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ASH legend Chad Peck went to visit Mark and Tim at the band's studio in New York last week and these are the tales that he has to tell... "The first thing I will say is this: despite how everything appears to be 'quiet', the band are working HARD. Tim told me they are in there 5 days a week and pretty much recording non-stop.

"The studio itself is in a strange building (Mark called it ghetto....). You would never guess that it would house a recording studio and looks fairly industrial. My lady and I just walked into the building with no hassle. It's a nerd dream.

"Stuff I know:

"The band signed a 5 year lease for the studio and are going to do all recording AND mixing there from now on. Claudius was there and he is taller than he looks in real life.

"They have re-recorded 'Coming Around Again' to get the ball rolling, and it sounds INCREDIBLE. (The original session cover of the Carly Simon song is available to download at www.ashfiles.com) Tim played me the extra long edit with the extra long guitar solo...the vocal arrangement is huge. Tim sings it an octave up, and this track is rocking big time.

"They are also finishing up a Beach Boys cover of 'Do You Wanna Dance' which has been floating around since the FAA days. This will be a b-side.

"There are new musical vibes going on in the new songs I heard. There are definitely some classic Tim Wheeler compositions (one I heard was really great, though it was only in home demo form. It included a police siren outside Tim's window. It also had a piano hooked up to a 10 second reverb that sounded incredible), but there is truly an anything goes type of vibe at the moment. It almost harkens back to the strange b-side era of Trailer/1977 in a lot of ways, only they are much better at their instruments and the songs are more formed. There seem to be lots of samples and synths and loops in the songs. I only heard 2 completely finished songs, so it's too early to judge. Coming around again was one, and the other is Prypiat.

"Prypiat has been floating around for a while amongst the elite as a rumoured new track (the song was written during the recording of TOTI but wasn’t finished in time for the album). Tim played it for me. It doesn't really sound like anything they've done before. I guess the production style might be EOTW-ish (though I only had one listen...). It's a great song about someone or something destroying themselves. The arrangement is really big and epic and is quite dynamic, from what I remember. Tim's voice is just getting better and better. I

"It doesn't sound like EOTW at ALL. It just has a similar production style. It's quite a serious song with samples and stuff in the verses. Great, complex arrangement. As much as some fans might hate it, a lot of stuff had a pretty *epic* vibe. The band know what they are doing and it sounds GREAT.

"Other songs I heard in unfinished versions:

"Survivor - has a Stray Cats stomp vibe with lots of chord changes. Extremely catchy.

"Return of White Rabbit - the best Ash dance song I've ever heard. Imagine the disco part of Tinseltown but multiplied by 1000000000000000000000x. So many hooks in this song, amazing groove, this is a potential single. Tim actually jokingly said it would be their comeback single. Great guitar lines and drum breaks. I can't say enough good things about this song. Mark wrote it.

"Nouvelle Adventures - for the first time in an Ash song, both Tim and Mark are playing bass. This will likely have a spoken word lyric and has a spaceship vibe about it...

"No Face (Jesus Christ) - this is a proper ASH hardcore punk song with THE most epic intro of any Ash song ever. The vocals were a scratch track but it's a great new direction.

"Other song titles I saw: Hospital Song, Lay Down Your Arms, (both demoed for TOTI) and Daedalus. There were definitely more, but I can't remember the titles.

"Tim also played me another song that Mark wrote. It has a lot of key changes and is extremely hook-y and well arranged. no vocals as yet.

"There WILL be a release this year, but I'm not allowed to say what it is. It will be announced soon.

"TOTI will not come out in the States, nor will they do any touring in the states. The plan is to work all year on new songs and drive it home next year with tons of singles.

