Fan communities have long played an important role in shaping music culture, offering artists a level of dedication, creativity and support that often goes unrecognised. For emerging artist Asha Banks, that passion is reflected in ashabankshq, a fan-run account dedicated to celebrating her music, connecting listeners and bringing her growing community together.
We spoke to the lovely Em, a very near and dear friend of Louder Than Usual, about the work that goes into running a fan HQ, the friendships formed through music and why fangirls deserve greater recognition for their contributions to the music industry.
How did you first discover asha, and what made you want to start hq?
I first discovered Asha as an actress, through her role as Cara Ward in the BBC adaptation of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. I followed her initially from the casting and then noticed she did covers on her TikTok account, and I remember seeing a cover she did, specifically of a Sabrina Carpenter song, that made me so amazed by her vocals. She started teasing her own original music, and I was hooked from the very beginning. Following her debut single ‘So Green’, she announced her first gig at the Shoreditch Treehouse, and I decided I had to attend. That gig was such a magical experience, and she played a lot of at-the-time unreleased music that I fell in love with. Sometimes you hear music and know it’s going to change lives. At that moment, I heard Asha’s music and knew it would be impactful. At that gig, she told us about her upcoming single ‘Feel The Rush’, and with that, I decided it would be the perfect time to help in any way I could to boost her emerging singing career, so ashabankshq was born and has been going strong ever since.
What does running the account involve, and how much work goes into keeping it going?
The idea of a HQ is that it is almost like a hub for anything that involves the artist and the community. Anything from music announcements, tours & events, to activities, fan projects and posts to keep fans engaged. People will ask me questions about Asha and related topics if they need help. The account is a good place to find out information after the direct source, because I have probably researched and looked into anything that they are curious about. I make posts that are unique to the audience and what I know they like to see. It also involves staying up to date with Asha and what she is doing. I try to be constantly aware of whether a project may be announced and ready to post and respond as soon as I can. As a HQ, you are almost an echo to the artist, a way for the audience to feel connected and a second source in case they miss anything.
The amount of work that goes into it really depends on what the artist is doing in that period of time. For example, currently Asha is releasing a new project and going on a North American tour, which means that there is a lot to plan and post. Each day, you’re devoting your spare time to thinking of creative ways to promote the artist and their work, creating the posts that you need and putting them out there. But you also have to be ready and waiting for anything because, as a non-affiliated account, a majority of the time I have no clue when something will be announced and have to act on it as the fans do.
It could also be said that a lot of work has to be done even when the artist is inactive, too. You want to keep the energy and hype around their project high whilst also keeping the community active for when they have completed their rest. This often means creating posts and ideas that draw upon old content and reinvigorating songs beyond their release.
What’s something people might not realise about running a fan account?
I don't think a lot of people realise how much time and effort goes into the upkeep of a fan account and also the commitment people have to them. It can be so easy to overlook what someone is doing simply because you don’t understand it yourself or assume it might be easy. Everything that you do as a fan account is completely out of the love and passion you have for a specific artist. You are propelled on by that passion and nothing else. There is no obligation to do anything that you are doing, so it means that when you lack motivation, you have to find it within yourself to do it and remind yourself of why you love it. I think a lot of people look on from the outside and think, ‘Yeah, I could easily do that’, and then, as soon as they experience a music release week or an artist being on tour, they would realise how much certain people do to try and support and uplift that.
How would you describe the Asha fan community, and what makes it special to you?
Asha’s community really is wonderful and welcoming in the best ways. The support people have for complete strangers is beyond anything I’ve known before, and I find it really beautiful. Music has this amazing ability of bringing people together because they experience the same things through lyrics and melodies. Finding people who understand you because they understand the music that you feel explains how you feel best is the most freeing thing ever. Asha’s music has a vulnerability that allows us to do exactly that. I have met my best and closest friends through being a fan of Asha. I truly owe this community more than I could ever explain, and I am eternally grateful every day for what I have.
How do you decide what content to post, and what do you want people to feel when they visit the account?
I usually decide what to post based on what has been received well previously. Fan pages require quite a bit of analysis and awareness of their followers. If people don’t like something, then they won't interact with it, and you don't want to waste your time on a post that people won’t like more than once. I normally take things that people have already seen and try to spin them in a way they wouldn’t have seen before. That way, they still push the same purpose but intrigue the audience in a new way to how they experienced it before. With a HQ or fan page, you want to create things that will encourage people to interact and engage. It's not always easy to know what that will be, but communicating with your audience is the perfect way to understand what they do and don’t like.
Have you made any meaningful friendships or had any memorable experiences through running the account?
