By Etta Washburn
On April 10th, RnB musician and lifelong Pennysylvania resident AJAY performed at James House for a crowd of Bi-Co students hungry for live music. His set included original songs and a few unreleased debuts, which balanced musical references to artists like Frank Ocean with instrumental production that is all his own. Charismatic and energetic, AJAY commands an audience with expertise, proving the value of a life spent playing on stage. Just prior to his performance, the Bi-Co News got the opportunity to talk to AJAY about his life, inspirations, and upcoming summertime projects.
The interview below has been edited for clarity and length.
Etta: How did you get started in music?
AJAY: My brother started teaching me guitar right before I turned 10. I’m from a small town, and my parents would find open mics for me to perform at. Within a couple of years, I’d met a lot of people in the music scene who took me under their wing. When I was about 14, I started taking music theory lessons and studying with Jazz musicians. Everyone encouraged me to start singing when I was 15, that’s also when I started playing bass. When I went to college I actually went for bass guitar, but I ended up neglecting my other art forms, I fell off singing and songwriting. Then I dropped out of school, and that’s when I started writng and producing my own stuff. My upbringing was really a mix of the theoretical, academic side of music and the pure, raw, playing live experience.
Etta: What do you enjoy about playing live?
AJAY: I love the energy of the crowd. Even though my songs are 80-100% all created by me, I still perform with a band. I’ve been playing with live musicians since I was really young, and I like to have a band because it captures that live energy and spontaneity. If the audience is chilling, we’re chilling. If the audience is getting hyped up, we’re gonna play louder. I was raised feeding off of the crowd’s energy, and having a band lets me improvise a little bit.
Etta: Where do you draw inspiration from for your music?
AJAY: As cliche as it sounds, it’s usually from my feelings. I didn’t really feel inspired to write until I dropped out of college. After I left, I was just really sad and isolated. The inspiration for a lot of my songs is social isolation and being really in tune with what you’re feeling. I actually don’t do a lot of writing when I’m performing or when I’m around lots of people. When it’s summertime and it’s nice out and I’m performing, I’m always so busy, my mind is satisfied. When everything is going well and I have something to do every day, I don’t have the focus or the time to write. Usually in the winter, when things slow down, and I’m stuck inside having to deal with myself, music becomes the only outlet. I never really mix the phases of being out experiencing life and reflecting.
Etta: I noticed that your EP, Sun Goes Down, was released in 2020, when we were all in lockdown. Did this have anything to do with your ability to utilize isolation as inspiration for your music?
AJAY: I actually wrote the full EP before the pandemic even happened, in 2018. But I was in such a period of self-isolation, it’s still kind of connected to those themes. I was 20 years old and had just dropped out of college and had way too much time on my hands. I was locked in my room in the dead of winter. I think it’s funny that the themes I drew from to write that music ended up connecting to the pandemic. I feel like everyone was forced to deal with those feelings because of what was going on in the world.
Etta: In general, what was the quarantine like for your creative process?
AJAY: I only finished three songs during that first year of COVID, but I felt more in tune with my writing process than ever. I start a lot of songs and I don’t finish them, so I feel like the ones that I do finish are always very meaningful. Sheltering-in-place really made me make some stuff I liked. I feel like if COVID never happened, I would have kept being exactly who I was when I was younger, not really having those realizations of self. There are two songs that I wrote that aren’t out yet that tap into reflecting on my past. One is called “I Never Slept in the Summer Shade” and it’s about wanting so much out of your life and always aiming for the next goal that you look back and are like damn, I didn’t live in the moment. The second song, “These Yesterdays” is also about living in the moment.
Etta: So, you’ve got these two songs coming out soon. Do you have any other upcoming releases?
AJAY: All the songs I’ve written over the last 2-3 years are gonna be on an EP that’s coming out soon. I have another side project that’s like an experimental hip hop project called Sorry Charlie, where I’m tapping into this character. I want to put out this music that’s like me in another form, like a release from what I usually do. I feel like as an artist I stress myself out about wanting to be cohesive, and this is like a break from my normal style. I also made a video submission for NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert that I’m really proud of that I hope people check out.
Image credit to Ellie Esterowitz
