ASHLEY GOLD

I sat down with Ashley Gold, the new superduo of Mary K Ashley and Gold Blu-27, to discuss their album phoenix loud/ツーソンへのナイトドライブ from mid July. I learned more about their origins as vaporwave artists, how they connected and came up with this album, and the iconic drive from Phoenix to Tucson. We connected over our shared love for Oneohtrix Point Never, DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ, and regional meme lawyers.

Pool Plants: How did you get your starts in vaporwave as fans and as artists?

Gold Blu-27: I think it was way back in September of 2024. I was really deep into electronic music like Aphex Twin. Mostly just listening to a lot of Aphex Twin. And I listened to a lot of my music on Spotify. Usually most of the time Spotify gives album picks and I like to listen to those. One day one of the album picks was I’ll Try Living Like This by Death’s Dynamic Shroud. I didn’t know at the time what vaporwave was, I just saw the really interesting cover and pressed play and was like, “Woah what the fuck is this shit? This shit sounds funky! In a good way. Like the cool electronic Aphex Twin way.” And then I just put it inside.

Two weeks later, I guess, you know this video of Nickster who covers the samples of Eccojams Vol 1? What the hell is Eccojams Vol 1? I just start getting more into what the hell vaporwave was and it’s like, “woah this shit is amazing, I could get into this.” And so I think at first I tried working on Sonus because I didn’t feel like FL Studio at the time. I was trying to follow this guy on YouTube who did a recreation of A3 from Eccojams.

After that the first project was called Hands Across America, based on the charity event where people put their hands together from New York all the way to California. And then I just got into that particular era. What if I make music like that? And that’s how Sunny Blu 27 was born. Back then I wasn’t really the kind of person that put dedication into my own projects. So it took about a month or two with the project but most of the production time was in December 2024. After that when January came I published the album and started on my whole vaporwave journey becoming an artist.

Ashley: So when I was in middle school that was when everything was blowing up in terms of the initial vaporwave scene. So I was very familiar with the aesthetics but not really the music. In terms of music, I was mostly a fan of things like the Hotline Miami soundtrack which was of course synthwave, and because of that my main avenue into vaporwave was through plunderphonics. Things like the Avalanches, any kind of sampled music, like Burial, Gorillaz, stuff like that. It’s all that stuff I’d always loved so much.

What got me into making it was my friend was a collector of vaporwave vinyl and cassettes and she got me back into it in 2023 after a long time of just ignoring it for punk rock in the middle. I think what appealed to me most was the punk rock aspect of stealing samples and making them your own. I think that was the most appealing thing as an artist. But as a fan it’s been connecting with other artists that are just incredible and you would’ve never thought you’d be able to talk to them. It’s very interesting As far as my favorite, favorite vaporwave thing of all time. I don’t know if it’s straight up vaporwave, but Replica by Oneohtrix Point Never would be my desert island pick. It’s just perfect. So for me as a fan, maybe one day I’ll have my own Replica.

P: I was just thinking the other day about Replica and that specific era of OPN and how I think you could make a case that he kind of was inventing signalwave at that time. Or maybe not inventing, I know there were other people that were doing some similar stuff. But it’s so chopped up that we don’t always think about it like that because the samples are so obscured.

A: When you do watch those videos where they break it down, that in and of itself just makes you want to use commercials. So that probably is one of the seeds of signalwave, just the commercials were so tasty and useful. And also the combination of the Roland, I think that was the synthesizer, that 50/50 blend of samples and synthesizers is probably one of the most pervasive things in my brain. I just love it.

P: That’s a really good point and I think that’s why OPN really elevates above vaporwave. As much as we love vaporwave, I don’t mind saying that he’s even further above that because he doesn’t just do the samples or just the synths. It’s the way he brings it all together, he’s obviously a pretty one of a kind artist.

A: Yeah that’s my main answer. OPN got me into that and my friend showed me how easy it was to get started into vaporwave. Also a similarity to punk rock that I found was the whole “easy to pick up, hard to master” aspect of it. It’s like anyone can make a vaporwave song, but can you make it a vaporwave song that you want to listen to more than once? Or something that sticks?

P: Going off of that, what do you think are your biggest non-vaporwave influences, whether musically or aesthetically?

G: I think I’ve said this on Bluesky before, but I like to use rap and hip-hop a lot in my music. The name Gold Blu-27 came from a track from JID called Kody Blu 31. I really love that track. I just like JID, I like Kanye. Back then I had some old ass cliché name "Goldenwave" or something that sounded basic and stuff. I try to put nods towards hiphop. I believe the opening track of my freshman album uses a sample from Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. I was like, "Wow, this is really immaculate. I’m gonna sample that." And that’s how it became the opener of the project. Also, I love Kanye. But not modern day Kanye. Back during like 2010, 2013 era of Kanye. He probably still was crazy, but not as crazy as today. And I try to use that as a personality, trying to act like the crackhead online while making the amazing music.

