Music Spotlight: LANY

Indie electro-pop band LANY has been making a name for themselves in the music industry these past few months. After supporting Halsey on her recent Badlands tour, they have now signed on to open for Ellie Goulding on her UK leg of her upcoming tour. Created in Nashville, this bi-coastal band divides their time between Los Angeles and New York. Their song "ILYSB" has been play over 5 million times on Spotify. I am absolutely addicted to this band and can not wait until they release a full length album. You can definitely hear their urban city influences in all of their music. LANY is transcending the indie scene because they are such a band of the time. Their nostalgic yet innovative sound is so new and interesting. They even keep their song names creative by using common text language such as "ILYSB" and "BRB." My favorite songs are definitely "ILYSB" and "Made In Hollywood."



Make sure to check them on Twitter!

Buy their music here!

xx
Ashley

#WelcomeBackGC

THEY'RE BAAAAAACCCCCKKKKK!!!!!!!!!



Last week, Good Charlotte announced that they are back together and writing an album! No one was more excited than I was. This band completely changed my childhood and are the reason why I fell in love with alternative/rock music. They just put out their new single Makeshift Love and now have a video out as well. Also announcing they will be going on tour with All Time Low! I'm hoping that tis means that an album is coming really soon!

Makeshift Love. @iTunes. @AppleMusic. 9:30AM PST. #WelcomeBackGC pic.twitter.com/hxjd7syDkd

— Good Charlotte (@GoodCharlotte) November 5, 2015

xx
Ashley

5 Things I Learned in the First Month of Living by Myself

1. I'm actually a pretty decent cook.
When I was at home, I would obviously cook for myself, but I would really just want my mom to cook for me constantly. Since starting college, I've made so many incredible meals for myself and I'm beyond proud!

2. Being independent is a lot of hard work.
When I was still at home, I considered myself quite an independent person already, but I honestly had no clue about what being independent meant. I had never opened a bank account by myself or asked questions about public transportation. Now being able to do these things by myself has been scary but extremely rewarding in so many ways.

3. I can actually have a really fun time by myself.
I went out for coffee a few weeks ago by myself for the first time and for some reason, I was terrified. But then I realized how dumb of a thought that was because nearly 50% of the place was filled with people also by themselves. Since then, I went to an exhibition, went back to more coffee shops and walked around the city many all by myself. We forget how much we need alone time when we are constantly surrounded by people.

4. Not everyone will be friendly, but you just have to brush it off.
London is a huge city. Although I love it, there are days that I hate it because some people just always seem to be really unhappy and they will show this through being rude to other people. But what I have realized, is that these peoples actions should not effect me and my day.

5. Being homesick never really ends, it just gets a little bit easier.
My first few weeks here, I was absolutely miserable. I tried so hard to stay calm and enjoy being here but it was so difficult being in a foreign country and not having my friends and family here. But in those weeks I learned a lot about myself. Each day it gets a bit easier, but I still seriously miss California.

xx
Ashley

My Life In Suitcases

Hi everyone! I have been completely absent from this blog for quite a while because I made a huge and crazy life decision… I moved my entire life to London, England for college! For as long as I can remember, I have dreamt of living in London for a least a few years of my life and I decided that college was the perfect time. So I applied, got accepted and packed up my entire life into 5 huge suitcases (mostly filled with clothes, obviously.)

This past month and a half has honestly been one of the weirdest times of my entire life. I have experienced stress, excitement, fear, loneliness and hopefulness all at once. I have been feeling so homesick these past few weeks, missing my family and California like crazy. At points, I've wanted to quit. But when I take a step back and look at the journey that I have started, I can't help but be really proud of myself already. I'm only 18. I get mad at myself when I feel homesick because I know that so many people would love to be in my shoes right now. Then I remember that I need to give myself the benefit of the doubt because the way I'm feeling is perfectly normal. When you are taken out of your comfort zone, you tend to close yourself off and get upset. And it's okay to get upset but I don't want that to hold me back from enjoying the hell out of my 3 years here.

I have been extremely lucky to have already met some friends that I know I will have for a lifetime. Being in this city will only give me independence and experiences that I will forever be grateful for.

I just wanted to give you guys a little update on everything that has been going on with me at the moment. I'm going to try my hardest to blog, YouTube and Instagram as much as I can so you guys can go on this crazy journey with me. So stay tuned for some great stuff!

xx
Ashley

Follow me on YouTube here!

And Instagram here!

I HAVE A YOUTUBE CHANNEL!!!

With a huge push from many of my friends, I finally made a YouTube channel so you guys can keep up with me on my adventures! I just posted my first vlog, so go and check it out and subscribe!!!



Go and give it a like and subscribe!!

xx
Ashley

Bring Me the Horizon Drops "True Friends"

With the release of Bring Me the Horizon's highly anticipated album "That's The Spirit" quickly approaching, the band dropped another track this morning titled "True Friends." The album is set to be released on September 11th (which in my opinion is not soon enough.) The boys will be playing at Reading & Leeds Festivals this coming up weekend and have a U.S. tour coming up with band, Issues, in the fall.



Pre-order "That's The Spirt" here on iTunes.

xx
Ashley

My Music Festival Survival Guide

I have been to my fair share of music festivals. After a lot of practice, I think I have finally come up with a decent guide on how to survive. If you have never been to a festival, and are planning to in the future, here are my tips.

1. If you are going with a group of friends, have a meeting spot. Cell service at any festival is awful and getting a hold on your friends can be really difficult. So make sure before you split up, that you have a easy meeting spot.

2. Go in with a plan, especially if there are quite a few artists you want to see. Take pictures of the lineup and set times. It will save a headache.

3. Wear comfortable shoes. I can not stress this enough. I happen to be a "cuteness before comfort" type of person, so find something cute and comfortable. Converse, Vans, or even cute boots/booties. And make sure you don't mind if they will get ruined, because they probably will.

4. Drink a lot of water. A couple of years back at Coachella, I almost fainted due to dehydration and missed Tame Impala. I will forever regret not doing the simplest thing ever… DRINKING WATER.

5. SUNSCREEN!! This is probably one of the most important parts. I went to Warped Tour a few days ago and got one of the worst sunburns of my life before 3pm. Make sure to reapply it every few hours.

6. Portable phone chargers will be your best friend. You will probably be taking quite a few photos and video, which drains battery really quickly. You can buy a charger for as cheap as $10. It is completely worth it.

7. This is really only a tip for rock shows, but if you can't handle mosh pits, do not stand in the middle of the crowd. Mosh pits can get mental really fast. So if you don't like them, stand towards the back so you can enjoy the show.

I hope these tips help make your festival experience more enjoyable!!

xx
Ashley