Hailing from Los Angeles, Miss Ashley Jean is a bedroom and dream-pop rock artist who lives and breathes music. If she's not writing music, she's writing about music, or thinking of ways the industry can improve.

Confetti was the moody and melodic tune that introduced me to Miss Ashley Jean's sonic world, and there was just something so special about the angsty, emo-laced track that really resonated with me.

Getting the sense that there was a musician with an interesting story to tell, I reached out to Miss Ashley Jean to see if she'd be up for an interview. Thankfully, she was more than happy to oblige!

Chatting with us about her love for female-fronted bands, why, as a woman, she always feels she has to prove her worth a little more, and what "being successful" in the music industry looks like to her, please welcome our new friend Miss Ashley Jean!

Miss Ashley Jean - welcome aboard! I'm so excited to introduce you to our ever-growing audience!

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, please tell us a little bit about your musical journey so far.

What sparked your passion for it, and how has that led you to where you are today?

Thank you so much for having me!

I’ve always been a musical person. As a kid, I played in the backyard making up melodies and lyrics, along with dramatic stories to accompany them. This is likely because my parents would purchase every Disney animated film they could. So, I was conditioned to pair a story with a score.

Because my family couldn’t afford music lessons, I sought out every opportunity at school that would allow me to participate in something musical or music adjacent. Whether I was signing lyrics (American Sign Language) for a school play, joining the choir, or even square dancing (an American folk style dance), I would do it. Nothing could stop me from pursuing music. In my later years as a teenager, I took more classes offered to me—guitar, two choirs, and music technology–and it was at this point that I really felt I could have a music career.

My cousin had a huge passion for sound engineering and rap music, and for some time, I would sit in his studio and write with him. I appeared on one rap track and got comfortable with recording as a whole, so he helped me buy my own gear so I could write and record at home. At the same time, while I was in college, I took piano courses so that I could play something, even if it was chords, to write a song.

The challenge was that, as someone who grew up in Los Angeles, you quickly learned that you are surrounded by talent and skills beyond you. I auditioned for The Voice and X Factor, and while so many people around me validated my talent, it simply was not “enough” for producers to carry me through to the main show. For a while, I pursued other creative passions, writing obsessively about music, trying to start a music blog, and following bands on tour—anything I could do to be around what I loved.

I guess that all sort of paid off because those years of experience and failure evolved into confidence. Greta Morgan, singer and songwriter of The Hush Sound and Springtime Carnivore, offered a lyric-focused songwriting course in 2022, and thus began the trajectory of writing my own music.

OK, let's talk all things Confetti, the tune that brought me into your sonic world.

You've said the early 00s sound was a big inspiration for the track, because of the angsty themes of broken friendships. Tell us more 😊

Confetti was born out of a therapy session. My ex-best friend was an expert and thoughtful letter sender. Over our seventeen-year friendship, I kept every small note to the large ones she’d send for my birthday, or simply because. After we broke up, those pieces of paper felt invasive. Not only were they taking up space in my closet, but in my heart and mind as well. Thus, my therapist suggested we organize a “keep” and “shred” pile. So many letters went into the shredder, so many memories from the early 2000s—all of it became confetti.

Given when our friendship began, and our mutual love for emo music, it felt appropriate to bring that vibe to the sonic universe. When I suggested that we should create a mood similar to Straylight Run - moody and melodic – my producer Brian Bond and my drummer Keith Carne both had worked with a member of that band. It was like the universe was saying, “This is the sound!”

Now, I apologise for asking such a tough question so early on.

But...if you could pick one of your songs to skyrocket to the top of the charts and achieve massive international success, which would it be and why?

I frequently go back and listen to my 2025 EP, Off the Hinge, and listen to Lesson. I approached that song vastly differently from any others. Not only did I write with my electric guitar, but I also wrote all the music first—including some counter melodies and background vocals. The frustrated and angsty concept came second, and then the lyrics followed.

I don’t necessarily think that the songwriting process made the song better than my others, but it is such a stand-out piece. I think Lesson truly encapsulates my essence–a sweet person with a little bit of bite. You know, some bitterness. Who knew I could be an angry person?

I’ve always had a love for emo, pop-punk, rock, etc., and it’s usually the sound I’m chasing. But I have to write 20 ballads before I get to something that lands a little harder, or at least more uptempo.

Who would you say some of your biggest musical influences are, and who would I see under “Recently Played” on your streaming service of choice?

Female-fronted bands and female artists like Selena (Quintanilla), Evanescence, Paramore/Hayley Williams, Flyleaf, and Avril Lavigne are some of my strongest influences. As a kid and a young woman, I wanted to emulate their strong presence and pristine vocals. Although, admittedly, I do like what people in the States sometimes refer to as “white guy music.” The Ataris, Fall Out Boy, Taking Back Sunday, My Chemical Romance, and We Are Scientists also made an equally profound impact on me.

