Ashley Abrman aka Ešli was born in Houston, Texas to Slovak parents. As a missionary child, she performed in church from a young age which shows in her gospel-tuned hooks and philosophical lyrics. In 2012 she started studying Jazz at the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory in Prague. Her project Zorba že ja Buddha released their debut EP Rosedout Lambada in 2017 and their first studio record in 2021 named Organ Chaos. In 2024 she released her debut EP T/ruthless B/orders.
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18.12.2024
The intent of this blog is to simply inform fellow musicians, wonderers, and wanderers of what it looked like busking in Portugal and Spain between the months of August and September of 2024. We did not have a classical act of playing ABBA or doing a fire show. Instead, we bravely prepared a soul-hip hop-r’n’b set of our own songs and production. Our setup for Iberia consisted of the Roland SP-404, JBL EON One Compact, and Shure Beta 58a.
Our whole trip was a semi-vaca/busking adventure. Before departing home, we researched online what’s the situation with licenses/permits and busking in Portugal and Spain - with little success. There was very seldom information about busking. Most of G's results was this loud Facebook page titled “DO NOT ASK FOR PERMITS” advising buskers to not even bother to ask for permits, as they will be denied, and just go for it, run if you see the cops. So, for most of the time we were left with a trial-and-error investigation.We had an estimated route and choice of cities we wished to visit, but had to play by ear since we had no idea of what the actual situation with street performing is at our selected destinations. Stop number 1 was Porto, Portugal. We decided to travel by plane and have our speaker shipped. Unfortunately, due to overflowing pick-up boxes and citizens on vaca’s (as we were), our gear was delayed and we had to wait a straight off week until we could begin our freshman exhibition. It was frustrating and depressing, but it gave us time to roam the streets and figure out which spots would work for us. I was holding on to a clueless perspective of what busking is until it was slowly becoming very evident. As we searched for our new residency, we had the luck of bumping into Jofy, The Spiritual Punk Rocker, a local busker with a solid instagram fanbase. I took the chance of finally asking someone qualified to answer our anxious license dilemma. He basically said to not worry about it, as most southern situations call for. The Porto district has been working on obligatory permits but was still ineffective at the time we were visiting. The Gaia side of the Douro River doesn’t yet bother to regulate street performing, allegedly. Jardim do Morro must be the staple of this lawlessness, but not in an anarchic way. The videos below will explain better than I ever could.
As you can see, Jardin do Morro is capable of hosting a whole band, as well as courageous individuals spreading happiness through karaoke. It was a bit too oversized for what we had in mind; it literally felt like we entered a festival no one was responsible for. We left this spot, viewing in awe the mass of people gathering for the dia grande finale. The downtown street scene was a stage we could utilize better. Narrow cobble-tiled alleys hosting boutiques and cafes were the compliment for our soul fi beats and honey-mood vocs we were looking for.Now, to be honest. We had no idea what was supposed to happen. When you have expectations, the end result will usually be positive or negatively perceived [by us humans]. Still on the honest side, I was expecting people to stop by, enjoy, groove, and/or magicaly offer a collaboration or a gig. To my surprise, all of it happened, except the collab (we barely met fellow hoppers). Along the way I figured, you’re gonna be busking for 2 reasons (and I’m exagerating the simplicity, it will not reflect everyones experience and/or opinion): Either you’re a hobo, a hippie, a freak, a freeloader, and/or an exhibitionist who play’s on the street because of you’re internal burning passion and simply can’t hold (& possibly need therapy) and/or because of other social-economical reasons OR you’re a [local] musician serving tourists, playing ABBA, “Dance Monkey”, “My Heart Will Go On”, and/or other popular songs like a broken record simply because people enjoy them, and maybe you do too enjoy ‘em and your time playing these songs is worth the money. Those who know me, will know this is not my deal, neither. There’s only so many reasons I did it. I needed to get “outta the house”. For me, that means going to another country for at least 6 weeks. childhood trauma, still working on it. Another reason was that I just wanted to try it out. Do it on my (our) own. Get into frustration just to prove that I can figure this shit out. Claim independence. Yes, it is my American spirit talking now. And so we went.Our first gig and spot was on the Gaia side, right under the Maria Pia Bridge built by Gustav Eiffel. There’s a sitting/view area at the corner of the street, where it flows on to the bridge. The noise level is quite high, but so is the tourist traffic. The platform with benches and a water fountain is big. It could hold a band. A lot of people stopped and seemed to enjoy our music, except for the senior german tourist group that seemed to be annoyed by anything originating past 1969.The best joint in Porto we hit was Rua de Santa Catarina, right in front of the shopping mall Via Catarina. We got there at 9 am and we weren’t the first ones there. A friendly Portuguese violinist had already set up her amp and case. She was more than okay on us borrowing her stage she doesn’t own. That’s how it works with the buskers at the tourist areas. You’re courteous enough to take turns, wait if you’re new, but you must take your chance. It was the most exposure and stage time we got. People stopped by, came closer, some danced, but even during prime time our set didn’t make more than 20 euros. So, if you’re looking to make some cash, it better be a radio edit.
