Rewrite and translate this title Niall Ashley’s internet obsessions: fighting games and synthesiser envy to Japanese between 50 and 60 characters. Do not include any introductory or extra text; return only the title in Japanese.

Between layered vocals and visuals which blur the line between reality and digital renderings, there’s a compelling humanity that shines through Bristol-born, London-based artist Niall Ashley’s music. The two worlds intertwine on their new single “Frightened”: as Niall sings of their fears of abandonment, their environment becomes engulfed in virtual flames, visuals and vocals alike descending into distortion in a reflection of the visceral emotions behind the track. It’s their first release since putting previous alias Llainwire to bed, standing more understated and vulnerable compared to these releases, but equally submerged in the digital realm.

“I felt that Llainwire was a sort of self imposed prison for my identity, cementing my sound on needing a specific quota of hip-hop production as well as the classic ‘I’m the shit, I own this, I’m so cool’ bravado,” Niall tells Dazed of this recent shift. “Which is sad because the biggest and widest chunk of my life experience has been very traumatic, and instead of expressing that sonically and lyrically I was just curating the highlights of my life or clinging to an idealised version of myself.”

They describe this change as “flipping Llainwire on its head”, reasserting their name at the front of their identity along with a renewed focus on authenticity, and speak with a striking honesty about how their personal experiences influence their reality-blending craft. “My childhood revolved around escapism to safe places which, for me, was always within playing an immersive video game where the outside world becomes mute,” they explain. “Recently I’m exploring all the traumatic or heartache experiences from younger to present day via songwriting, so the digital glitching seen in my music videos represents this fracturing and mental instability.”

In the year between the death of Llainwire and rebirth in Niall Ashley, they describe how they “barely left the house, dissecting all [their] favourite synths”, driven by a desire to no longer rest on samples or audio presets and create music even more from scratch than than they had done before. “Now, my influences can be presented more intentionally rather than felt mostly via visual aesthetics,” they explain proudly, “I think for the first time people will be able to feel all the Massive Attack, Tricky, Aphex, Bjork, D’angelo and etc. through my songs.” 

This year of hibernation was vindicated last week when, while supporting Yves Tumor on two dates in Japan, Niall performed their first show under the new identity. The performances also saw the convergence of their digital and physical realities, using their “dream set-up of motion in capture real-time” to bring their Unreal Engine renderings into the live experience.

Below, in line with this renewed artistry, Niall Ashley shares five of their favourite discoveries from their journeys through the digital realm.

“I don’t even play Marvel but this had me going. You see that doctor doom dive, hella oppressive. Seen too many umvc3 [Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3] tournaments with the magneto special too.”

“I love fighting games and fully used to sneak out and go to weekly casuals in Bristol at the bowling alley where we’d play Third Strike, Street Fighter 4 and [Super] Smash [Bros.]. So when this channel posts it’s like the best morning coffee. This guy does great video essays on super niche fighting games past the mainstream big hitters, as well as deep dives into the meta of the gameplay, broken S tiers like Super Turbo Akuma etc. I’m waiting for him to do a full video on Capcom Fighting All-Stars, a game that never came out but had Charlie Nash in 3D! Like fully alive Charlie Nash chucking one handed sonic booms in 3D, not the zombie version they gave us in Street Fighter 5. Give us Charlie back.”

“As of today, I‘d say Massive Attack‘s Mezzanine. No skips, and if you do skip you feel like you ruined your whole listening experience, which is the peak locked in album mode music we should aspire for, no? On another day I’d say Massive Attack‘s Blue Lines just cause that Horace Andy tune at the end always makes me feel like I’m in a Nat Geo doc.”

If you ever feel pissed that you don’t own any teenage engineering gear or an octatrack or whatever trendy groove box just came out, doom scroll this sub. I swear it’s the best wake-up call to realise no matter how bad your set up is, there’s a middle-aged dude fiddling with a 20k modular set up sound designing helicopter noises with 30 patch cables for a ‘song’. I’m probably just salty I don’t own a physical synth but it’s still a good laugh.

“Wipeout 3 Special Edition because I can’t say a fighting game or I look like a tryhard. Nevertheless, I feel ashamed to say the first Wipeout I played was Fusion on PS2, which doesn’t have any of The Designers Republic‘s iconic visual language. But last year I finally got into emulating heavy (like real pro numbers, whole ssd full of roms type ish legally sourced) and played this game for the first time – the controls are just sublime, like it actually feels like you‘re piloting some crazy horsepower anti-gravity ship in comparison to skating on ice with Wipeout Fusion. I got like 60-plus hours on it and unlocked all the pro-type tracks which believe me takes tiiime. When you get into the flow of a race honestly feels like flow state. Now, when I get stressed I just whack this on, it’s like rain noise one-hour loop for gaming. Only caveat is the damn 25fps because it was an EU exclusive but, hey, gameplay is all that matters.

