with you guys. Like I said I have “Blaming Denver” coming up in the fall, another one that will come out during the holiday season, and then another one that will follow after that. I also have a music video in the works with one of my good friends Karson Eaton, she’s a fantastic videographer and we just had so much fun filming this. It was really fun, pretty experimental. I’m really excited about it and I can’t wait for y’all to see that. But I have some stuff planned, so stay in the loop!
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