"I got to play 3 of Tim's guitars and his 70s Jazz bass. It was incredible. They guys were extremely friendly and hospitable. The vibe was extremely positive and energy was high. I uploaded more pics to flickr.com/photos/chadpeck

"Mark took us to the top of the building which gives an incredible view of the city. Tim is vegetarian now after a case of mercury poisoning (too much sushi) and gave us a great vegan restaurant to go to. Tim is also trying to get a see-through flying V made. New York City might be the best place on earth." - Chad Peck

ASH will be performing their classic album '1977' in it's entirety as a one-off show! Who knows, they'll maybe even throw in sick party! THE PLACE > Roundhouse, London, Chalk Farm Road on Friday 5th September. Tickets on sale this Friday, 16th May. Tel: 0844 482 8008 and 0871 2200 260. www.roundhouse.org.uk | www.gigsandtours.com Also check out ASH's NEW page on Facebook and add yourself as a fan for the chance to influence what b-sides Ash play at the gig! They had to start a new 'music / artist' profile as the old page was registered under 'Public figure' or something stupid... it will be deleted soon.

"Hey everyone, Sorry www.ash-official.com has been off-line for the past 2 weeks, we hope to get the database meltdown fixed asap. Currently we're hard at work in the studio recording loads of new material for future release, got 15 new songs on the go at the moment. We've got a plan and big ideas but more on that later...

"Between all the recording which is or main priority this year, we're planning on flying in/out this summer and doing the odd weekend of festivals and random shows. Here's what we got planned so far."

25.07.08 - Galway Arts Festival, Galway, Ireland
21.07.08 - Nano Mugen Festival, Japan (supporting Asian Kung-Fu Generation)
20.07.08 - Nano Mugen Festival, Japan (supporting Asian Kung-Fu Generation)
05.07.08 - zoo8, Port Lympne Wildlife Park, Kent
15.06.08 - Loughborough Students Union, Loughborough, Leicester
14.06.08 - Download festival, Donington Park
13.06.08 - Nova Rock Festival, Austria
01.06.08 - Middlesbrough Music Live free festival
31.05.08 - Reading University Summer Ball, Reading
30.05.08 - St Georges Hall, Bradford

"Hopefully see you at some of these events and they'll be more announced as we confirm them." Ash x

Ash have signed up for the We Campaign because they believe that by working together, we can solve the climate crisis. Will you join Ash in this quest of epic proportions? Just click on the link below to sign up and add your voice to the million-plus call for an end to global warming: www.wecansolveit.org/join

The We Campaign is an effort launched by Al Gore and the Alliance for Climate Protection to promote solutions to the climate crisis. It's an urgent issue, but the climate crisis is also solvable if we work together and unite our leaders around solutions like renewable power and enhanced energy efficiency. We can leave the next generation a healthy climate. Please add your voice by joining the We Campaign today: www.wecansolveit.org/join

For all of you missing the ash board at www.ash-official.com check out the Gashed Forum. For those that don't know Gashed is an ASH Webzine run by the fans for the fans, with exclusive content about Tim's hair.

More live dates announced: 30.05.08 - St Georges Hall, Bradford 15.06.08 - Loughborough Students Union, Loughborough, Leicester 04 - 06.07.08 - One of the three days of zoo8, Port Lympne Wildlife Park, Kent. Confirmation of which day ASH are to appear to follow.

Following the confirmation of ASH's first festival appearances this summer, Mark told ashtabs about the band’s recording and the change from their initial plans to be releasing digitally next month. ASH had planned their first digital release to be available in May, but this has been put back as they plan to record "at least 40 songs this year". At the moment they’re working on 13 different songs with quite a variety of styles. Some have backing tracks down while a few are currently "experiments". There are also potential mosh pit favs in the brew...

Two songs are finished and just need mixing, one of these songs was written toward the end of the recording of TOTI, but wasn’t ready in time for that album. This is the song Tim mentioned in an interview during last year’s Reading festival...

www.ash-official.com is currently down due to server trouble and it should be back soon – hopefully a reboot should fix it today.

Everyone attending the current UK Tour will see ASH have got Friends of the Earth on tour with them. Like a lot of people, ASH are really worried about climate change. Which is why they approached Friends of the Earth last month to offer their help in getting the word out about their Big Ask campaign which is calling on the UK Government to take urgent action on climate change.

ASH are now joining Friends of the Earth in urging the Government to strengthen their planned Climate Change Law this winter. If the campaign is successful, and the Government listen, the UK will be the first country to introduce annual and legally binding CO2 emission reduction targets. The UK will then be leading the way and setting an example to the rest of the world.

