Luv Foundation (UK) & Ashley Paul discuss main inspirations, latest single ‘Hearts Up’ and more: Interview

Bringing the heat with each of their endeavours, Luv Foundation (UK) and Ashley Paul ensure nothing less than the most feel-good of vibes. Two immersive acts combined, this is one interview you don’t want to miss out on.

Leaving their own mark with each of their endeavours, Luv Foundation (UK) and Ashley Paul have taken over their respective fields, whilst each act ensures nothing less than the most feel-good of vibes. Fronted by Mark ‘Loverush’ Schneider and Julian Napolitano, Luv Foundation (UK) have brought those old-school elements back to life since the formation of this act in 2023, and with years of experience from both DJ/Producers, this duo is bringing all the heat into the dance scene. On the other hand, Ashley Paul is making her own moves in the world of dance-pop, with this electrifying singer/songwriter known for powerful pop vocals and fearless performances. Coming together in the most immersive of manners, we could not be any happier to be joined by both of these acts, as they discuss main inspirations, the origin of their style of play, the creation of the Luv Foundation (UK) project, their most recent collaboration in the form of ‘Hearts Up,’ future plans and so much more.

Hello and thank you for joining us! Could you provide us with an insight on the main inspirations/influences that led to your chosen career pathway in music?

“As Luv Foundation (UK, both Julian Napolitano and myself started our careers as DJs in the 90s and nineteens and have always had a huge love of dance music as teenagers. In the year 2000 I launched my dance act Loverush UK! collaborating with the likes of Paul Oakenfold who snapped my debut single Perfect Honey (Temptation) with Marc Almond on Perfecto Records, a few years later our remix of Paul Oakenfold’s smash ‘Firefly’ with Matt Goss became the main version of the song and reached over a million hits on YouTube, more collaborations with the likes of Shelley Harland, Carla Werner, Sylvia Tosun and Molly Bancroft all became huge major club hits. In 2013 we co-written with Bryan Adams on the Russian No.1 hit single ‘Tonight In Babylon’.

Also that year we teamed up with the late legendary Mory Kante with the re-release of ‘Yeke Yeke’ which was a global hit worldwide and has had over 12 million hits on YouTube alone. Loverush UK! split in 2013 and I went on dabbling in a few other projects but stopped making music when I went into acting in 2018, it wasn’t until 2023 I went back to my true passion of making music, teaming up with Julian to form Luv Foundation (UK). 

In the late 90s Julian Napolitano had major club anthems as JDS ‘Nine Ways” signed to Pete Tong’s FFRR imprint, Mankey ‘Believe In Me’ signed to Ministry Of Sound and Perpetual Motion ‘Keep On Dancing ‘Let’s Go” snapped up by Positiva Records and hit the Top 20 of the UK OCC Sales Chart. Julian is also known as one half of the Soul Seekerz a house act of the noughties that was a popular act with Djs across the globe, he went on to create Ruff Loaderz which has been growing from strength to strength and over 250 million Spotify streams. He is also known as Manston & Simms with DJ Andy Manston who was also half of Mankey and Perpetual Motion and has had releases out on the legendary Perfect Havoc. Check out Julian’s Discogs, I have to say it’s extremely impressive.”

Ashley says… “I believe I was hearing notes and poems in my head from the age of a young girl . I started w piano , played by ear .. much to the dismay of my piano teacher. However Once I discovered disco at around 9 years old ,and the ability to perform on stage ,,, that was it for me, Donna summer ,was my absolute inspiration. I sang her tracks often and even nabbed a role in a touring show across the USA where I was featured as a child disco diva singing “on the radio “ dressed in red satin disco pants. I continued that pursuit ,still taking classical piano on the side and entering some competitions… but dance music was always calling for me . After a long career stint aged 9-17 of off broadway ,musical theater and disco cabaret shows in NYC (also very dramatic type of music ) I met up with a producer named Joel Diamond who had mentored Gloria Gaynor and he introduced me to the track When boys cry … 17 I had my first Billboard Hit. The day I found out was one of the top two most amazing days of my life… I think my most favorite gig during that time was at Studio 54 , the stage was so high and thin I thought I’d dance myself off of it !! It was exhilarating.