During the production of Phoenix Loud and Tucson City Limits there was this track that I had sampled called Medicine by Sasuke Haraguchi. I tried to make that into future funk. And there was this reference track that I used called Lumberjack by Tyler the Creator. In that song there are people screaming in the background and I tried to replicate that but the song really came out bad and I just scrapped it.

A: I would say one of the bands that really influences my sound a lot is Duster. Space rock in general has this sound that I can’t get enough of, I basically fall asleep to it every night. And in that same vein I would say Have a Nice Life, their Deathconsciousness album. The way it was recorded, to me that’s the modern take on lo-fi because they were just doing it through their little laptop microphone and with stock plugins and all the stuff. Just really inspiring in that way. Anything that’s a wall of sound, for example black metal or maybe some hardcore punk. I love that type of stuff. I also have a soft spot for blues. I think the mood of blues and the catchiness that comes with it is something that I think about a lot when I try to make my own stuff. I don’t know how and I don’t know why, but somehow vaporwave is related to the blues. Also shoutout to the Cramps! They’re the best band ever.

P: How did you two first connect as artists and how did you come up with the idea to make this specific album?

A: I definitely came across Goldie as soon as I got invited to Children of Vapor. I was invited by Robin Circle and my goal in Children of Vapor is to collab with everyone at least once. At this point of the interview I’m pretty much halfway there. With Goldie in specific, I was like, “Oh you live in Arizona too!” I don’t know how we figured that out, just from getting to know each other on discord. Of course in that way I wanna collab and the project had a few different forms at first but it was always going to be Arizona themed . I think it was Gold Blu that came up with the idea of it being a rave of sorts.

G: Yeah.

A: And I think that when I finally heard your side of the music, because I already had a few demos, I definitely knew what I wanted the rest of it to sound like. I kind of knew going in that once I heard Gold Blu’s songs that it was going to be a wrap. Then the story was the part we had to come up with.

G: The idea was to try to make our own version of Late Nite Delite by Saint Pepsi and Luxury Elite. We just went and had more fun and turned to a whole story of being drugged out, then still hallucinating but more calmed down.

A: Yeah, we’ve all done the drive from Phoenix to Tucson, it’s one that’s really standard. It’s almost a rite of passage and mysterious things can happen in that veil between. Because it’s a good two hours of space in between the two cities, you know there’s so much mystery and potential. I think the future funk aspect that you brought to the sound, Gold Blu, really matches what Phoenix is. I know you’re fairly new to the vaporwave scene but I think that in Phoenix future funk is still the pervasive sound for live shows and things like that. And then Tucson is such an eclectic place for music that you can put anything on it. I mean, Macabre Plaza, I don’t know if they’re even from Tucson. They might straight up be The Garden. Tucson is whatever you want to make it. And that’s what this project is, whatever you want to make it.

G: Exactly. Just two Arizonans having fun.

P: Can you elaborate a little more on this drive from Phoenix to Tucson. Why is that such a big part of being in Arizona?

A: As a Tucsonian at least, there’s this aspect where you have the smaller city. Even though there’s more than a million people here, it’s the town that most of your favorite artists would skip. It’s not like you’d be like “Oh Metallica is playing the Tucson set.” They’re coming to Phoenix, everyone comes to Phoenix. So Phoenix feels like this mecca of partying and events, and that’s where this idea of the oasis comes from. And thus leaving that oasis feels almost like its own journey, because it’s like you’re in this thick cloud of darkness. At least in my case, whenever I’m going to shows in Phoenix by the time I get home to Tucson it’s 2 or 3am so that drive is like darkness. There's not much going on so you’re basically blasting music as loud as you can to try to not to fall asleep. So I guess there’s something to that. It’s like this party for your life, like you’re partying to stay alive and stay awake and get to your house. I don’t know how it feels for Gold Blu’s side, I’m sure it’s something similar. But from my perspective that’s why it’s so important to have the exiting be the second half of the album.

G: For me, where I live there’s always crackheads, homeless people, people doing a lot of drugs. I think it’s more perfect to have Phoenix be a place where drugs, parties, everything, so much is going on everywhere and everything is so exciting. Feeling the rush, the adrenaline going through your veins.

P: Gold, do you ever have much reason to go to Tucson from Phoenix?

G: Actually, literally next month there’s a Swans show and hopefully me and Ashley are going to meet there at the Swans show.

A: Yes, definitely.

And I just want to note that Tucson has a problem how the houseless and unhomed people are treated. it is just unfortunate that there's this us vs them mentality. When the real us and the real them, them is the billionaires and us is everyone else. I don’t think there’s much separating us from the crackheads. The only thing separating us is maybe you have a roof over your head. Yes, they’re living life on this extreme edge and going nuts, maximum to the max, but do they really have a choice? We have a choice, and that’s the taboo part of it. We’re choosing the drugged out haze and then the sobering up afterwards is when you really have to think about it.

P: I remember, back in the early 2010s, I was doing a decent amount of acid. Those days are over now, but I would definitely have those moments of “what’s the difference between me and any other random person that I might encounter, what’s the difference between any of us.” A lot of that is acid breaking down the ego, but also I think that was my first contemplation on the different kinds of drugs and the social status placed on them. Like you said, there’s a really strong distinction between whether or not you get to do your drugs inside or outside.

