An interview with Ashley Sienna
Dark pop singer Ashley Sienna gained an international fanbase with her powerful TikTok debut song What You Need in 2023, followed a few months later by her first EP, I AM. This EP features collaborations with famous dark pop artists HotHighPriestess and ELLISE, which reached many listeners thanks to heavy promotion on TikTok. Fast forward a year, and she’s secured another collaboration with alternative singer Sophie Powers and released her first-ever album, Eden, which takes listeners on a magical journey of manifestation and self-love. Now, she’s on her first headline tour across four U.S. cities! Next Wave Magazine met up with Sienna for an in-person interview on her second tour date on Oct. 30 at the Mercury Lounge in New York City. Read on to learn about her creative process behind Eden, her experience collaborating with other artists, and even her fear of bugs.
Next Wave Magazine: Hello, hello, everybody. I'm Giulia Campora with Next Wave Magazine, here today with Ashley Sienna. She'll be playing her first-ever show in New York tonight.
Sienna: So excited, actually!
Next Wave Magazine: Same here! So, recently, you released your album, Eden. Tell us what your creative process was like.
Sienna: For Eden, out of all the projects I've done before, this is the one where I really thought about what I wanted the concept to be. It started with me just looking through Pinterest and seeing all these fairy-themed, magical, mystical, ethereal photos. I made a board of this world I wanted to create with my music, and that became the inspiration base. I just wanted to make music that sounded and felt like those pictures. Angel Boy was the first song I wrote, and I just expanded from there, creating this magical little paradise.
Next Wave Magazine: That is really cool, actually; the fairy/cottagecore aesthetic. So in your previous YouTube and TikTok videos, you said that you've always had manifestation in your family and always felt drawn to it in a way. I don’t remember the exact quote, but was it that your father introduced you to it?
Sienna: Yes, yeah, my dad introduced me to it!
Next Wave Magazine: That’s great! How were you able to incorporate these manifestation techniques, like subliminals and all that, in your songs?
Sienna: My I AM album was my first full manifestation album. I had affirmation lyrics—lyrics that were like affirmations. I put in different frequencies because different frequencies help attract different things. With Eden, some songs are manifestation songs, and others are more about world-building. For example, my song Aphrodite is filled with beauty affirmations and also has the beauty frequency. That’s how I add manifestation into my music because the music and lyrics you listen to are the things you attract. I always keep it positive.
Next Wave Magazine: Some fans said that your manifesting techniques and your music helped them reconcile with loved ones or attract new people into their lives. How does it feel to know you've helped people through your music?
Sienna: I think, like I mentioned, the things you listen to and the media you watch are what you attract. My song What You Need was my biggest love manifestation song. The lyrics were meant to boost people’s confidence, helping them realize that if they want something, it can be theirs. I think it helped people with their self-concept, made them feel more magnetic and powerful, and showed them they can attract anyone they want. Confidence plays a huge role in that, and I feel like the lyrics really helped boost people’s confidence, which in turn helped attract others into their lives.
Next Wave Magazine: The song didn’t help me manifest anything, but it definitely boosted my ego! It's the kind of music to listen to whenever we need to feel confident.
Sienna: Yeah, that's exactly it. And honestly, that's the first step in manifesting. Because if something’s not meant for you, if you're not meant to attract a specific person, it may not happen. But if your confidence and ego are boosted with the music, then you’re going to attract exactly the person that is meant for you into your life.
Next Wave Magazine: That’s a beautiful statement. You’ve collaborated with a few singers so far, like alternative singer Sophie Powers on Obsessed. How was working with her?
Sienna: Oh my god, I love Sophie so much. Obsessed was written by Sophie, Bonnie, some other friends, and also my best friend, Liam, who’s awesome. I remember Liam playing it for me in the car, saying, “Oh my god, listen to this new song I wrote with Sophie.” The moment I heard it, I was obsessed and immediately thought, “Can I be on this song?” So I texted Sophie like, “Please, can I be part of this? I’ll write my second verse!” And that’s how the collaboration happened. Sophie’s just so talented, super hard-working, and has the best personality. I just love her so much.
Next Wave Magazine: When you collaborated with Ellise, who will be opening for you on the LA tour date, and with HotHighPriestess, you shifted to a darker sound, which felt more like indie pop than a pop tune. How was it different working with two opposite sounds?
Sienna: I feel like with Ellise and HotHighPriestess, we really channeled our dark feminine energy. With Sophie, it’s more about channeling that fun, bubbly side. I don’t think there’s just one side to a person. You can’t just be dark feminine energy all the time—you’ve got to have different sides to you. So I wanted to showcase both of those sides, doing different things with different artists. Ellise and HotHighPriestess are also SO awesome. It’s been so much fun to dive deep into that dark feminine energy—it’s powerful, empowering, and it helps with confidence and everything.
Next Wave Magazine: That’s beautiful! You’ve said that TikTok has been the one platform that helped you rise to fame, especially with the release of What You Need last year. How did the idea of using this social media approach come about?
Sienna: I’ve been on TikTok since the very beginning—since Musically. I deleted a bunch of videos because they took up so much storage, but at one point, I had 8,000 drafts. I've definitely been around. TikTok has really been the platform that helped my song reach millions. I think what really helped is that manifestation music wasn’t really popular on TikTok yet. What You Need was one of the first manifestation songs to blow up there. Then everyone started asking, “What is manifestation music?” That’s when it really took off because people started hearing about something new that could boost confidence and help attract things.
Next Wave Magazine: Amazing! So let’s fast forward to the present. You played your first show in Toronto, and tonight you’ll be in New York for the first time. How’s your first tour going? I saw on your Instagram story that you’re having so much fun.
Sienna: Yeah, oh my god, I love it. I've always wanted to travel for my music, so this feels unreal. I can’t believe it’s happening. I love New York so much, and I’ve never been to Chicago, so that’ll be my first time there. Even LA—I’ve performed there before, but never my own headlining show. It’s been amazing meeting fans in person, because I never really got to do that before. Now I get to give them a hug, and it’s just really awesome.
Next Wave Magazine: I hope you get to meet even more fans because I remember on TikTok, fans were saying they wanted you to go to Europe.
Sienna: Yes, so many people in Europe are manifesting that next!
Next Wave Magazine: So speaking of tour, what other countries do you want to visit to meet more fans?
Sienna: Oh my god, there are so many! My background is Slovak, so I’d love to perform in Slovakia. I’ve been there before, but it’d be amazing to perform there. I also love Paris and London. I’ve never been to either, but I really want to go. Those are my top cities in Europe, but there are so many places I want to visit!
Next Wave Magazine: Very cool! To wrap up, what message would you like to give to your current fans and new listeners just discovering your music?
Sienna: My biggest message is that anything you want is yours. You are the creator of your reality. Whatever you want in life, you can have—if you believe it and truly feel confident that it’s what you deserve, then you can get it. It might take time, but it will happen. As you listen to my music, I hope you can envision what you want and know that you’re worthy. That’s my motivational pep talk.
Next Wave Magazine: That’s a great pep talk—very inspirational! I’ll be replaying this when I get home.
Sienna: Well, thank you so much.
