Ash Walker

London-based musician, DJ, and engineer Ash Walker crafts exploratory, vibe-heavy tracks that draw from dub, soul, jazz, and trip-hop along with numerous additional styles. Songs originate on bass guitar, and he channels dub master King Tubby by incorporating imperfect textures such as tape hiss and vinyl crackle. These retro-focused methods shaped his 2015 debut Augmented 7th, while 2019’s Aquamarine introduced an “underwater jazz” aesthetic. With 2023’s Astronaut he shifted toward a more song-driven method, enlisting Lou Rhodes (Lamb), Amp Fiddler, and Yazz Ahmed.

Recognition first arrived through DJ work that included regular support slots for the Specials plus performances alongside Lee “Scratch” Perry and David Rodigan. His earliest release, the dub-heavy Agnostic EP, appeared on Zeb Samuels’ Deep Heads imprint in 2015; every track later surfaced on the full-length Augmented 7th, which also featured Samuels, Specials member Nikolaj Torp Larsen, and vocalist Segilola. The 2016 follow-up Echo Chamber moved deeper into jazz, trip-hop, and neo-soul territory. A handful of limited singles paved the way for Aquamarine, Walker’s third album and first on Night Time Stories. Cut at home rather than in a studio, it highlighted aquatic, echo-laden sonics and brought in vocalist Lord Laville, trumpeter Yazz Ahmed, and bassist Marc Cyril, while dub legend Scientist delivered a remix of the track “Time.” Astronaut, issued on Night Time Stories in 2023, added further collaborators including Lamb vocalist Lou Rhodes, Detroit musician Amp Fiddler, British jazz outfit Ebi Soda, and American producer Sly5thAve.