He grew up in a small town in Cleveland, Ohio, with dreams of being a sportscaster, moved to California to focus on theatre at the prestigious Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, and has released four tracks on SoundCloud this year—this is Kole Asher, a 22-year-old UCLA student and singer/songwriter who is constantly inspired by music and hopes to do the same for others.
Moving to Los Angeles was a radical change for Kole that showed him how big the world really is. He grew up in a town where life is more simple and everyone knows each other, but also one that has few things to do and fewer opportunities for creative people like him to thrive. “Growing up in the Midwest, in general, is like a bubble…I love Cleveland and I love going home to my family, but every time I’m there I remember why I left.”
Kole started recording music in community college, which is when his shift from theatre to music began. He realized he had a talent for songwriting and enjoyed the collaborative effort of working with other artists. Since then, music has been a significant part of the singer’s life.
Above all, Kole Asher’s greatest desire is to make music that connects: “There are so many nights where I feel voiceless or powerless as a human or an artist, and there have been [artists] that have gotten me out of that through their music, their words, and their experience that makes me feel like I’m not alone. For me, the biggest inspiration to write music and put myself and my feelings out there is to be that for someone down the line.”
How would you describe your music?
“It’s a blend of pop, R&B, and hip hop that tries to emulate soul music with a modern twist. Growing up listening to Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, and Ray Charles, I just started loving music that came from the soul. It’s more vulnerable. So that just started inspiring me. My music is raw and as real as I get.”
The songwriter is also influenced by modern-day artists like Bryson Tiller, Anderson .Paak, SZA, Jhené Aiko, and Ari Lennox – artists who are genre-binding and take risks with their music.
While the singer wants to emulate these artists, he also recognizes that rhythm and blues is a predominantly Black genre he does not wish to appropriate. “I really don’t want to be another white boy who takes Black culture and exploits it for his own gain. I just want to make the best possible music I can while paying homage to those who have come before me who do wonderful things.”
Beginning in March, Kole Asher has released four songs on SoundCloud – “Good,” “High,” “Mama (bittersweet),” and “Moonlight” – that have garnered over 16.1K streams.
What do these songs mean to you?
“Good” was the first song released, and it’s a moment in time. Me and my boy were really happy that day, we both had girls that made us really happy and we just wrote about it. And that one’s just a fun song – it makes people happy and it makes me happy. Then I released a song called “High,” which was like a breakup song because a couple of months before I got to UCLA, I’d gotten dumped or whatever, that was fun. I just wrote it in a night and went with it. And it means a lot to me. It shows off my vocal range and my ability to genre-bind.
The third song, “Mama (bittersweet),” was released on Mother’s Day, and is dedicated to the artist’s mother who passed away four years ago. It’s his most real and vulnerable song, written during the first year and a half of her passing when he felt especially isolated. “Writing that song was a nice outlet for me, and really did make me feel connected to my mom.”
What was the first song you wrote?
When I was a junior in high school, my best friend Jordan played me a beat he had just made and I was like, ‘You have to send me this now.’ I came up with a hook in the shower that night, and three years later I recorded it with my best friend Jazlyn Martin. It’s called “Moonlight” and we released it on SoundCloud. That was the first song I wrote and recorded, and the first thing that kind of got me into writing and made me think about my own story.
Kole counts himself lucky to have skilled friends who’ve helped mix and master his tracks. The collaborative effort is essential because many people can sing, but not all have the resources for their voices to be heard in a commercial way. The challenging part was finding the courage. “I wasn’t confident in my art, and then someone came along and gave me confidence. And I just decided I was going to put some stuff out there and see what happens. It just became clear to me that these songs deserve to be out in the world; and whatever comes with it, comes with it.”
Releasing music has been a cathartic experience for Kole. Among the list of things that cause him pure joy is seeing people tag him in posts and videos of them jamming to his music. Another source of joy has been Robin Studios, a DIY recording space built in April and located in the garage of his best friend’s mom’s house in Windsor Hills, California.
Once upon a time, when studios were actually open, Kole and his friend Jordan Smith had investors eager to give them money to help them book sessions at professional studios. However, a global pandemic that shut down recording booths and made people less willing to invest sums of money quickly ended those plans.
“Once COVID hit, and everyone’s money became tight and studios literally closed, my best friend and I had to turn to a new option. And we said, ‘Let’s just do it ourselves and build a home studio.’ That whole process has been really gratifying and important because it’s not only a space for us, but for people we know who can be superstars…It’s important to me to help those people make music and get their voices out there.”
And with that, Robin Studios was born – a safe and expressive space for artistry to thrive in a pandemic-ridden world.
Kole Asher’s latest song was released in May, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t new music waiting to be heard. It’s just a matter of muting that inner voice of discouragement and perfectionism. “It’s hard for me to feel like [a song] is perfect. But then there’s the other voice in my head like, ‘Nah, just take it to the studio and see what happens.’”
When will you release new music?
“That’s the million-dollar question. I have no clue. It’s not gonna be something external, like last time where someone came along and made me feel fucking invincible. But I will say, it’s got to come from me. I have to want to put myself out there like that again. It depends on how I’m doing, whether that may be internal with mental health, or in school or any sort of distractions, which is what I’m trying to work against. So it’s gonna take some time, but there’ll come a point where I’m sick of sitting again.”
Check out his tracks and stay connected to hear new music from Kole Asher.
For more new artists to check out, read about Kilcool and Sofía Valdés.