Somehow after that I worked with many different producers all around the globe and had my first EDM style song in the 90s called ‘Color Me Yours’ produced in Germany, I just kept going with ‘Weaving In’ and ‘Out Of My Life,’ ‘Don’t Take Back Your Love’ and this kind of love through the 90s… in the past 4 years I started writing more of my own dance tracks collaborating with the most talented musicians I’ve ever worked with… Luv Foundation being the best and most talented and really magic sounds for me…When I hear a track they have finished it is so effortless to find synchronicity, immediate inspiration .as they sound like they wrote it up in heaven. Anyone who listens to what they did to Bingo Baby knows that they can completely transform a lovely track into something that can bring the world together. When I heard Hearts Up however I knew that this might be the most special song I will ever collaborate on .. that is how deeply moved I was by the track, before we even added lyrics, more melody lines and vocals. I find inspiration for songs ideas on my journey of seeing the greater picture in our destiny. To feel that something bigger than ourselves is out there sending love and guidance, true spirit and kindness. Music to me now is my community ,not just my passion. That is what propels me so fervently and that is my message. That and an occasional flirty thought.”

With versatility a key aspect in the electronic dance industry, we would like to know how your signature sound came to be?

“Luv Foundation (UK) doesn’t have a set genre but we have a huge love for 90s dance club music, we love bringing a happy vibe to the dance world but we are open minded to all things club and cross-over.”

‘Ashley’ “I am a dance music singer, songwriter and performer. I am totally immersed In the sounds of the tracks alone as well as with my vocals. I appreciate the variety of movement in different dance music styles, disco and electronic dance music seems to go directly to my soul. The feeling can bring out my intensity as I’m singing. To me these tracks are able to fulfill my insatiable need for making music ..once finished I am elated.”

Boasting a wealth of experience in the dance scene, could you talk us through the Luv Foundation (UK) project, and what you have to set out to achieve?

“Our main achievement as Luv Foundation (UK) is to be consistent, we are both very fast active artists and as mentioned before we just want to bring a big uplifting vibe to our music and make people dance, collaborations are an important key to us, coming along great amazing artists such Ashley Paul who has been an absolute dream to collaborate with.”

Releasing your debut single ‘I Feel You’ alongside Mary Kiani, we would like to know the main thought process behind this track, and the impact that it has had on your career going forward?

“When we started talking in December of 2022 about creating the dance act, I had a clear vision of where he wanted to take the Luv Foundation (UK) and with Julian being from the same era as myself in the music scene, we both connected with the ideas. This led us to our debut single ‘I Feel You’. We wanted to cover a 90s track that no one had covered before and also collaborate with an artist from that era of Dance Music. We were both huge fans of Mary Kiani who most will remember from her days in The Time Frequency, we approached Mary and instantly she said yes, she even quoted this track sounds like it was always made for me and the success of the ‘I Feel You’ was an instant smash with the DJs, incase people don’t know ‘I Feel You’ is a cover of the Love Decade 1992 smash. ‘I Feel You’ showcased what a brilliant first year Luv Foundation (UK) had achieved, 2023 was a huge year for us releasing tracks on Limbo Records with reworks of legendary classics such as UMBOZA and YOSH, We also re-issued Julian’s classic Perpetual Motion and then we were snapped up by Italian house imprint Total Freedom Recordings with singles ‘Summertime’ with Soul Seekerz and ‘Take Me Higher’ with Ian G the latter was hugely supported by Diplo and remixing many tracks for the legendary Italian label New Music Group. In October 2023 we remixed Ashley Paul’s ‘Bingo Baby’ which skyrocketed in 2024 and was re-released on 29th March as a collaboration, this led us to write and produce with Ashley with an album currently in working progress. We also have a new single with Ian G signed to Perfect Havoc due for release this summer as well as a few 90s Reworks/covers for Happy? Recordings you can also check out our remixes of Dannii Minogue & Autotune and artists such as Steinsdottir, Joseph Sinatra and the recent UK Club Chart smash Names 51 with their cover of Mory Kante’s ‘Yeke Yeke’, but right now we are excited to be collaborating with Ashley, she is a real inspiration to us and we already have a fair few tracks already lined up and ready to release.”