Niall Ashley will be showcasing their artwork at Gallery SCENA in Tokyo from Sunday 27 to Tuesday 29 November, in collaboration with London brand Yenesai. RSVP here.

Between layered vocals and visuals which blur the line between reality and digital renderings, there’s a compelling humanity that shines through Bristol-born, London-based artist Niall Ashley’s music. The two worlds intertwine on their new single “Frightened”: as Niall sings of their fears of abandonment, their environment becomes engulfed in virtual flames, visuals and vocals alike descending into distortion in a reflection of the visceral emotions behind the track. It’s their first release since putting previous alias Llainwire to bed, standing more understated and vulnerable compared to these releases, but equally submerged in the digital realm.

“I felt that Llainwire was a sort of self imposed prison for my identity, cementing my sound on needing a specific quota of hip-hop production as well as the classic ‘I’m the shit, I own this, I’m so cool’ bravado,” Niall tells Dazed of this recent shift. “Which is sad because the biggest and widest chunk of my life experience has been very traumatic, and instead of expressing that sonically and lyrically I was just curating the highlights of my life or clinging to an idealised version of myself.”

They describe this change as “flipping Llainwire on its head”, reasserting their name at the front of their identity along with a renewed focus on authenticity, and speak with a striking honesty about how their personal experiences influence their reality-blending craft. “My childhood revolved around escapism to safe places which, for me, was always within playing an immersive video game where the outside world becomes mute,” they explain. “Recently I’m exploring all the traumatic or heartache experiences from younger to present day via songwriting, so the digital glitching seen in my music videos represents this fracturing and mental instability.”

In the year between the death of Llainwire and rebirth in Niall Ashley, they describe how they “barely left the house, dissecting all [their] favourite synths”, driven by a desire to no longer rest on samples or audio presets and create music even more from scratch than than they had done before. “Now, my influences can be presented more intentionally rather than felt mostly via visual aesthetics,” they explain proudly, “I think for the first time people will be able to feel all the Massive Attack, Tricky, Aphex, Bjork, D’angelo and etc. through my songs.” 

This year of hibernation was vindicated last week when, while supporting Yves Tumor on two dates in Japan, Niall performed their first show under the new identity. The performances also saw the convergence of their digital and physical realities, using their “dream set-up of motion in capture real-time” to bring their Unreal Engine renderings into the live experience.

Below, in line with this renewed artistry, Niall Ashley shares five of their favourite discoveries from their journeys through the digital realm.

“I don’t even play Marvel but this had me going. You see that doctor doom dive, hella oppressive. Seen too many umvc3 [Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3] tournaments with the magneto special too.”

“I love fighting games and fully used to sneak out and go to weekly casuals in Bristol at the bowling alley where we’d play Third Strike, Street Fighter 4 and [Super] Smash [Bros.]. So when this channel posts it’s like the best morning coffee. This guy does great video essays on super niche fighting games past the mainstream big hitters, as well as deep dives into the meta of the gameplay, broken S tiers like Super Turbo Akuma etc. I’m waiting for him to do a full video on Capcom Fighting All-Stars, a game that never came out but had Charlie Nash in 3D! Like fully alive Charlie Nash chucking one handed sonic booms in 3D, not the zombie version they gave us in Street Fighter 5. Give us Charlie back.”

“As of today, I‘d say Massive Attack‘s Mezzanine. No skips, and if you do skip you feel like you ruined your whole listening experience, which is the peak locked in album mode music we should aspire for, no? On another day I’d say Massive Attack‘s Blue Lines just cause that Horace Andy tune at the end always makes me feel like I’m in a Nat Geo doc.”

If you ever feel pissed that you don’t own any teenage engineering gear or an octatrack or whatever trendy groove box just came out, doom scroll this sub. I swear it’s the best wake-up call to realise no matter how bad your set up is, there’s a middle-aged dude fiddling with a 20k modular set up sound designing helicopter noises with 30 patch cables for a ‘song’. I’m probably just salty I don’t own a physical synth but it’s still a good laugh.

“Wipeout 3 Special Edition because I can’t say a fighting game or I look like a tryhard. Nevertheless, I feel ashamed to say the first Wipeout I played was Fusion on PS2, which doesn’t have any of The Designers Republic‘s iconic visual language. But last year I finally got into emulating heavy (like real pro numbers, whole ssd full of roms type ish legally sourced) and played this game for the first time – the controls are just sublime, like it actually feels like you‘re piloting some crazy horsepower anti-gravity ship in comparison to skating on ice with Wipeout Fusion. I got like 60-plus hours on it and unlocked all the pro-type tracks which believe me takes tiiime. When you get into the flow of a race honestly feels like flow state. Now, when I get stressed I just whack this on, it’s like rain noise one-hour loop for gaming. Only caveat is the damn 25fps because it was an EU exclusive but, hey, gameplay is all that matters.

Niall Ashley will be showcasing their artwork at Gallery SCENA in Tokyo from Sunday 27 to Tuesday 29 November, in collaboration with London brand Yenesai. RSVP here.