Isis Ashton

Being born in Australia has made my life interesting. My father being a West African from Gambia and my mother an Australian I can say that I have been offered the opportunity to discover the best of both worlds. To add to the mix my mother moved her family to Bali Indonesia when I was 11 years old and as a consequence I have spent a number of years living, working and travelling in South East Asia.

My destiny… from an early age I knew that it lay somewhere in the arts. My family is a colourful group of mixed races and all the women in my family are artists. My grandmother Dorothy is a painter and writer, my aunty Leonie is a clothing designer and silk painter. And my mother Shankari is a world renowned jewellery designer. She has always encouraged me to be myself in every given moment, and by example has led me to believe that creativity is a very important part of evolving.

With a passion for movement and activity, my first creative endeavours were in the world of dance and theatre. During high school I was a top student of my dance class for a number of years and then progressed to become a performing arts student at the University of Western Sydney. I spent my years there in the theatre department as a theory student - majoring in analysis and criticism. I remember laughing when I finally figured out what my major would be, because to analyze and criticize have always seemed negative concepts to me. I was not a brilliant student, but I was interested enough to do relatively well and when I look back on the time I spent there, I still smile.

Like many young women, I wanted to sing. I would watch artists like Whitney Houston get up there, let go, and just let out this… sound… which would somehow miraculously turn into something beautiful. Watching Michael Jackson dance was a mesmerizing experience. His body seemed like a bolt of electricity that he could harness and manipulate at will. Then a woman named Tracy Chapman released a debut album that I played relentlessly for 12 months solid and when I listen to my own work today, I hear the influence that this artist in particular has had on the way I hear things.

Shining is undoubtedly the result of a combination of divine intervention and hard work. Simon Olsen (my writing partner) and I met in a nightclub in Sydney. We never really knew each other well, but we seemed to have this "connection". From time to time we would go dancing together and maintained a friendship for a number of years before the opportunity came to write and record this record. At last we discovered where the essence of that connection lay.

Writing songs has always been about concepts. Not a person or an event, but concepts that describe an emotion. The album unfolded with the theme "effortless right action" in mind. I tried to explore different emotions that were associated with actually getting things right in an effortless manner. Many of the lyrics were delivered in the middle of the night or through moments of despair where nothing seemed to be right. That’s why I say that the album is "the positive expression of negative experiences". Shining is a soundscape of evidence that energy can be transformed and used as a tool for growth and healing.

Vocal Influences:
Joan Armatrading
Tracy Chapman
Desree
Jewel
Whitney Houston
Sade

2002: Begun working as the guest vocalist for Australian band Trapazoid. Performing Trapazoid songs live at venues around Sydney:
The Hopetoun (Surry Hills)
The Roxbury (Glebe)
The Blackett (City)
The Beach Road Hotel (Bondi)
And performing live to air:
Triple J (national radio station)
Triple J "Live at the Wireless" (national radio)
Rhythm FM Morning Show
Rhythm FM Live to air from the Blackett Hotel, Sydney City
Also appearing on the single release "I’m Staying" and the Trapazoid double album "Tempomental".

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