Another spot we played was the entrance to Rua de Cedofeita. A humble busking area where you can accomplish a sweet mellow meditative atmosphere. Rua de Santa Catarina is a BUSY tourist shopping area. At times, it felt like a huge mosh pit of endless emotional variation. Some folks would interact, some were just trying to exit the shopping mall that left them WTF faced. It was an exhausting cocktail of stimulation.
We left Porto. Took a 7 hour bus ride south to Lagos with Flixbus. It was hell. It was hot, full and NO air conditioning, that actually caused quite a situation. The only possible way of getting air into the bus was by elevating the emergency exit on the ceiling. Some people were happy to get a breath of fresh air, others were put into discomfort. Just imagine how uncomfortable it gets after a while of listening to the rush of wind hitting an opening of a body that’s going approx. 100 kmph. Well, someone from the dissed team got up and closed it. Another person from the fresh team attempted to elevate it again. Which they did, but the window didn’t quite click, so it tried going for a fly but the person still had it in their hands. A few persons got up to help, but could not stabilize the ceiling window. Luckily, a young man got up and fixed the situation and managed to put it into a vent position. Thank god I had my Alpines w/me. So much for traveling with Flixbus. Unfortunately, there were no blablacar or any other rideshare offers for this route. Traveling by train would’ve been an option, except there were 2 transfers and we had gear and no trolley, suitcase, no wheels. Just our bare muscles and shoulders transferring all the weight. Probably the hardest part of the whole trip, yet very rewarding. As this whole trip was. I’m thanking my partner for taking it with me. I would’ve not done it on my own…Maybe. Definitely not with a 10 kilo amp. I will continue with the following destinations, Lagos and Seville.
6.10.2024
Earlier this year, I and my boyfriend, Nodin, decided to quit our day jobs. I was working as an ESL teacher and Nodin worked at a construction company doing high-rise jobs. Renting a house on the outskirts of Prague and traveling to work over an hour everyday was, frankly said, unsustainable for our emotional and mental health. For one simple reason - we weren’t responding to our calling on a full-time scale; we’re musicians. Although both of us participated in various projects and bands, it never paid all our bills, so we gave into other occupations (as most artist must) that would cover our expenses.As we grow as humans, we are constantly confronted with our limits and liberations; the desire to recreate is inevitable. We knew neither of us are transforming to where our passion should be taking us. It was time to say “enough”.It’s been six months since we’ve formed our response to our lifework. And it takes a lot of unknown routes and encounters until we get to where “we want to be”. We had to mingle combinations of ideas of how to travel, have the space-time to do music, lower our expenses, and survive. Some of you maybe wondering why is “travel” in the equation. It’s an iron shirt I kept from my childhood (more in my blog about my past). So after processing many options, we came down to two - try out busking and house/pet sitting. After signing up at Trusted House Sitters, we found an offer of sitting a cute furry gang in the middle of Granada, Spain. That was an important puzzle piece to our autumn sketch. Another piece was a long-time planned visit to Porto, Portugal. It didn’t take long for my brain to connect the two. It felt like I was trained my whole childhood to do this.I’ve only busked twice before in Prague, that was during my first year of school. Once by myself on the long descending stairs from the “Prague Castle”, and the second time was with Rony Janecek on Na Prikope (lol, and this is about 11 years back). It was a long shot to begin with. Having the history of anxiety that I do, I welded it into a semi-vacation trip just to have a plan B for my emotional route. We had some money saved, but not enough to go full-blown vacation, so busking seemed like a musician-friendly alternative to making a buck. See, I never gave it that much thought, as to what is the core and fundament for/to busking, and I don’t think I will, because thanks to the trip I realized it’s not something I want to do. Nonetheless, I will spend a few words in the following blog posts on what the experience (in our case experiment) was like. This great 4 week adventure ushered us to a space-time where and when we are able to work on our music, everyday, giving way to a new EP.
18.9.2024
“Making my way to a safer place than when I close my eyes.”About half a year ago, I realized my trying to synchronize a Prague teacher occupation + an alternative soul-filled resonanting perception on life is incompatible and unsustainable for me, my partner and what drives our life. As I listen to a Brazilian vocal group scat harmonies that click in sync with the pandeiro my partner had been possessed with for the past month, I once again fall victim to the drive of music; as is an ultimate tool for learning so much, words barely explain.I’ll be sharing parts of my life I believe to be worth a read, from being the youngest of a missionary family and living a mix of touring churches in a chevy van, being homeschooled, living my teen disco pribeh in Prague, how my curse is a blessing, all down to how I and Nodin busked (and vacaed) our way from Porto, Lagos, Seville to Granada.