Today we’d like to introduce you to Sasha Vallely (Sash The Bash).
Sasha, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I was born in Birmingham England and spent my first few years in Aston, where Ozzy Osbourne grew up, and most of Peaky Blinders took place. My Dad actually knew Ozzy as a kid and met one of the Peaky Blinders gangsters when he was a young boy. It’s a very industrial town with a ton of history which I really think shaped me as a child. When I first started writing songs, I found they naturally had a kind of dark Sabbath type feel so it must be ingrained in my blood somehow. Tolkien wrote about Mordor which was based on Birmingham city, and the Shire was the outskirts of there which I eventually moved to which has beautiful green countryside.
I was painfully shy and quiet as a child so even though I performed my first concert playing organ at 8 years old and was in the school choir I didn’t have the confidence to get out there on stage with my own material even though I’d been writing poetry and composing my own tunes since the age of 2. It wasn’t till I moved to Brisbane, Australia where I went to music college, and we were made to write and perform songs each week with the rest of the class I started to come out of my shell a little. I moved back to Birmingham and started a band with my boyfriend at the time called The Mobsters where I sang and played bass. It was a punk rock blues band, and we played shows across the UK and parts of Europe, but the band broke up when my relationship fell apart.
After the end of my relationship I moved back to Australia to live with my mother who had emigrated out there and spent time in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, and the Gold Coast, I wanted to do something musically out there, but nothing was really happening until some friends from a band called The Warlocks said they were looking for a new member. So I sold pretty much everything I owned and bought a ticket to Los Angeles, a place I’d never been but always wanted to visit to go join the band. After a brief stint with them, I ended up joining another band called Spindrift and forming my own band The Silver Chords. I toured with Spindrift across the States and Europe for three years and recorded two albums with them.
In 2013, I had a serious spinal disc herniation which bruised my spinal cord and left me unable to use my right hand or lift my arm. I had to have emergency spinal fusion surgery and was in hospital rehab for a month, I was told I might never be able to use my hand or arm again but I refused to believe that and did everything I could to bring back the use, I still have a lot of pain and nerve damage but I push through it, and I’m just so happy that I can still play guitar and piano though not as well as I used to. I moved to Atlanta to be closer to some of my family that lives out here so they could help me recover and then had a beautiful son.
I was still determined to play music again as it has been my whole life and I just wouldn’t be me without it, so I started a band called Midnight Larks with Nikki Speake and Pietro Digennero. We played a ton around Atlanta and released our self-titled debut last year. They were both in other bands, and I had so many songs that I needed another outlet for so I started Sash The Bash. I wanted to name the band after my childhood nickname. The music is a mixture of various styles and sounds as I love so many different styles of music and like to change direction often, I wanted to be able to have something that can always express that. It started off as a two-piece band, but then in 2017 I tragically lost my drummer Tony Dinneweth. I couldn’t carry on in the same way after that and wanted to surround myself with more members. I have some amazing musicians playing with me currently, Ben Davidow and Cullen Curtis on guitars, Amy Epperley on bass, Jay Hedberg on drums and we have just added a new member who will be playing his first show with us on March 22nd Memphis Mick on keyboards.
As if I didn’t have enough going on I also recently started a project called The Outlaw Women Band. I wanted to do something a bit dark and a bit old school country, I wanted something that would empower women and bring them together, so I have different amazing female musicians of all genres guest with me at each show. It’s not just women though men can play too, but it mainly puts women at the front. I feel like we as women in the industry should support and encourage each other and I hope that this will help to do that.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
My music is my art though I do love anything creative and if I had more hours in the day, I would be drawing and painting more. It has just been in me for as long as I can remember. I have always loved to sing, and I see that as my ultimate instrument of expression as it is your body creating the sound. I recently made the decision with Sash The Bash to not play guitars anymore for a couple of reasons. One because of the pain I have holding a guitar for too long but also because it restricts me. I wanted to be able to express myself fully with how my body moves also. I’ve found with each show I become less and less self-conscious and just let my body move how it wants with the music. I never know what I’m going to do with each show I just go with the flow and see where it takes me, I love that freedom. I still love to play instruments and write and compose my owns songs and film scores.
I am inspired by life and all the powerful emotions that come with it. I like to express my darker side as well as show love. I also like to have fun, be a bit tongue in cheek and try not to take myself too seriously. Some of my songs can be very serious though. It’s how you interpret it. One of the biggest compliments I’ve received is that I have inspired other people to go out and follow their dreams and create their own music and art. I hope that I keep inspiring other people to create as creation is the life force. I hope that people can relate to my joy and also my pain. Have fun with me and cry with me.
Do you think conditions are generally improving for artists? What more can cities and communities do to improve conditions for artists?
It seems that it has become more difficult for artists in some ways but much easier in others. I have been doing this for a while, so I have seen changes over the years. It is a lot harder for artists to make money the old fashioned way. Streaming has killed record sales but also could make it easier for you to be heard so that people will come to your shows. Artists have gone from relying on record sales to having to tour constantly to make money. That makes it harder for people that have to hold down jobs and can’t be on the road all the time trying to build up an audience. I used to tour at least eight months of the year but sleeping in vans and on floors can be really grueling and take a toll on your body. I used to call them the floor tours lol. Now I prefer to do short stints and stay in my local area, but that can make it harder as you don’t want to overplay in your city and it’s harder to build up your audience.
If I were to give advice to Atlanta and just the States in general though the UK can be the same is just appreciate your artists and treat them better. A lot of venues barely pay or even give you a drink ticket. In Europe they look after bands really well, they feed you well look after you and a lot of them even put up touring bands too. I think artists can be well underpaid here. But I have also worked as a promoter and know that it can be a difficult job. I think promoters should help to promote bands more put up posters make flyers etc. There are some great promoters around Atlanta that do that thankfully, but I have played in some cities that haven’t even done any promo or even put up a flyer for a show yet still take a huge cut, it’s just not right. It would be good if there was some kind of standard pay for artists so that they can’t get ripped off. I wouldn’t have any idea how to make that happen though ha. They say the music business is one of the most corrupt businesses around and from what I’ve seen they are right. Hopefully, we can start to make that change somehow.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
My next show is on March 22nd at The Earl. People can support me by coming to shows, telling your friends to come and see my shows and buying merch. That’s the best way you can support a band right now is by buying and wearing a shirt or buying an album and going to shows. Spreading the word for us as it’s so difficult to be seen and heard amongst the millions of bands that are out there. You can also support by liking and following my Facebook pages, following me on Instagram and checking out my website. Every little bit of support helps and is appreciated so much! I couldn’t do it without you!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sashthebash.com
- Phone: 4047318173
- Email: sashthebash369@gmail.com
- Instagram: @sashthebash_inaflash
- Facebook: facebook.com/sashthebashband
- Twitter: @sashavallely
- Other: Facebook.com/theoutlawwomenband
Image Credit:
Kellyn Willey
Michelle X Star
Unknown Vincent
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