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Samantha & Ashleigh Harms On The Music Industry, Success In America

Mary Bradley | On 16, Jan 2015

The Atlantic Ocean, an eight hour time difference and 21 hours and 10 minutes of flying separate Nashville, Tennessee and Cape Town, South Africa.

Both cities are home to Ashleigh and Samantha Harms of the R&B/Pop duo The Ash-Sam Project.

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Moving to Indianapolis & Nashville

The sisters and their mother, Ronel, moved to Indianapolis from Cape Town in 2004. Ashleigh and Samantha assimilated into the American way of life as best as they could. However, it was hard. Cultures were different. Accents stood out.

“The most difficult thing about moving to America was losing my familiarity,” said Samantha, the younger of the two. “I lost my family, friends, surroundings and culture. I lost the feeling of belonging and I lost my support system.”

In 2012, the duo started attending Belmont University in Nashville, following in the footsteps of famed alumni like Brad Paisley and Trisha Yearwood. While there, they’ve had the opportunity to connect and collaborate with their talented peers.

“I find more inspiration from young artists that are doing different things and changing the industry’s perspective on what is considered popular music. Belmont is amazing for learning, and I’ve grown a ton,” Ashleigh said.

The Challenge of Making Music

Being a musician isn’t easy. Specifically, Samantha deals with doubts on a daily basis.

“Every day is a struggle to make myself believe that I can be a success,” she said. “But I know that music is what I’m meant to do. It’s just a matter of pushing past the doubt and insecurity and making excellent, relatable music for people to enjoy.”

Networking, effectively using social media, writing, managing, training, practicing vocals and instruments, rewriting and of course performing are all in a musician’s job description. The Harms have developed a small yet growing fan base by working with students at a music camp and filming YouTube videos of original and cover songs. The Ash-Sam Project also performed for a week at Dolly Parton’s Dollywood and auditioned for The X Factor.

The duo plans to finish school and then go on from there. Their goal is to gain a global fan base, so they can travel the world to perform.

Succeeding in the U.S. vs. South Africa

“With the internet in the U.S., it’s much easier to break into the industry especially with media like YouTube,” Ashleigh said. “In South Africa, it’s a very exclusive and closed off industry unless you have someone representing you. You need a name vouching for you in order to make a career over there.” Plus, their style of music doesn’t fit what’s popular there, as the Afrikaans music scene is booming.

While there is a bigger, more competitive industry in the U.S., Samantha said the two can reach their full potential here. With different—but powerful—driving forces, the sisters are poised to do just that.

“What drives me is the idea of possibility and pushing the envelope and creating something that becomes my latest jam and to have other people like it, is a cherry on top,” Ashleigh said. She wants to perform as long as she possibly can, even at age 100.

Samantha, on the other hand, fuels herself with internal motivation. “I hold myself to a high standard and if I don’t do something I’ve set my mind to, I see it as a failure,” she said. “I’ve set my mind on music, and I need to do as much as I can. Even if it fails, at least I can say I did everything I could.”