Australian Musician catches up with Queensland-based pop artist Ayla to chat about what she’s been doing in lockdown, her career, the new single “Go Slow’ and her guitars.
In 2014, at just 18-years of age, Queensland-based pop artist Ayla released her debut single ‘Wish I Was’, which immediately gained attention with Australian radio. By the end of the year this debut single came in #15 on triple j’s most played songs of the year. The track also gained traction on European radio, resulting in a distribution deal with EGO Records in Italy and a place on a remix EP, which has a total of 1.9 million listens on YouTube alone.
Ayla has since performed at festivals including Big Pineapple, Festival of the Sun and Woodford Folk Festivals, as well as supporting some acclaimed acts including Kate Miller-Heidke, San Cisco, Kim Churchill and Asta. She also toured the country with her own headline shows.
In 2018, Ayla released her sophomore EP Let’s Talk Monday – featuring a track co-written with Glenn Sarangapany (Birds of Tokyo). The EP was produced by Sam Cromack (Ball Park Music) and mixed by Ian Pritchett (Boo Seeka). Three singles ‘Like the Other Kids’, ‘Shallow End’ and ‘Porcelain Doll’ all picked up strong triple j rotation and community radio play. Later that year Ayla performed debut overseas shows in London and The Netherlands, completed a 14 date regional headline tour and released a further single ‘Small Talk’.
While her restless output as an artist never ceased, in 2019 she shifted focus to other projects, singing in one and playing bass and adding backing vocals to another. Ayla explains that the hiatus was a somewhat deliberate pause to reflect and refresh.
However, the AYLA project was hardly idle during that time. In 2020 she returns with an arson of collaborations, ready to unleash at will. The collection of tracks have taken shape over the last few years that now naturally make sense in this new world of AYLA.
First off the mark is the delicate yet potent ‘Go Slow’, co-written and produced by Peking Duk’s Reuben Styles, the track projects an almost three-dimensional sound as it begs the listener on a journey that twists and turns, punctuated vividly by Ayla’s vivid, flawless vocals.
Ayla ‘Go Slow’ is out now through Ditto Music.
https://music.aylalive.com/