ASHTON NYTE ‘SOME KIND OF SATELLITE’ JANUARY 2015

“Ashton Nyte is somewhat of a musical genius” BC (Blog Critics)

"The music of Ashton Nyte is an intelligently and exquisitely executed blend of truly unique vocals and infectiously original melodies. Each song testifies to the artist's dedication to fully developing his craft, and reflects years of experience and passion for the art of songwriting & performing." Sonicbids

Ashton Nyte will be releasing his new album, ‘Some Kind Of Satellite’, in March 2015. 10 Songs crafted over the last 3 years. “Sad songs for melancholy people”, or so he says.

The first single, ‘Dressing Like You’, is a haunting, melodic, somewhat fragile ode to love, loss and the quest for silence in a digital world. The video was shot in Las Vegas and the Nevada desert by Intervention Arts, in glorious gritty tones and film noir sensibilities and serves as an apt introduction to the new artistic chapter in Ashton’s story.

Since his chart-topping dark interpretation of The Sound Of Silence in 1997, Ashton has enjoyed a truly prolific and stylistically diverse career. As the voice, songwriter and often sole musician behind 8 albums with his band The Awakening and 6 critically acclaimed solo albums, the South African-born singer has continued to satisfy his self-confessed addiction to writing and recording songs.

Looking back, Ashton has been featured in almost every music-related publication, television programme and radio station in South Africa since the late nineties. He has toured extensively, headlined festivals both in South Africa and the USA, topped charts on college and national radio, written and performed in theatrical productions and even found time for philanthropic events like his “Rock Against Rape” concert series. He has been called “Johannesburg’s Bowie” by Cosmopolitan magazine, as homage to his ever shifting shapes and styles, and was credited as giving “South African music a new spin” by PRI’s The World on NPR.

Ashton has spent the last 5 years in the USA, where his most recent English album, “The Valley” was toured from New York to New Orleans and was featured on over 80 radio stations, including a live in-studio interview and performance on “Voice Of America” to over 125 million listeners world-wide.

Ashton recently toured South Africa in March / April 2014 to celebrate The Awakening’s Anthology XV release, as well as the release of Moederland, his first Afrikaans-language album. Moederland was named one of the top 10 Afrikaans albums of the year by Netwerk24 and enjoyed two number 1 singles on Afrikaans radio, featuring the Nyte-penned duet with Karin Hougaard.

With Some Kind Of Satellite, Ashton is once again redefining his artistic expression with an album that is glamorous, isolationist and as diverse as its creator. In Ashton’s words, “Poetry for the broken hearted, who still like to dance from time to time”…

More Info -

Publications / blogs that have featured Ashton and / or The Awakening (2000 - 2014): Rolling Stone, Zillo, Orkus, Cosmopolitan, HM, Sideline, Inside World Music, Top40, SL, Fangoria, FHM, Metal Hammer, Muse, Sonic Seducer, Blogcritics.org, Pop Culture Madness, PensEyeView.com, Pluginmusic.com, Brooklyn Rocks, The Audio Perv, Off The Radar Music, SoHo Journal, Joonbug.com, Dominion Magazine, Stage, Blunt, Outright, Music Maker, Personality, Automata, Music Africa etc

Lecture:

In 2012 Ashton toured a lecture series to universities in the US called “Tolerance Is A Dirty Word”. The aim was to enlighten and uplift and included acoustic performances and a Q&A session, in addition to the lecture itself.

Theatre:

Ashton performed the lead male role in a play entitled “My Bloody Valentine”, which was featured in South Africa’s National Arts Festival (2002). He wrote and performed 2 minimalist Cabaret-type performances: The Slender Nudes Cabaret (2001) and Subtle Deviant (2003).

LGBT:

Ashton has been featured in and has had articles published by LGBT publications through the years. He has also headlined the Pink Loerie Festival in Knysna, South Africa.

ISC

Ashton had 2 songs placed in the 2010 International Songwriters Competition (the only time he has entered). Each song made the top 40 of its respective category, out of more than 15 000 submissions.

Catalogue

To date, Ashton has released over 200 original songs and claims to have another 200 currently unreleased, living in a box, under the stairs.

For more info, please contact Tania@justmusic.co.za