Q: Congratulations on the release of ‘Gone Before You Let Go’! Can you share what inspired you to write it?
Ahli: Thank you! So I wrote this album over the course of the last five years of my life, and it contains what I think defines me as an artist and as a person. Over the years I just had one idea of "I just need to get better and then..." whether it was as small as appreciating the honeymoon phase of a relationship (My Kind of View), or as big as watching my hometown fade out of my life and missing friends grow up in pursuit of music (Famous). I just thought that mentally if I could just be "better" as a person, I would suddenly get back to what made me be an artist in the first place. The album starts with "Lying" which is about the things I told myself to go to sleep, it was also the first really produced song that I worked fully on. The last song on the album is "Somebody's Someone" which was written 2 years ago about facing myself with if I wanted to be someone worth coming back to or if I wanted to just find someone who thought I was.
Q: What made you choose ‘Gone Before You Let Go’ as the title track of your new album?
Ahli: I think it was the hardest to write! I think it takes a lot to not leave at the first sign of something going wrong in love, and if I am being honest with myself; it still feels like the most honest and encompassing track (alongside "Somebody's Someone" and "One Step").
Q: Who are your biggest music inspirations?
Ahli: Local Natives and Maggie Rogers handsdown. Both are incredibly badass.
Q: When did you know you wanted to be an artist?
Ahli: I realized I wanted to be a songwriter in third grade when the boy I liked told me I could only be part of his band if I wrote music (got kicked out the next day for being a girl (I also came out as non-binary ten years later, so lol)). I fell in-love with writing then and pursued it ever since, thanks John!
Q: What is your go-to karaoke song?
Ahli: Funnily enough I work at a karaoke bar in East Nashville called Sid Gold's so I definitely know my go-to is Vienna by Billy Joel.
Q: What can we expect next from you?
Ahli: I have a bunch of projects coming out this year but expect to see my music video for "Gone Before You Let Go" Friday, February 25th. I also have an album release show at Sid Gold's in East Nashville, March 10 if anyone is in the area!
Written By Sarah Curry
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