You can find plenty of video content online by and about Kiwi virtuoso guitarist Ashton Sellars, including a series of teaching videos called Advanced Neo-Soul Guitar Master Class – though he’s never been keen on the neo-soul label himself. Having used Instagram and YouTube in particular to build a following and reputation, Ashton has more recently pulled back from life online and the guitar, to instead focus on life in the studio, working as producer for exciting and ground breaking artists on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as some old friends here in Aotearoa.

Just turned 34 when we talk in late 2025, the former Te Whanganui-a-Tara musician is well enough established in London to have recently co-started a plugin business called ButtrFX. Boasting the tagline ‘Real artists. Instant chords.’, Buttr is already exceeding sales expectations.

Working mostly from his London studio, Ashton also spends a good portion of the year in LA – his artist credits including Burna Boy, Chance The Rapper, Blxst and Kojey Radical. With several Grammy nominations on his CV already he’s working towards a potential move Stateside. Ashton very kindly answered NZM’s Ex-Pat Files questions. 

Where were raised and what were some of the key steps that led to you becoming such an accomplished guitar player? 

I’m from Upper Hutt and went to primary school in Silverstream, then high school at Upper Hutt College. I also went to Wellington High for around six months, before dropping out to pursue music! 

In primary school I used to sing in a choir. When we did the inter-school performance at the Michael Fowler Centre there was a band of 20 – 40-year old musicians supporting the kids and playing the songs we were singing. I remember hearing the guitarist and being obsessed. Later that year my mum bought me a guitar from a friend of hers who wasn’t using it. The brand was Ashton – you can imagine how that felt to have a guitar with your name on it at 10 years old. Really was meant to be if you ask me! 

My first band was called Neverend, with some of my intermediate school friends – one of whom is now an equity holder in my plugin company Buttr. From the age of 11 I was composing on my guitar, and ideas I brought to my bandmates led to us entering a Battle of the Bands comp. We won Best Composition and I was judged Best Guitarist. We got to record those songs in a studio somewhere in lower Hutt, which was an amazing experience for 12-year olds!

I’ve had many bands since then, but the most significant and successful NZ group was Brockaflower, a nine-piece group with a star line up. (Estere Dalton, Louis Baker, Zoe Mahal, Thomas Friggens, Pat Stewart, Blair Clarke, Lorenzo Pradel and Gareth Thompson…) We would sell out shows round the country, play festivals and also released quite a lot of music. I played in Brockaflower from 18 – 23, until just before I left NZ. 

When I was about 20 I started a hip hop/neo-soul band called Dugtrio with two members of Drax Project and myself. This was mostly my own compositions as I really wanted to have a different outlet than Brockaflower. We played a lot of shows and built a wee rep round Wellington around 2015-’16. 

Why did you leave Aotearoa and where were you headed? 

I dropped out of school and instead attended Whitireia Polytechnic, where I studied music with some great teachers. That was a really good opportunity for me to get my theory together and focus all my energy into music, before moving to the jazz program at Victoria University.

I had some great peers/friends and learnt a lot during my time studying at Victoria. I met Cory Champion [winner of the 2025 APRA Best Jazz Composition Award] there. We always got along great and actually lived together for some time.
In my early 20s I focused on practising and doing gigs with all my favourite players around Wellington. This is when I met Johnny Lawrence, an amazing bass player who was about 10 years older than me. He’d just come back from living in Toronto and kind of took me under his wing in a sense. I always looked up to him and he really helped me become the version of me I am now. 

We started the band Hoonhunters, playing the music of Herbie Hancock and many other ‘70s jazz funk groups, Cory was part of that too. Reinier Baas, an amazing Dutch jazz guitarist, came to town to play at the Wellington Jazz Festival when I was 23. I hadn’t witnessed someone play quite like him, and after the show I asked to receive a one-on-one lesson. That lesson changed my life!

Me being me, I was asking all the questions, and wanted to know where he studied. He said he attended the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, under one of my favourite guitarists, Jesse van Ruller, and he now taught there. Without hesitation I decided to apply at three universities to do a master’s program in the Netherlands. I end up getting into the ones I wanted, and that’s when I decided to leave NZ and live in Amsterdam to attend the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, at 24. 

I was always excited about heading overseas alone. A fresh start seemed so key for where I was headed in life, and I just wanted to be surrounded by the best musicians in the game.

I’d met Deva Mahal in Wellington as I played in a band with her sister, but didn’t really get to know her till she came to Amsterdam and attended my jam session I was running in the city. I ended up MDing for her which took me all round Europe and the UK.

My first goal was to live in NYC, but as the visa was so expensive – and I was a broke jazz musician. London seemed like a great destination! I also was posting a lot on IG at that point and getting a lot of attention from London artists, so it just made sense to make that my next base.

