F  L  A  U  N  T

 One listen of [Asher Knight](https://www.instagram.com/asherknightuk/?hl=en)’s voice, and you’re immediately hooked. Hailing from Bradford in the UK, the singer-songwriter creates music from a vulnerable place, wearing his heart on his sleeve with lyrics inspired by real-life occurrences and events. From being bullied in high school to shutting down stages on tour for The Vamps, Knight proves if he can do it, you can do too. Moving to London to pursue music full-time, the rising star began working with songwriting legends including Cutfather, Mark Owen, Jon Maguire, Red Triangle, Olly Murs, and James Blunt. Having released his own original music for the past couple years, Asher’s music to date totals over 800K streams on Spotify alone, a testament to his hard work, passion, and talents as an independent artist. 2021 saw Asher on tour with Rak Su, as well as unleashing his newest single titled “Amnesia,” an emotional ballad dedicated to those feelings of heartbreak you wish you could forget. In line with the rest of his songs, “Amnesia” is relatable to audiences all around the world. The song also holds fans over until the release of his new EP. Flaunt caught up with Asher via FaceTime, who was posted in the cold of London. Read below as we discuss his sound, roots in the UK, love for Taylor Swift, the turning point in his music career, the inspiration behind “Amnesia,” his recent tour with Rak-Su, best encounter with a fan, studio essentials, goals, and more!  **How would you describe your sound?** My sound is definitely pop, but it takes a lot of influence from different artists like Taylor Swift to people like James Arthur where they’re telling a story. It's all about that story and encouraging people, being honest and having a conversation with those that are listening. Showing them the positive side, even when they’ve going through hell.  **What was it like growing up in Bradford, UK?** Growing up, it was fun. It’s where all my family’s from, I had a great childhood. It was good fun, it was small and everyone knew everyone. It was lovely.  **Who are your biggest influences?** My biggest influence is Taylor Swift because she’s such an incredible songwriter. Whether you like her music or not, she’s able to be relatable. All of us have gone through similar situations that are in her songs.I hope one day I’m able to write music that other people can relate to as much as hers. Also, there’s people like James Arthur and Adele who are incredible singers, that I’d love to be able to use my voice in the way they’re able to use their voice. Where it’s emotional, it’s powerful, and people can connect.  **At what point did you realize this music thing was forreal?** For me, music came into play when I was 16. I was always doing dance and drama at school, I went to a performing art school. One day, my teacher turned around and said “you need to sing.” I said “nope, I do not sing. I can't sing.” \[laughs\] Eventually she had me stand up in front of my class and sing “Can't Help Falling In Love” by Elvis Presley.  **Were you nervous?** I was incredibly nervous, I was scared. I was more scared of getting kicked out of the classroom, but I enjoyed it. I fell in love with music at that moment and everything else happened straight afterwards. 6 months later, I ended up in LA. I was meeting people, I was recording music. It all happened overnight and I’ve never looked back.  **What’s the inspiration behind your name?** Asher, everybody called me that forever. It’s not my real name, but it's the one I've always been called by everyone since I was younger. It was always Asher because my real name’s Ashley, but everyone called me Asher for some reason.  https://asherknight.lnk.to/Amnesia **“Amnesia” out now! How are you feeling?** Incredible! It's a song that I wrote during the lockdown. It relates to a situation I’ve been through within the last year or so where I’ve been in a bad relationship with someone work-wise. I’ve moved on from that after lockdown, where I said “I’ve had enough of this, this isn’t right.” All those years spent with them, I wish I could get rid of those memories. That's something everyone can relate to, whether it’s someone they're friends with, whether that’s someone they used to date. All these different situations, sometimes we want to forget. Sometimes we wish we had amnesia and that inspired the song. It’s incredible putting it out.  **Has the girl heard it?** I have no idea, we don’t speak. I’m not sure, most probably have. They haven’t commented, they have not contacted me over it.  **What inspired the music video?** We’ve done two different videos for it. The original, which is out now, is incredible. It leads on the story from my last single, “[Too Much To Ask For”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gij6GsxOhQ) video-wise. It's incredibly shot, the director was incredible. We’ve released a second version because I just got off tour last month, we did a tour remix. We compiled all the best bits from the tour of us messing around backstage, having fun and just enjoying life.  **What did it mean to tour with Rak-Su?** It was absolutely incredible. It feels so weird being back now with COVID performing. It’s bizarre because for a year, I haven't been able to go on stage and perform for people. My last show was the week before the UK lockdown, before being in houses and we couldn’t leave. I literally did an incredible show then and haven't done one since. The first night, I felt like I was back home: being on stage, enjoying the crowd. Rak-Su is the most incredible group. They’re fun, energetic, and so kind. It was one of the best tours I’ve done.  **Why was it one of the best tours?** Well, my performance after a year or so has stepped up. I feel really happy with it. I took the time over lockdown to improve and work on things. On tour, I feel I did that. It was incredible being back on stage, seeing people I haven't seen in a year. Fans that come to every single show and I got to see them again, that's incredible. I feel very blessed to be able to perform like I did.  When I go up on that stage, that's where I'm most comfortable. That's where I'm enjoying myself the most. It feels safe, bizarrely. Standing in front of a thousand or however many people, it’s a place where you'd think you feel very vulnerable and insecure. But for me, it isn’t. It’s where I feel most comfortable because I get to be myself fully.  **Best encounter you had with a fan?** Oh, that’s really hard. On the tour, there were 2 girls that had come to every single show I’ve done. I hadn’t seen them in over 18 to 19 months, whatever it’s been now. I remember I went into the audience and I saw them, I got so excited to see them again because I hadn’t seen them in so long. They’re so sweet and kind. That’s been the best because I was seeing people again. **How would you describe your fashion sense?** It’s quite clean. It’s never over the top. It’s stripping it back, things like a simple white tee or a bomber jacket. Things that are simple and cool. I don't like to have big, over-branded or too in your face. I like it to be simple and clean. Something I can move in so when I'm on stage, I can dance in it. Whatever’s going on, I'm able to get on with the day.  **What can we expect next from you?** I’ve been in the studio, I'm writing a lot more music. I'll be releasing a lot more music. I’ve got an EP coming out but before that, I got 2 more singles I'm excited to release. They’re fun and really energetic. Through this EP you see a progression of where I’m going, what my sound is and what I want to talk about. I hope that people look forward to it and enjoy it.  **Goals yourself as an artist at this point of your career?** My goal is to keep entertaining people and making them happy, that's all I want to do. That's what gives me life, it’s what makes me excited to wake up in the morning. It's to make other people enjoy themselves and forget about any problems they’ve had during the day, just listen to good music.  **What is good music to you?** Good music is being able to escape, being able to feel inspired. It’s being able to change your mood when you have had a bad day, that's what good music is for me. It’s something you can dance to when you want to, when you want to have a party.  **Anything else you want to let us know?** If they want to check me out, they should follow me on [AsherKnightUK](https://www.instagram.com/asherknightuk/?hl=en) on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube.