{"id":6338,"date":"2025-10-28T13:38:04","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T14:38:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/?p=6338"},"modified":"2025-11-03T12:23:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T12:23:10","slug":"ashnikko-on-being-a-smoochies-girl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/28\/ashnikko-on-being-a-smoochies-girl\/","title":{"rendered":"Ashnikko On Being a &#039;Smoochies&#039; Girl"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.papermag.com\/media-library\/ashnikko-fashion-portrait.jpg?id=61952005&amp;width=4000&amp;height=3200&amp;coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0\"><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.papermag.com\/tag\/ashnikko\">Ashnikko<\/a> is into playing characters. Each album has introduced a new archetype \u2014 a self-portrait in the form of a myth. There was the dystopian warrior of <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/album\/4xZP0Vuf4DNK7wsp3ZKbQ0?si=OeZsGtPVT92pjUo_zf2Axw\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><u><em><em>WEEDKILLER<\/em><\/em><\/u><\/a>, rising from the ashes of a ruined world, and the bratty, cartoonish chaos of <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/album\/438ToDoVaJH5aTIXXrlDyI?si=qVgVNEF8Rvyples4xgZGNA\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><u><em><em>DEMIDEVIL<\/em><\/em><\/u><\/a>, who came armed with TikTok virality and razor-sharp hooks. <\/p>\n<p>Now there\u2019s the <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/album\/3sH8UDUC6HQ73z8xisIDj5?si=4-eyf6oXTnaMlHPLNPfs9Q\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\"><u><em><em>Smoochies<\/em><\/em><\/u><\/a> girl: \u201cmessy and gleeful and mischievous,\u201d as she tells <em><em>PAPER<\/em><\/em>. \u201cShe\u2019s dirty, erotic, sexy, but also grotesque and foul-mouthed\u2026 the girl in the club bathroom giving you her last tampon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Where her earlier work swung between anger and fantasy, <em><em>Smoochies<\/em><\/em> feels freer, more human. It\u2019s the sound of an artist loosening her armor and rediscovering joy in the wreckage. \u201cAt the core of my songwriting is playfulness,\u201d she says. \u201cI have to work hard to maintain that and preserve it, like a little flame I have to keep stoking.\u201d That flame burns all over the record \u2014 in its cotton-candy sweetness, its filth, its flirtation with chaos.<\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p><span class=\"rm-shortcode\" data-rm-shortcode-id=\"a917ec527c3097585d7170ff47742559\" style=\"position:relative;padding-top:56.25%\"><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ashnikko - Smoochie Girl (Starring Starlight Kid) [Official Music Video]\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/r3ME2EHO0zc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>The world of <em><em>Smoochies<\/em><\/em> is both hedonistic and healing. Ashnikko turns dating, sex, and self-performance into something funny, grotesque, and liberating. \u201cI think dating is funny,\u201d she says. \u201cCasual sex is funny. Opening yourself up to new people can be this serious, vulnerable thing, but sometimes I have an out-of-body experience and just watch myself doing it like, <em>this is ridiculous<\/em>.\u201d That humor doubles as self-defense, as if each song is a glitter bomb lobbed at the expectations placed on women and performers alike.<\/p>\n<p>She calls the album her most personal yet \u2014 a reconnection with why she makes music at all. \u201cYou can become disillusioned by it,\u201d she says. \u201cThen you have to work to find the core again.\u201d That core, for her, is joy: messy, embodied, and authentic. \u201cWhat does it look like when no one\u2019s watching?\u201d she asks. \u201cWhen it\u2019s just me and my imagination.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In conversation, Ashnikko speaks with the precision of someone who has built entire universes but now just wants to live inside her own skin. <em><em>Smoochies<\/em><\/em> is her soft place to land \u2014 a record that treats vulnerability not as a weakness but as spectacle. And like its creator, it\u2019s impossible to categorize. <\/p>\n<p>We sat down with Ashnikko to discuss the new album, her return to joy, and the messy, maximalist universe of <em><em>Smoochies<\/em><\/em>.<\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"rm-shortcode lazyload\" data-rm-shortcode-id=\"b7350aa2438a30b6fb50ca2a232816a2\" data-rm-shortcode-name=\"rebelmouse-image\" id=\"42404\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.papermag.com\/media-library\/image.jpg?id=61952057&amp;width=980\"><\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>You\u2019re in London right now, right? How has it been? The album dropped on Friday \u2014 how are you feeling? What\u2019s the reception been like so far?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yeah, it\u2019s been great. I actually feel like it\u2019s been overwhelmingly positive. My fans have been reacting to it so beautifully, and I feel like all any artist really wants is for their music to have a soft place to land. It\u2019s been landing gorgeously, softly, into welcoming arms. It\u2019s been incredible. One of my favorite things is reading how people interpret the songs without my explanation. That\u2019s what I love most about music: attaching your own meaning to it. Seeing other people do that with my songs is incredible.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Was there any specific track you expected people to interpret a certain way, or hoped they would?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yeah, I think the closing song, \u201cIt Girl,\u201d is very special and personal to me. Realizing that the experience of being an eldest daughter is so universal has been beautiful. The song is about way more than that, though. It\u2019s about navigating a world that only values you for what you can give as a beautiful little object, instead of for the wisdom you accumulate over the years. You have to constantly fight for people to value that within you. For others to really get what I meant with that song means a lot. Everyone has parents who hand you these little spiky barbs that you have to somehow smooth down, so it\u2019s really nice to hear that people are resonating with it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You\u2019ve said this is your most personal body of work yet \u2014 that it helped you remember why you make music. What had you forgotten, and how did <\/strong><em><strong><em>Smoochies<\/em><\/strong><\/em><strong> bring that spark back?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I feel like there\u2019s an ebb and flow to having a music career. You can become disillusioned by it all, and then you have to work to find the core of why you make music again. It\u2019s a constant practice: finding it, losing it, finding it again. I think on my last album, I maybe lost it a little bit.<\/p>\n<p>But <em><em>Smoochies<\/em><\/em> really reminded me that I can approach music from a joyful place. At the core of my songwriting is playfulness, and I have to work hard to maintain and preserve that \u2014 like a little flame I have to keep stoking. Once you start commodifying something as intrinsic to the human experience as music, some of the magic can slip away. But it\u2019s always still there. It\u2019s just about making it a daily practice to rediscover it. Writing this album helped me do that again. That\u2019s not to say I don\u2019t love my last album; I do. But there was an emotional element I found again this time around.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You sing about \u201ccollecting boys like Labubus.\u201d What kind of humor or healing did you find in turning messy dating experiences into pop songs?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I think dating is funny. Casual sex is funny. Opening yourself up to new people can be this serious, vulnerable thing, but sometimes I have an out-of-body experience and just watch myself doing it like, <em>this is ridiculous<\/em>. My best writing usually comes from the way I interact with other people, and honestly, a lot of my interactions with men are silly. I love milking that for inspiration \u2014 pun intended.<\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"rm-shortcode lazyload\" data-rm-shortcode-id=\"9f27db55b215694c2edfc2869b51ab3c\" data-rm-shortcode-name=\"rebelmouse-image\" id=\"43262\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.papermag.com\/media-library\/image.jpg?id=61952058&amp;width=980\"><\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>You\u2019ve said the album rejects the male gaze entirely.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yeah, there are elements of that. It\u2019s about finding my eroticism, my sexuality, and even my depravity in a place separate from that gaze. Like, <em>what does it look like when no one\u2019s watching<\/em>? When it\u2019s just me and my imagination, with no performance. Especially within dating, I\u2019ve been trying to reject that need to perform, because God, it\u2019s exhausting. I feel like I come from a lineage of women who have spent so much time and energy performing. I think we deserve a break.<\/p>\n<p><strong>When you talk about that lineage of women, do you mean your ancestors, or is it more of a metaphorical lineage? Are you spiritual in that way?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>No, not really in a spiritual way. When I say \u201clineage,\u201d I mean it more societally, on a macro scale.<\/p>\n<p><strong>If <\/strong><em><strong><em>Smoochies<\/em><\/strong><\/em><strong> had a scent, what would it smell like?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s really good. I\u2019d say cotton candy. Definitely cotton candy. Maybe mixed with the smell of a vanilla latte. Something edible, something you\u2019d want to lick.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How does the <\/strong><em><strong><em>Smoochies<\/em><\/strong><\/em><strong> girl differ from the <\/strong><em><strong><em>WEEDKILLER<\/em><\/strong><\/em><strong> girl, or other past album archetypes you\u2019ve created? Are they different versions of you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The <em><em>Smoochies<\/em><\/em> girl is messy and gleeful and mischievous. She\u2019s dirty, erotic, sexy, but also grotesque and foul-mouthed. She\u2019s a community organizer; she\u2019s the girl in the club bathroom giving you her last tampon. She\u2019s locked in a heart-to-heart all night because she loves to connect. That\u2019s the <em><em>Smoochies<\/em><\/em> girl. I love creating new characters with each album, and she\u2019s an archetype I feel really drawn to right now. It feels good to write from that place. I\u2019m having so much fun with it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How does the <\/strong><em><strong><em>Smoochies<\/em><\/strong><\/em><strong> world translate to a live show? Are you already envisioning the visuals or the vibe?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yeah, I want it to feel like musical theater: surreal, a little uneasy, euphoric, full of heightened emotion. I want it to be absurd. I\u2019m working on it now \u2014 lots of choreography, lots of dramatic interludes. I really want to have a Britney mic for this tour because I want to use my hands more. We\u2019ll see how it all unfolds, but I\u2019m definitely approaching it with a lot more theatrics than my past shows.<\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"rm-shortcode lazyload\" data-rm-shortcode-id=\"5c2afa3555ed0abba43b417078f43e03\" data-rm-shortcode-name=\"rebelmouse-image\" id=\"a63c9\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.papermag.com\/media-library\/image.jpg?id=61952055&amp;width=980\"><\/p>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><em>Photography: Vasso Vu<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ashnikko is into playing characters. Each album has introduced a new archetype \u2014 a self-portrait in the form of a myth. There was the dystopian warrior of WEEDKILLER, rising from the ashes of a ruined world, and the bratty, cartoonish chaos of DEMIDEVIL, who came armed with TikTok virality and razor-sharp hooks. Now there\u2019s the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6340,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6338"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6339,"href":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6338\/revisions\/6339"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.unlockingsite.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}