I know all of my favourite people because of this community, and I genuinely could not be more grateful for it. The best part about it is that they support me immensely, and truly, the account I have would be nothing without the support and guidance of the people around me. I always say that I might own the HQ account, but it belongs to the Shivers. It is so special to watch the community together in person. Live shows are so special, and every time there is a fan project or a display of the family the community has become, it feels like it will freeze and stay in my memory forever.
Memorable experiences for me are also, of course, often when I am included in official team posts and events. I am so incredibly grateful to ever be considered by Asha or her team, and when I get to collab with her team page or attend an event for her music, it pushes me even more to continue what I am doing.
What has been your favourite part of running HQ so far?
I think my favourite part of running HQ has got to be either one of two things. Firstly, having the opportunity to interview Asha is incredible. I have followed her singing career closely since the beginning, so being able to ask the questions I have wondered to her directly is such an amazing experience, and she truly is such a lovely human being.
But I would also say one of my favourite things has been watching the community grow. Everyone who follows HQ is following because they care about Asha and her music and projects, not just passively. I think it's a real testament of how far she's come because over eleven thousand people now follow an account solely to support her, aside from following her own personal account. Creating an account so early on means I had no real clue where her career would go, even if I had a gut instinct. So growing up alongside Asha in the past two years has been mesmerising. She has grown so much in comfortability on stage and in her music, and I have loved every step of the journey.
Have there been any moments where you’ve felt particularly proud of the community or what you’ve built?
I created a project back in June called ‘This Is What Love Is’, based on a lyric from Asha’s song ‘Shiver’. I created a form and put it on my story to gauge a bit more about the fandom. It was following Asha’s North American tour announcement, and I noticed how many people were asking her to come to so many different countries. I wanted to see how far the fandom stretched across the world. It was so amazing to find out so much about the fandom and the people who enjoy and listen to Asha's music. It ended up being a really sweet project that so many people found interesting. Any moment like that, when we come together as a fandom, I think is when I feel the most proud. It just shows that no matter who you are, one common interest can make all the difference.
Why do you think fangirls’ contributions to music culture are sometimes dismissed or overlooked, and are often seen as ‘just fans’ rather than people who actively contribute to an artist’s success and visibility?
I think there is a subjectivity that labels do require to do their jobs without the bias that fans may offer. I think that itself is completely understandable. However, I do think that considering fangirls and their contributions within the work that they do is very vital. Nobody knows what fans want more than the fans themselves. I think, unfortunately, a lot of artist’s work is minimised into numbers and statistics, rather than impact and community. Whilst that is understandable, using the fans to support the community and impact side of the industry could be so beneficial to creating something more than just artists who are pushed to post and align with social media trends to get their numbers up.
What do you think artists and the music industry could learn from fan communities?
I think that they could learn a lot more about what fans actually want. They are the audience that are receiving what is put out, and the more you listen to them, the better the content is catered towards them. If you have a point of reference within a fandom that can feed back information to a team, it can be so useful. As someone who runs a HQ, I have a good understanding and strong links to the actual fandom as a fan myself, but I also have a pretty good understanding, to some degree, of the marketing required for artists on a more professional level. Nobody is saying that all fans should be hired for choosing to support an artist, but I definitely think labels could reward the level of commitment and work a lot of accounts put into doing things that a lot of people are paid to do, simply out of their own love for an artist.
Do you think running a HQ/fan account is a form of creative work, community work, or both?
I would say that it's creative community work. It's looking at someone's art in a way that serves a community in a creative way. Half of the time, I'm trying to push music out to new audiences and create new excitement for old projects, and the other half of the time, I'm working on fan engagement and creative and interesting ways that fans can get involved in things that surround Asha’s music.
What has running HQ given you personally, and have you developed any skills through it?
Asha’s music found me at a time in my life where I needed it most, and I created the account as a passion project. Personally, it’s everything to me. Not only because I can promote Asha in even the smallest way, but also because it pushes me to be creative in everything that I do. I am no professional, but I’ve learnt so much more about marketing, promotion and the music industry than I knew before. I’ve also learnt so much about community. I am a naturally introverted person, but having this account has pushed me to put myself out there in ways I would never have dared to before.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone who wants to start their own HQ/fan account??
A lot of the time, the only thing holding you back from starting is yourself. But you have to have the passion and love for the artist you’re creating the page for. If you don’t actually like someone's music or don’t care about it enough, then it will come across in the account that you are making. You have to care about the people you’re making the account for, and that goes beyond whether the artist will see it or what you can gain from the account. But most importantly, have fun with it! The more unique you are with what you post, the more of a community you will attract. People want to see new things, not recycled concepts.