A: I would also say my days of acid are over. But that would be another influence in my music.

P: You’ve already brought up what you were going for with this album musically. It’s more upbeat, future funk dancey and ravey. Maybe it’s just because I know that Ashley is into her but I was also getting a lot of DJ Sabrina vibes from a lot of these tracks. And especially on the Gold side I loved the inclusion of a lot of non-musical samples. Like the Tourette’s Guy obviously, that’s a big one for me since high school. How did you make the choice as vaporwave artists to focus on this more upbeat, dancey music. Was it just your feelings of Phoenix or was it something else?

A: In terms of the upbeatness, I have also been looking to make that Mac Tonight energy. I think Gold Blu was the one to bring that speed first because I was going for more the classic vaporwave sound in my demos. Maybe one day I’ll post them. When Gold Blu was showcasing the future funk sound, his sound was transcending future funk and almost going to french house. Closer to things like Justice and stuff like that. So I think it was definitely Goldie who brought that speed and tempo.

But I found it my job to capture that and slow it down, but not stop that inertia. I wanted to make sure that it has this crash landing where it can lose speed over time, that’s what you hear on my side. I do start pretty fast but then by the end of it, it’s more just those weird echoey layers and stuff. I love DJ Sabrina a lot. I’m also very lazy, though, and that is why my side only really includes one sample, from a Rafi commercial. Per Gold Blu’s request of course, because that is a big conencting piece between Tucson and Phoenix. He is one of those Better Call Saul type lawyers.

G: He’s pretty much a local celebrity here in Arizona.

A: He’s an injury lawyer or something, everyone dresses like him, it’s a whole thing. Who knows, could be a milkshake duck. The labubu lady was a milkshake duck, nothing is sacred. So I want to say Goldie really knocked it out of the park with those samples and it inspires me to want to do it more on my next future funk project. But at the end of the day I’m a bit of a lazy artist and if it sounds good I don’t want to add too much to it. If it wasn’t initially what I was thinking of then I‘m not going to try to jam it in there. So I‘m really glad that the sound encapuslated that in the first half. And also to what you were saying, that is the sound of Phoenix I think. That crazy funky sweaty rave sound for sure.

G: Initially, I was just trying to mimic Saint Pepsi. And then I just got into sampling and editing like what Ashley said, more french house like Justice. Though I don’t listen to Justice a lot. I haven’t listened to a Justice album, but I’m aware who Justice is. I think Feeling the Cool Air was based on Aerodynamic by Daft Punk. Also Yebisu (Yung Bae edit) by Yung Bae. The sample I used was the same Macross 82-99 used. Yung Bae sampled that sample. I want to go crazy sampling, I want to go nuts. I want to go crackhead gangster, that’s how crazy it is. So in the beginning I used Jamiroquai stuff because I just really love Jamiroquai, they had that really great sound I was going for.

And then I also try to use crazy ad samples and I think two of the songs sample this movie Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood. Which is a really funny, great movie parody of Boyz in the Hood and it’s funny as hell. I just gotta use that. Also JPEGMAFIA, who’s a rapper, also sampled that same movie in one of his tracks. Like, I wanna do that! I can do that, too, anyone can do that! Who cares, who gives a shit about it? So I just sampled Don’t Be a Menace to South Central. That’s pretty much how I wanted to replicate Phoenix Loud, going crazy and crackhead with it and also make it a dance album. A nice Daft Punk album or something like on that on my side.

P: One last quick question: Can we expect any kind of sequel from you guys in the future?

G: I do not know, I do not know. I do not know the future for that… maybe?

A: I want to start doing more collabs that are true collabs as opposed to splits, because that’s where my laziness is showing. Splits are easy to do because you can just have a batch of songs and someone else’s batch of songs and then you’re done with it. But if me and Goldie do another thing soon I want it to sound like more of a true blend of our sounds. I want to get more on the french house vibe. It would truly be a thing where instead of being Gold’s tracks and Ashley’s tracks… Ashley Gold! *laughs*

G: Yeah, it’s the second Ashley Gold album. All made by Ashley Gold!

A: Exactly. And it would probably be more transcendent. If I had to think about a theme, I think there’s some things we could probably explore in terms of Arizona. What interests me right now is the fight that’s been going on to protect our environment against the threat of ai data centers. In Tucson they’ve recently blocked the making of an ai data center out in the suburban area. And the thing is, the company still owns the land out there so they’ll still figure out something to to do. They’re not going to stop trying to take all of our resources, these billionaires are so inconsiderate of everybody. And if we do something soon it probably will reflect the unrest that goes with that. There’s a reason why I set it in the near future, 2028, because we’re at a point where everything feels exponentially bad. You can believe in 2028 that we actually will be in a weird dystopian authoritarian type situation since we’re only 11% done with the current regime. We’re screwed! I should wrap this up by saying it’ll probably be a little more political.

G: I’ll just do whatever Ashley decides to go with, whenever that time comes.

A: I’m going to make Goldie be political, don’t worry.