By Suzanna Foster

At eighteen in Melbourne, Australia, Ainsley was already producing her own music, and released her first debut album Road to Infinity in 2007. Despite being so young and without much experience in music engineering, she knew exactly what she wanted her music to sound like, wrote all the songs and co-produced all the musical parts for strings and guitar solos with Melbourne music producer, Tony Hunt. Over the years, Ainsley has grown exponentially as a singer, songwriter and entertainer and has been undoubtedly influenced by her diverse cultural experience traveling the world. 

Born in San Francisco, growing up in New Zealand and Australia, touring in Chile, and now, Nashville, Tennessee, Ainsley’s songwriting and performance embodies this worldly experience that includes choreography and theatrical elements. Not your average singer songwriter, Ainsley’s a Triple Threat and is very passionate about all the details of every performance.

In this interview, I talk with Ainsley about her personal journey with music, multidisciplinary training, creative approach and more, and her new music video “Heartbeats” released June 28, 2024, the first single from her upcoming album.  

I wrote this song (“Heartbeats”) about the first night I met my husband and the instant connection. It’s a love song about that serendipitous moment, the kind you’re not expecting. It could be a love song for anybody, like when everything just falls into place, moving in a rhythm that is out of your control.

In the bridge the lyrics say, “I was a free spirit okay on my own, afraid to hand over my fragile heart,” but in that moment it was almost out of my control, like the universe had something to do with it. I felt it was a good way to lead into the new record, because of where I was at in my own life and it captured my songwriting, but also gives a taste of the rest of the album to come. 

You said you’re coming back after having taken a brief hiatus from your music over the past couple of years? In the words of John Lennon, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.”  

Yes, I had a lot going on in life. How many people get lost, you know, in life? Creatively I’ve been a little lost. I’ve been there for the last couple of years, but at the same time your mind, your body, needs this (creative) outlet. I fight this so much sometimes. The older I get, life happens, but at the same time, you’ve got to keep feeding that creative soul because that’s who you are. It’s (creative soul) never going to go away, right? If you don’t feed it, it’s just going to be knocking at you and making you feel depressed because you don’t have time for it.

My Dad would always quote Julius Caesar’s famous statement from when the Romans invaded the U.K. from the top of Dover. The troops saw the Roman ships in flames and ran to Caesar. “Caesar, Caesar!  The ships are burning! How are we going back?” Caesar replied, “Men, we are not going back, we conquer!” and conquer he did for many centuries, so when we came to Nashville, my dad said, “We Conquer!”

You just released a new music video for “Heartbeats,” the first single on the new album.  When do you plan to release the rest of the album?

The album is going to be released in a bit of a different way. I’m going to release singles with videos for every song. At the end, it will be a whole body of work on an album, and hopefully vinyl with extra bonus tracks, so once you get to the end of the album, you’re still getting some extra cool songs or bonus tracks. 

Is “Heartbeats” available on Spotify or other streaming services?

Yes, it’s on Spotify, iTunes…all the streaming services.  https://open.spotify.com/track/6ly9Ym9vPBRknbASk4Q3NA

Tell us about your 2007 debut album Road to Infinity, which is also available on Spotify.

That’s the first ever debut album that I recorded when I was 18 in Melbourne, Australia. I wrote all the songs and co-produced all the parts, so I’m proud of that, you know. As an artist you grow, and sometimes forget you did that and be proud of that, then you’re like, “I’m growing so much and I can write better now, but then I think back and realize, “Holy shit, that was pretty good!”

I remember being in the studio and coming up with the parts for the string sections and guitar solos and how that creativity was just flowing out of me.  It’s just something to be super proud of, and a lot of people still say to me, “That’s my favorite album!” so I know I’ve got to honor that and continue to play those singles in the live show so there’s a good variety of songs.

While I don’t like to compare new artists to mainstream artists, I must say your voice reminds me of Jewel. Have you gotten that before?

Absolutely, and thank you! She’s one of my huge influences, especially vocally.  From the first song I ever sang live, “Foolish Games,” she’s been a big part of my growth and influence, for sure. That’s a huge compliment. I’ll take it any day, absolutely.

Your music seems to cover a broad range making it difficult for me to try and describe it within a particular genre. I am curious how you might categorize your first album Road to Infinity, because for me the song “Break Me” sounds pretty “country” and the other songs on the album have more of a “pop” vibe to them.

