Asila discusses upcoming single – hot blooded woman
Asila discusses upcoming single – hot blooded woman
What inspired the name of the band? What are your influences?
Finding a good band name these days is hard. Especially in English where most names have been used in some form or another. So we decided to go with Asila, which means ‘pure’ in Turkish. It symbolises the intent behind art and sounds cool as well!
How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?
Hana and Richard are the main song writers. Hana’s lyrics revolve around self empowerment and women empowerment. Both of which are very pertinent topics these days. Richard usually writes the music and the ideas generally just come from experimenting with chord progressions.
How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?
Hana and Richard are the main song writers. Hana’s lyrics revolve around self empowerment and women empowerment. Both of which are very pertinent topics these days. Richard usually writes the music and the ideas generally just come from experimenting with chord progressions.
Why do you write the sort of music that you do?
That’s such an interesting question. I think rock music or heavier types of music is just something that lights a fire in each of us. It makes us feel alive and really excites us. It also just comes naturally and I guess that’s just due to the fact we grew up listening to it and learning it for so many years. We do appreciate all types of music so we’re always open to bringing in some new types of influences.
On the side we also write music that fits in different genres, but we use that music for our side projects or for other collaborations. It’s interesting to try to write music that you’re not familiar with as it can be challenging and forces you to find that ‘thing’ what makes other genres interesting.
How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?
Another great question! Back in Johannesburg we just played our songs as a four piece band and made do. I felt it wasn’t always as full as our recorded songs as we usually have many layers in our recordings. So our live set was always more raw, but it had good energy. These days it’s even more tricky as we’re all split around the globe. Hana and Richard are doing some streaming shows here and there, which also has some complications. We’ve tried playing to backing tracks which contain drums and bass, but for rock music, it feels kinda strange to have recorded drums and bass. Rock music always felt like something that needs to be live. I think in other genres, like pop, it’s easy to get away with a backing track and not have the audience wonder why you’re using one. We’ve been playing acoustic versions of our songs lately, which is cool, but certainly lacks the energy we’re used to. But it feels more natural to do acoustic sets and have some backing elements.
In terms of deciding which songs we play, it’s really just how we feel on that day and what platform/ audience we’re performing for.
How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?
Another great question! Back in Johannesburg we just played our songs as a four piece band and made do. I felt it wasn’t always as full as our recorded songs as we usually have many layers in our recordings. So our live set was always more raw, but it had good energy. These days it’s even more tricky as we’re all split around the globe. Hana and Richard are doing some streaming shows here and there, which also has some complications. We’ve tried playing to backing tracks which contain drums and bass, but for rock music, it feels kinda strange to have recorded drums and bass. Rock music always felt like something that needs to be live. I think in other genres, like pop, it’s easy to get away with a backing track and not have the audience wonder why you’re using one. We’ve been playing acoustic versions of our songs lately, which is cool, but certainly lacks the energy we’re used to. But it feels more natural to do acoustic sets and have some backing elements.
In terms of deciding which songs we play, it’s really just how we feel on that day and what platform/ audience we’re performing for.
What plans do you have for the future?
We’ve got our next single ‘Hot Blooded Woman’ coming out on the 26th of February! It’s a rocking track about women empowerment and we’re working on a video as well, which should be out in March, so keep your ears and eyes peeled! We’re also working towards completing the album, Acid Rain, for which we’ve got two more songs planned after Hot Blooded Woman. It’s gonna be a banger!