I ended up meeting a wonderful friend called China Moses, who is an amazing jazz singer – his mum is the actress and singer Dee Dee Bridgewater. She took me in and let me live with her in London. We played a lot of music together, she hired me and got me my first shows at Ronnie Scott’s etc. Between Deva and her I was truly in real authentic hands.

You’re widely talked about as a neo-soul guitar specialist, though you don’t really like that genre tie! What music do you make?

I definitely don’t think of myself as a neo-soul guitarist – it’s an era of music I’m really inspired by, especially D’Angelo. He had his gripes with the term and I think his sentiment also applies to me. I respect it, but wouldn’t want to be boxed in just there. 

I’m endorsed by Gibson and have a huge array of guitars in my studio. From a rubber bridge guitar to nylon to sitars to electrics, I just love how each one has a role in a song. For recording I don’t really use my amp, mainly DI into my interface and recording chain. 

I own 50+ pedals and have various setups that I use to manipulate sound. My studio has a great view looking over London! Vibes are everything for me in the studio so I keep the vibes high, ha. I’m also endorsed by D’Addario. I was releasing a lot of my own music at one point, but wanted to produce for others and sharpen my tools so to speak. I will put out an album in the next year or two, but just not yet. 

I write and work on all genres of music, and really don’t necessarily think of myself as just a guitarist anymore. Guitar is one side of what I do and yes, I’m very passionate and proficient at it, but music is much deeper than just guitar, so that’s why I’ve worked really hard to broaden my production skill set.

What’s the background to your developing a production career rather than an artist-oriented one? 

Producing a record is one of the best feelings I can think of. Seeing a vision for a whole song or album is definitely where my heart and head is at now. In 2019 I was on tour in Europe and remember writing some chords during the soundcheck. Later that day I went back to my hotel to record them, and made a video to post on Instagram as well. 

Since it wasn’t what I would usually post I wasn’t sure how it would be received by my audience. But sure enough they loved it and three months later I received a phone call from Alamo Records in NYC saying the artist Rod Wave had cut a song to my guitar riff, and he wanted to release it. 

This was mind blowing to me as I had no idea how someone came across it or how big Rod Wave was… that song, Close Enough To Hurt, has now sold over 1M copies in the US alone. Pretty soon after I was getting called into studios and contacted for ideas by producers and artists in London and LA – which allowed me to spend more time over there. 

Another breakthrough was working with the LA rapper and producer Blxst. He actually sampled my Rod Wave record and we connected from there. He was having his breakout moment at the time, so being associated with him helped with more exposure to execs and creatives in the industry, and was actually how my manager first discovered me. 

The relationship with Blxst resulted in multiple cuts for his projects, as well as a song we co-produced for Burna Boy & Kehlani (Solid – 2022) which we received a Grammy nomination for. Burna Boy was another key artist for me, my records with him introduced me to the world of African music and provided me with the opportunity to work with rapper J Cole. All of these moments have been catalysts to new relationships and opportunities globally.

One of my 2025 highlights has been working on an album for London artist Kojey Radical, which was my first executive producer role alongside Swindle. We started the process over a year ago, but to see it through from its conception to how it’s been received since release, and everything in between, as an executive producer, has been amazing and something I’m really proud of. This was an amazing experience and significant evolution for me as a producer – there is nothing quite like making a full body of work.
Other 2025 highlights include releases with Chance The Rapper, Cordae, Destin Conrad, Dende, Jastin Martin all from the US, Planet Giza from Canada, Mary Ann Alexander from India and Deva Mahal from back home, so to be operating across continents with my music is really special! 

I also just received a fourth Grammy nomination, for my contributions on the FLO album ‘Access All Areas’ [nominated for Best Progressive R&B Album]. Having music I’ve worked on recognised at that level is always a blessing.

I think any accolades are important to show people you can work at the top levels, but they do not define greatness. I could get a Grammy nomination for adding one small word to a song if I’m around the right people. The recognition can help create more opportunity, but it doesn’t solely validate me or my talent. 

With all that we haven’t really mentioned your plugin business development? 

Over the last two years myself and an amazing team have created software called ButtrFX. Essentially we coded 9500 of [multi-instrumentalist] Kevin Ekofo and my own chords into a plugin people can use within their recording software. This only went live one month ago and is already selling so well!
We have huge goals for Buttr in 2026 and it has been taking up a huge amount of my time. We basically want to create the best guitar plugin ever, and will be doing so over the next years. 

For 2026 my expectations are to just keep on doing what I’m doing. Keep working hard, spend more time in LA, and maybe to move there. To grow my plugin company and keep living my dreams. 

Any final words? 

To anyone wanting to pursue a career in the music industry, the key word is LOVE. Because it’s a very slow process and if one is focused on the goal, and not the enjoying/loving the process, one cannot last. Talent is not everything, it’s just a head start. Consistency always wins. Fall in love with what you do and you will never fail.