WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE, ASTN?

We sat down with the up-and-coming Los Angeles based R&B singer songwriter, ASTN, to discuss heartbreak, tattoos, Pokémon, and the creative process.

While the Florida-grown artist is an undeniable hitmaker, the “Happier Than Ever” singer’s latest album, “Where Do We Go From Here,” has been a tonal departure from his usual sound. The album encapsulates the rollercoaster-esque aftermath of a breakup featuring haunting lyricism and a few songs anyone could get down to in the club.

Let’s jump right into it. Can you just tell me a little bit about how “Where Do We Go From Here” all came together? 

Yeah, totally. So the first track on the project’s called “How Soon,” and that was the jumping off point. I wrote that last year in March. I had just gone through a three year relationship, and then we both ended up going our separate ways. So, it had been a while since I had felt those types of feelings of confusion and being lost. It was like a sense of freedom as well, like it’s all this giant roller coaster. The first song to come from that was “How Soon,” and when I wrote that, I didn’t realize I was riding a project. I was just kind of getting stuff off my chest.

Similarly, with the outro of the project, “Starlight.” I think it made sense for them to be the bookends as they were the first to come from the project, it felt like all the bottled up emotion I had from my previous experience kind of went into those two songs. Everything in between, kind of just filled the gaps. Where Do We Go From Here? is kind of like an eight track project about my year and the experience of moving on, having a good time looking back, wondering where it went wrong, analyzing the relationship, and learning from it. I feel like the project has a lot of questions in it and I’m not sure if there are any answers.

Do you usually approach things knowing it’s gonna be a full project?

I don’t think so. I don’t think I’ve ever been a big-picture kind of person. I think I will just write however I feel in the moment. Obviously, during the last year and a half of writing this project, I’ve written so many more songs than just the eight featured. Like I said, the first two songs, “How Soon” and “Starlight” were the two points where I was like, okay I’m starting to build something here.

Down the line, I would love to be able to put something together conceptually. Before any lyrics are written, I would love to be able to sit down with all my collaborators and come up with the idea, and then put everything to music. I feel like that’s where really, really, really good bodies of work are made. This project was just getting stuff off my chest and it felt like it was necessary for it to happen the way it did.

How did you balance that necessity while working with people?

I think one of the beauties of songwriting is, it’s almost like a version of therapy a little bit. Obviously, it’s not intentional therapy where you’re going there for a specific reason, but it’s funny, some of these songs, the more vulnerable ones, were written with people that I was meeting for the first time. I think whenever you go into the studio with someone as a songwriter, you are ready to hear whatever they have to say, or you’re just open and willing to go in whatever direction they want. Especially if you’re a songwriter working with an artist, you’re kind of just going there like, “how are you feeling today?” blah, blah, blah. You just take it all in and try to regurgitate what they say in the form of a song. It’s just something I really appreciate about really good songwriters and this project is filled with them. They, they just really know how to put your mess of a brain and your consciousness into a song. That’s what I’ve been doing for a while too. I wrote a lot of my own stuff, but I feel like the beauty of this project was that it feels so personal. However, it has a, a big sense of relatability. And I think that comes from the collaboration part of it being okay. It’s not just my experience, but it’s also that this project is moving the songwriters too.

How much do you consider how fans will react or, whether or not it will be marketable when you’re writing personal songs? 

Whenever it comes to songwriting, I feel you’re intentionally trying to write something that is relatable. I feel like people do this all the time trying to make whatever a “hit” is nowadays while also trying to make something everyone can relate to. I feel like a lot of people, even me as a listener,  love when people are super, super, super specific about their situation. If it rings a bell with you at any time and it’s specific, it hits even harder. Also, I don’t think someone listening to your music has to relate to the entire song, but if it’s one little detail that reminds them of something, I feel like that’s all it takes. So, as an artist, you owe it to yourself to make something that’s true to you. If your situation is very specific and you wanna talk about that, I feel like you owe that to yourself.

Your single “Element” is a little different for you. Can you tell us a little about that song in particular? 

I took my first trip to Miami, and I’d never been to Miami before. I feel like maybe that’s where the song came from, me being in a different space with a different collaborator. I got to work with Poo Bear down in Miami, which was a super good time. It was great to be in the studio with him. I feel like I learned so much just as a songwriter and a creative. His work ethic is so good, it’s really inspiring. We wrote two songs on that trip, “Element” and “On Schedule.” I don’t really make a lot of music like that, but “Element” is more like club, uptempo, high energy. I’m usually more mid tempo, laid back, chiller, but I felt like it was necessary to have this on the project. I’m glad Poo Bear brought it to my attention that he wanted to do something like this. It really makes the project feel like a rollercoaster ride, kind of like a breakup. I feel like the project does that with “Element” being what it is. That’s why I love this project so much. All of the collaborators on it really pushed me to come up with new sounds and to use my voice in different ways while challenging me lyrically. I think “Element” is a big highlight of that atmosphere.