Producing music alongside some of the biggest names in the dance scene, as well as garnering millions of streams for each of your releases, we would like to know the overall feel behind such recognition, as well as the lessons you have learned along the way?

“For us the key is to keep the momentum going, we have been non-stop since we first launched in March 2023, not all tracks become successful but we believe in what we produce, write or remix, even though we both have a big history in the world of dance we both know as a new act you have to start right back at the bottom, for us it’s about focus, determination and as mentioned a few times bringing an uplift in our music and making people dance and happy.”

Teaming up with Ashley Paul on the release of ‘Hearts Up,’ could you talk us through the whole experience of working alongside a multifaceted singer/songwriter, as well as the overall message that your track has set out to portray?

“’Hearts Up’ isn’t the first of us together we had previously remixed Ashley’s single ‘Love Light Me Up’ although a more slow burner it was when we got hold of Ashley’s ‘Bingo Baby’ where the real connection grew, Julian must have transported into my head as he came up with a riff for the track that you would have seriously thought was from 94/94 era, it was promoted through Christmas but all of a sudden towards the end of January it started growing into a huge anthem, after discussions with each other we bot felt it made sense not to have as a remix and both agreed to release as as a single. Bingo Baby since its re-release on 29th March is nearly hitting 1 million streams alone on YouTube and hit No.1 for days on Amazon Music Dance & Electronica charts. It was a no-brainer that Luv Foundation (UK) and Ashley would team up on more. When we sent the demo of ‘Hearts Up’ to Ashley she instantly fell in love and Ashley hooked up with successful songwriter Lucas Marx and the song was written in a matter of hours, the connection between the two and of course us has created a emotional hands in the air summer smash that we really hope will be an instant hit with dance music lovers across the globe.”

Ashley says “You always know a song is going to be smashing when the entire writing process is effortlessly flowing . We wrote and recorded in about 2.5 hours. I came to the session with an idea of “hearts up in the air “with the LFUK track in my head .. we all zoomed to say hello before we began. Mark, Lucas and I .. I came up with that phrase on my flight back to La from Miami .. a few days prior. As we took off from Miami, I felt butterflies in my belly and a bit of vulnerability. I saw myself just sending my heart and many hearts up into the air upon take off. As if to say I’m sending out love high up in the clouds and  that is how I will receive it in return and stay protected. I don’t know Lucas well, however I know now he is an incredibly talented songwriter and singer .. I am quite blessed to have had the privilege of writing with him. Every time I would say a phrase, a thought or a word, he would hit me back with a line that made it so much more beautiful than it could ever be, while still holding onto the authenticity of some of what I would come up with as well. A true mentor and teacher at the same time, such a rock star. It was like a puzzle of sounds and phrases we put together so easily. I don’t know what was going on that afternoon in the sky, but this was definitely a special moment in my career. I said… Hearts up in the air tonight… And he wrote Won’t stop, don’t stop, keep throwing it up. And that is how it kept going .. sometimes you just cannot explain how these collaborations procure ..they are truly magic .. That is something that is priceless. Making these tracks .. the beauty in them and the process ,makes all the hard times to get here worth it.”

Bringing that feeling of nostalgia back through your Luv Foundation (UK) project, we would like to know the overall feel of working with Julian Napolitano, as well as the impact it has had on both of your careers within the dance scene?

“Julian is an absolute dream to collaborate with, he gets me I get him, that’s what a true duo are, almost like a partner but a partner of music. For us we are keeping our heads down and really focusing on bringing that true magic of Luv Foundation (UK) to a world-wide audience.”

With 2024 in full flow, we would like to know what the future holds for Luv Foundation (UK) and Ashley Paul, always in terms of new music, collaborations and live performances?

“2024 is seriously a busy year for us, we have quite a few singles as mentioned before coming out and lots more remixes but right now our main head space is creating an album with Ashley that has a diverse sound to showcase all our abilities.  Ashley is looking set to perform here in the UK during the summer and myself & Julian are hoping that some time in 2025 we will be out there touring as Luv Foundation (UK )or performing with Ashley, so watch this space as they say.”