What you can do to help:

Go to www.thebigask.com and add your name to the campaign. You’ll be calling on your MP to vote for a strong Climate Change Law this winter. You can even record a video (we’ve just added ours see above) which will be sent directly to your MP. It’s a way of tackling your MP without having to meet him or her face to face.

Big Ask is a campaign that offers a solution to the climate change problem, but Friends of the Earth need your help in getting the message across loud and clear.

Ash have released their highly anticipated, last ever studio album 'Twilight Of The Innocents'. The album is an anthemic, pop rock masterclass and shows ASH at their very best! Album highlights include the singles 'You Can't Have It All' and 'Polaris'. You can order your copy from iTunes right now with an exclusive two-part video documentary about the making of the album! Below are some of things that have been written about the final studio album!

"The perfect summer rock album" - Heat magazine

"Spikey blasts of pop sunshine, big guitars and even bigger choruses" - The London Paper

"Anthemic pop rock" - Independent On Sunday

"Proof That Growing Old can mean getting better 4/5" - The Mirror

"A clutch of brooding, widescreen epics revealing an unexpected sense of adventure 4/5" - Daily Mail

"Twilight..... is a reassuringly pop collection from Downpatricks cartoon wreckheads. But this time the three minute pop gems are stretched out with strings and emotion. 7/10" - NME

"A hot mix of crunchy melodies. ****" - Nuts

"Wheeler has confounded the sceptics and delivered an album of consistent quality and assurance." - Classic Rock

"Gum-tingling power pop that burns with radio friendly hooks and blistering guitar solos." - Mojo

"Now beginning to bloom into a big league British rock band 8/10" - Rocksound

"A stash of great tunes.... Splendid." - Uncut


Older news has been moved to the News Section.

ASH - The Final Album Press Release

Mark Hamilton's overview: "This was released to the press today regarding future Ash releases. We'll be discussing this in more detail soon. But to avoid confusion, this does not signal the end of physical releases. Things are just gonna be different and we're gonna have a lot of fun with formats and you the fans will get more content a lot quicker... it also does not state anywhere that we're going independant."

Ash - The final album

Irish rock band announce radical new music industry business model

London, June 12th 2007 – International rock band Ash, have announced bold new plans to cease releasing future albums in the traditional way.

On the eve of what will become their final album, 'Twilight Of The Innocents', the band have taken the decision to only release singles in the future.

Known for consistently writing hit singles since the early 90’s (17 top 40 hits, an Ivor Novello award and five Top 10 albums), the band feel it is time to make a stand in the future digital arena by only releasing singles. Periodically, the band will release compilation cd’s featuring the aforementioned singles.

Famously known for their pro-active stance on the internet (the band were the first to cultivate a huge loyal following using their online message board, were the first to use the internet via a fledgling nme.com, to get fans to vote for which tour towns they should play and had the first ever number one single in the download charts), the band feel it is now time to fully embrace the digital future of the music industry.

Owning their own recording studio means that the band will be able to write, record and release their music almost instantly, their fans will then benefit from not having to wait the usual ‘years’ between albums.

At a time when the music industry is in flux and with record sales at an all-time low, marketing music in the traditional sense is becoming increasingly less financially viable. The band hope that by harnessing the power of the internet and by being more creative in the way their singles are marketed, the record company can maximise sales, increase profits and enhance their already impressive 13 year career.

Tim Wheeler from the band:

"The way people listen to music has changed, with the advent of the download the emphasis has reverted to single tracks. It hasn't helped that most people have forgotten how to make a decent album. I'm constantly disappointed with records I buy.

I believe our new album is the pinnacle of everything we've done thus far, and I'm proud that this will be remembered as our last album. The future lies elsewhere and we can have a lot of fun by changing things up. It's like the Wild West at the moment, a time to take chances and try out new ideas.

When you're tied to the album format, you find yourself waiting six months between finishing a record and releasing it. By leaving this behind we can enter a new phase of spontaneity and creativity. We have our own studio in New York, we can record a track and release it the next day if we feel like it, give it to people while it's fresh. We're the first band to do this , but I very much doubt we'll be the last.

We've been one of the best singles bands of the last two decades and we're still younger than a lot of bands on the current scene. I’m excited to push this claim further by dedicating ourselves wholly to the art of the single for the digital age."