Currently, I am into a female-fronted sister group from Mexico called The Warning. I saw them recently on tour with Yungblud, and they were everything I want to be when I grow up–musically, of course. Their stage presence, skill, passion, vocals…they have it all. Also, Latinas/Mexicanas (like myself) are vastly underrepresented in the world of rock.

I’ve also recently gotten into bands like Edgehill and Bike Routes. Honestly, if it's rock, if it’s a little heavy or melancholic, I’m into it.

Outside of music, what keeps you busy, happy and motivated? Walk us through a non-music day in the life of Miss Ashley Jean.

On a regular day, I’m commuting 40 minutes to work to teach as a full-time college English professor. During those long drives, I am either screaming to all my favorite bands or sitting in silence because teaching itself can be a bit of an exhausting performance. Sometimes the audience is into it, sometimes it’s not.

I try to make my classes a little more enjoyable, so we write about topics like music or food. Everything and anything is a text, and I am here to prove that English, as a field, is more than literature. It’s a study of the human condition through language.

At home, I work on novels. I’m also an award-winning children’s author who writes about musical girls. Whether they’re in rock bands with their sisters like The Warning, or in a mariachi group, all of my writing revolves around or incorporates music somehow. In fact, I wrote a song for my latest novel, Choir Grrrl, called Smog on the Horizon.

I promise I don’t always work. I do like to spend time filling my creative well by hanging out with my friends and going to various coffee shops around Los Angeles. There are plenty, and I haven’t been to all of them yet, but I am looking forward to eventually sitting in them and enjoying a latte at least once.

What are your thoughts regarding the music industry of today, and, if you were able to, what changes would you make to it?

The music industry is still vastly dominated by men. More specifically, white men.

I do find myself growing more and more bitter watching guys on social media with their guitars, singing beautifully and achieving massive success seemingly overnight. Our society, as much as we collectively laughed at and made fun of Ken for singing at Barbie in the Barbie movie, is conditioned to marvel at that spectacle. By now, and because we have critiqued this industry so many times through a feminist lens, you’d think the novelty of a man with a guitar would have worn off.

As a woman, I have to prove my worth a little more. Women cannot be mediocre at their craft, whether that’s singing, playing an instrument, or songwriting. They are expected to be extremely skilled, objectively attractive, confident, and “pure.” We have no room for error, which leads to a lot of anxiety when creating. I’m constantly undermining my capabilities, considering if I need to get Botox or some kind of plastic surgery to at least be seen, to be an object of value. Couple that with being Latina, and the problems double. As I mentioned earlier, Latinas are already underrepresented, so I have to jump through more hoops to get a breadcrumb of attention.

I wish the industry would reward all women of color and of all skill levels as much as they do white men. Because we have to admit that not all men are great (musically) at what they do, but somehow they do skirt by. Somehow, they are rewarded.

I want there to be space for all of us.

Success is, obviously, such a broad term with different meanings for everyone. What would “being successful” in the music industry look like to you?

At the ripe age of an elder millennial, I have come to terms with the fact that success might not look like what I imagined it would at thirteen. When I was younger, I expected to be a pop star like Britney Spears—loads of fans, big tours, dancers, and money. For many years after, that goal post changed depending on what kind of music I was listening to at the time or what opportunities I was presented with. If I were working as a merch girl or a music journalist, I would be content with being music-adjacent. Yet, a part of me yearned to be on stage.

Now, I’ve adapted what Evan Brock from Laika Songs considers success: if people find my music, it’s like finding a hidden treasure.

Being able to create with my own hands, record it, and collaborate with people I deeply respect and admire—yeah, what a treasure for me. What a treasure for everyone to stumble onto. Music is a physical manifestation of our dreams in a listener’s ears. That’s success, because not many people even think trying is worth the time and effort. To try, to fail, but eventually finish the art–– that’s an achievement.

All of the other stuff that comes with it? Noise.

Miss Ashley Jean - it's been an absolute pleasure having you here! Thanks for taking the time to chat with us!

Before we say farewell, what comes next for musically, and do you have any words of wisdom you'd like to leave us with?

My next EP, Another Fragment, is out in July 2026! Empath, the second single from that album, is now out.

Behold all of the treasures available to you on stream and make some gems of your own. You will only regret not giving yourself the opportunity to try.

Follow Miss Ashley Jean on Instagram

Miss Ashley Jean: “Being able to create with my own hands, record it, and collaborate with people I deeply respect and admire—yeah, what a treasure for me”

Finlay Birch: “If someone tells me a song helped them through something or became part of their life in some way, that means far more to me than any statistic”

Lucian Fhor of The Whispering: “We have no interest in the changing music trends. A wise sage once told me, “If you don’t feel it, nobody will”