PREMIERE: J J Slater Encourages A Fresh Start With New Single “All My Ashes”
Less than an hour outside of civilization and with very little cell phone service, JJ Slater was living from his car beside a lake in between apartment rentals. While an unorthodox living situation, the Western Massachusetts singer-songwriter was able to focus on songwriting and practicing instead of couch surfing. He shares ,“It was nice, because I was teaching myself how to play bass drum and guitar and sing all at once, which for roommates would be torturous. I had a lot of song ideas come to fruition out there, because I could play the same thirty seconds to myself over and over and over again”.
Music has always helped to bring out the most of a situation and provided a fresh perspective on life for Slater, and on his new single “All My Ashes”, which will be off his upcoming EP, the song was born out of necessity, as he had been playing weekly open mics and wanted something new and fun.
“A lot of my songs take a while to put together”, he begins, “I’ll constantly be axing lyrics, deciding that the bridge is the only worthwhile part saving, spending time on big arrangements only to strip it all down. ‘All My Ashes’ is a three minute song that took about eight minutes to write”. And as fate would have it, Slater was able to exchange his services as a piano tuner for studio time at Sleeper Cave Records, leading to his upcoming release, splitting an album worth of songs into two EPs due to the pandemic.
An avid traveler, Slater would always return home from a trip with at least one song in his mind. He found that stepping outside of his normal routine allowed him to be more aware of the “natural version” of himself. Even during the pandemic, he’s taken the time to explore places closer to home like National and State parks to help clear his mind and make room for new music. The ability to recalibrate is an important part of his creative process, and on the jangling new single “All My Ashes”, Slater encourages a fresh start, tumbling away the dust to make room for bigger and better things.
“I wanted to draw a line between my love of ambling travel and my tendency to be emotionally transient, which in this day and age is a very easy habit to fall into,” Slater says. “I keep singing ‘tumbling down’, because when your door is first opened to the world and you move through personal relationships, apartments, jobs, and dreams, it becomes difficult to sense even one foot on the ground. In this song and others on this first EP, I mention a lot of what you leave behind- shadows of yourself, things you’ve used up, places that no longer hold you. ‘All My Ashes’ works as an on-the-nose introduction to these ideas”.
With its Americana spirit and uplifting brightness, “All My Ashes” is a wonderful introduction to JJ Slater and his band, as the steady bass and sweet mandolin strumming contrast together to create a foot-stomping, singalong moment with each chorus, as Slater encourages listeners with his smoky vocals to leave their ashes behind.
Listen to “All My Ashes” below:
