INTERVIEW: Ashley Kutcher talks giving up nursing for music and her latest single 'Favorite What If': "As I progress through my career, I hope to empower women and break that barrier"

Image: Clyde Munroe

American singer-songwriter Ashley Kutcher had only been releasing music for a matter of months when she scored a massive breakthrough hit last year with the single ‘Love You From A Distance’, a gentle guitar based ballad that details a relationship breakthrough. The song exploded on TikTok and racked up 20 million global streams. With support from international outlets such as BBC Radio 1 and Sirius XM Kutcher found herself with a huge music career quicker than she could ever have imagined and made the decision to give up her previous career path of nursing to focus on her music.

She has since released several more million-streaming singles and last week released ‘Favorite What If’, a melancholic pop track which authentically portrays the emptiness and loss of a budding relationship that fell apart before it even started.

With a remarkably emotive voice that makes you feel exactly what Kutcher is singing about, and the ability to create addictive, swirling pop songs that quickly become ear worms it is easy to see why Kutcher is being lauded as one of the next big things in pop. We recently caught up with Ashley to find out more.

Hey Ashley! Thanks so much for joining us at Women In Pop. How is everything in your world right now?
Hi! Thank you so much for having me! Everything is finally starting to look up. After a year of us all being stuck at home, I feel as though my career in music is just starting.

Congratulations on the release of new single ‘Favorite What If’ it is such a great track! Can you tell us about the inspiration behind the song?
Thank you! ‘Favorite What If’ is a song based on young love in the summertime! It’s all about having that one person that you thought you may eventually end up with but never did. That person is your favorite “what if?”

There is a beautiful melancholy to the lyrics, and they are both very personal to you and relatable to your fans. Pop music is such a powerful tool for processing our feelings, what does it mean to you to have other people looking to your music to help them through their own rough patches?
When people started to reach out about how my music has affected them, I was beyond shocked. How people interpret my lyrics means the world to me and it’s why I continue to release music. I can’t wait to perform them live and be able to have everyone sing the words back to me. 

Can you tell us a little about the creative process for the song?
’Favorite What If’ was written over Zoom during quarantine with two of my friends. I wanted to write a song that gave a nostalgic feeling of summer. I wanted to focus on that feeling of missing someone and just wondering what could have happened if you stayed together. The phrase “favorite what if” got thrown around and I was just like, yes that’s the title. 

We are hoping you also have a music video for the song…!
Yes we do! We wanted to show the nostalgic feeling throughout the music video. We landed on an old Hollywood theme and I think it came together so well. We shot most of the video with a super 8 camera in the streets of LA, a diner, a hotel, and an apartment. 

What role did music play in your life when you were growing up?
My dad is a drummer and he was always having band practices in the house. We would all do karaoke nights, play music with my dad, or go to concerts for fun. I learned from a young age how important music was to me. 

You gave up your planned career in nursing to pursue music, how difficult was that decision to make?
It was definitely a difficult decision, especially during the pandemic. I was trying to balance record label, management, and publishing meetings while finishing up my final semester of nursing and working a student nursing job. After I started getting messages about how my music was helping people in the way it was, it made me feel confident to walk away from nursing and continue to help people with my music.

Who are the artists that inspire you and lift you up, both as a child and also now as a professional musician?
As a child, I was a huge fan of John Mayer, Paramore, and Bob Marley. My dad loved those artists as well and we were always playing their songs together. Now I have a lot of inspirations such as Amy WineHouse, Billy Joel, The Band Camino, Hozier, and Lennon Stella. 

The music industry has long been a difficult space for women to exist in, partly because it has been run for so long by older, white, straight men. What are your thoughts on gender equality and sexism in the music industry?
I am so new to the industry. I didn’t enter the industry as a kid and grow up in this difficult environment, but I’ve seen how difficult that can be just through the public eye. In general, men have been at the top and in a position of power and the music industry is no exception. I have chosen to have a team with a lot of young, ambitious, and powerful women. As I progress through my career, I hope to empower women and break that barrier, especially as a young woman myself, new to the industry. 

What’s up next for Ashley Kutcher?
So much more music! I am proud to say I have written some of my favorite songs over the past few months and I hope to see them out in the world shortly. Then, I can’t wait to get back to what I love and be able to perform for everyone. I’ve been dying to meet my fans and I can’t wait till we can all be in one room sharing music together!

‘Favorite What If’ is out now via Darkroom/Interscope Records. You can download and stream here.

To keep up with all things Ashley Kutcher you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.