The more I mature and grow up in this business, the more I am not into the rules and boundaries that the music business can sometimes put you in. I think it’s getting a little more lax with the lack of full albums being produced, because you don’t have to put out a whole album anymore, which is upsetting to a true music lover.  

Like a single, you could put a dance single out one month, and then next you could have a rock single. It doesn’t have to be a cohesive project, but personally when I write a song, I think it’s always going to come out a little rock, blues, folky, Americana, pop rock style. I never liked being controlled or put in a thing, like this is what you are. I’ve always rebelled against it. I play my guitar and sit down and what comes out, comes out, right? I’m not going to block it, because I’m told I’m not supposed to write a song like that. 

I would say in Road to Infinity, I probably did explore a more countryish sound, especially in “Break Me,” but that’s just because I love slide guitar and pedal steel, so I put a little bit of that sound in there. I grew up in big cities – Melbourne, for example, not a country town, so the people there were like, “Wow, you’re sound is so country!”

By the time I came to Nashville, I’m like, I’m definitely not country! I didn’t grow up on a farm and I can’t talk about riding a tractor with conviction. That’s a city girl just telling stories, but I love some of those authentic, beautiful country sounds, like in some of the older songs. I also love rocking slide guitar. That’s one of my favorite things and that’s what I did on “Better Tell Mama.” I was so young and was just exploring sounds, so in that moment without really thinking about it, I was like, let’s just put some slide on there! I wasn’t overthinking anything… just going for it.

It sounds like you were also thinking from the mindset of a producer about the instruments, writing the lyrics, and creating the melody…the whole shebang!

Yes, but I obviously had my co-producer, Tony Hunt, on that album (Road to Infinity). I didn’t know so much about the technical side of engineering, but I knew how I wanted things to sound and what instrumentation I needed to add, because my head was just full of parts. That’s how I am. I hear the whole song in my head, and I’ve got parts running all through it, especially when I’m in the studio. It’s just a lot of stuff going on in my mind.

What about the formal training you received at the Melbourne Academy of Performing Arts?  How do you think it shaped you as an artist and maybe strengthened some of your skills? Since you are so creative by nature with music in your soul, I’m curious how structured formal training may have shaped you.

I think it shaped me as an all-around performer and really helped get me more into a music career. There were other students there who were more into recording (at the time) and asked me to come and sing vocals (outside of the academy). That turned into “Let’s make a song,” and a lot of opportunities happened from that.

I majored in voice, dance and acting. I took acting because that was the one art I wasn’t as experienced in, acting for film, TV and theater. I also took fencing and loved it. We were sword fighting, the theatrical type you would see in movies. It was like another beautiful and fun dance class.

As far as music and songwriting I think that comes mostly from my own love and knack for it but is very influenced by my family. My Dad has always been the musical influence. He would ask me to listen to this band or listen to that bass part. “Can you hear that? See what’s happening there? Listen to that cello or backing vocals.” He would isolate sections of songs, or just tell me to listen to it. It was very much about the music, the beat, the feeling and how it made you feel.

Mum was amazing with words, poetry and diction. A lot of her influence is more in my writing. They’re very supportive of me in everything I do, and I think their influence was very big. College was more about tuning or brushing up on these skills that I needed to be more refined in. Even so, I don’t think an artist is ever totally refined. There’s always more to do, right?

What about your musical influences?  Besides, Jewel, what other artists have inspired and shaped your music?

They kind of move around a lot. There’s John Lennon, he’s a big influence, and the Beatles, of course, but he’s my Beatle. Sheryl Crow, Chrissie Hynde, Roy Orbison, and Elvis to name a few. I could go on forever.

I love all different kinds of music, from classical to Doo Wop, 50s, 70s, and then onto some of my favorite bands, like Cinderella in the 80s.  Of course, you’ve got Prince, but so much music that it would be hard for me to totally pinpoint them all. Even some South American bands like Los Iracundos, who to me are the South American Beatles. The Carpenters are another big influence, then you move on to 90s stuff.

You’ve indicated you’re very close to your parents and they’ve been supportive of you and your music career. Do they live here in Nashville, as well?

Yes. They’re very supportive, and when I wanted to come to Nashville, they were like, “Let’s go!” They did it for my brother too. He’s a professional tennis player and was all over the ATP circuit for years, so before me, they supported him on the tour for years, which was another big investment. Once my brother was settled, it was my turn. They’re my record label, managers – my everything.

My mum is from New Zealand and my father is originally from Chile, so I got the New Zealand-Chilean influence growing up in Australia, as well, along with the American side too, because I was born in San Francisco. My first few years were spent here (in the U.S.), and then we went back to New Zealand and later, Australia. In between we had trips to Chile and Nashville. Since then, I’ve done tours in the U.K., Europe, South America and the U.S. We always thought it was so interesting how my music became popular in Chile. It was a pretty cool experience, me and him on the road for many years…just the two of us.

Was your dad interested in music when he was young?

Yes, absolutely. When he was younger, he sang and had a stage name “Rocky Day,” and he did shows around town. He was more like 50s, 60s rock and roll, Bobby Darin, Frankie Valley style. He’s from a big family of eight kids and being one of the eldest, life happens, but he didn’t have that full-on support to keep going with music. Years later, it was the same with soccer. He was a professional soccer player, but when his father passed away, he stepped up and went to college to be an engineer to help provide for the family. That’s why he’s so supportive of my music and my brother’s sports career. He gets to experience parts of his dream through us.

When you go back to Chile on tours, what is that like?

The last few tours have been across four or five cities for radio appearances and solo acoustic shows.

You’re involved in a few other projects, like your work with “ToddZilla” for the Prince cover show, and “Hyndesight,” The Pretenderstribute band. Are these projects part of your normal show schedule?

The Prince show with “Toddzilla” we do periodically, it’s a big production. A large cast and crew that all have busy work and touring schedules, so it takes some doing to bring us all together. It’s an amazing show and experience that I’m honored to be a part of.

“Hyndesight” performs a few select shows a year in different cities across the US. I really enjoy portraying rock icon Chrissie Hynde… again another honor.

How did you get into “The Pretenders” tribute show, “Hyndesight?”

Nothing against those who work there, but I’ve seen the Broadway thing, and it is hard work, but it’s not what I came here to do. I’ve been very stubborn to not fall into that, but for “The Pretenders” tribute thing, I was approached because my drummer, Paul Presson, had this idea to put this band together and asked Bryan Walsh, my bass player, if he knew of a good front woman, and Bryan recommended me.

I felt very stubborn about the project because I didn’t come here to do the tribute thing, but we spoke about it, and of course, I was already a huge fan. I said I didn’t want to just do a random tribute, and the only way I would do it was if it was a character project. It would be Ainsley acting as Chrissie Hynde and portraying her to the best of my ability, as if it was a movie or something, separate from my own music career. It’s a whole persona that I take on to do it justice.

What other music have you released so far?

This one will be the fifth release. Road to Infinity was a full debut album, and then when I came to Nashville, I recorded the Lonely Silhouette EP (2013) on Music Row. That was a shift from Road to Infinity, because Lonely Silhouette came out rocking and took me into that other space where I’ve been wanting to go for a while.

Live Show – Nashville, TN – October 10, 2013

“Tell Michelle” is a song about empowerment for women. The song title is just a metaphor for every woman. Basically, it’s just about not taking any shit in bad relationships, keeping your head up high, and also a message for guys out there on how to treat women right. 

 “Crazy Train” is another fun storytelling song, and “Our Cry,” which is my big love and peace anthem. I was very proud of that one as well.

Esta Rosa/This Rose, which was a double single in English and Spanish for South America. There was a big radio promo, especially in Chile and that song got really popular, another song about how just one gesture could change someone’s day, to be kind, and this rose is a symbol of kindness. If I pass that on to you, you can pass that on to the next person. We can continue this flow of kindness, love and peace throughout the world, one gesture at a time, one smile, one nice thing. It can go a long way.

What venues are you playing at these days?  Do you play downtown on Broadway? 

Not really, but I’ve played downtown a couple times when it’s been for Namm endorsement appearances, where I’ve been able to play my original music for special events. I mainly play at other venues that are not on the strip.

Keep up with Ainsley on the social media links below:

Facebook/Instagram/Youtube@ainsleymusicofficial

Website: www.AINSLEYmusicofficial.com