18th December 2003 - New Album Finished!

The new album is finished, mixed and all!

15th December 2003 - Mixing update

Mixing update from Mark (from 12th Dec) here.

15th December 2003

News on Mixing from Mark (from fri 12th)

Yesterday we finished starcrossed which sounds great, 7 out of the 12 are now finished:

Meltdown, Evil Eye, Detonator, On a wave, Out of the Blue, Renegade Cavalcade, Star Crossed

today were on Vampire Love. We took out the mixes and played them to an unknowing public last night @ Red Rock on Sunset strip got a great response from people with loads of dancing and rockin out. (in the bar!) Me and Tav went snowboarding last weekend at Mammoth and it was amazing, Tim went to Vegas and Rick is Playing drums on a track featuring old swervedriver people. Also Bee Lee has been hanging out and Chris M took us out and bought us Milkshakes.......

5th December 2003 - New song rumours

A new single could be out jan/feb time with another 1 or 2 before the album release date, set for late april probably. Evil Eye is rumoured to be the comeback single as its catchy as fuck and Renegade Cavalcade and Star-Crossed are also favourites to be released before the album, which Ash are currently back in NY mixing. Star-Crossed is also said to be the 'best song ash have ever written'. And Slashed is on its way.

20th November 2003 - Album Release

Tim reckons the new album should be out april next year and Charlottes staying behind in LA to finish her solo album, which also should be out next year.

14th November 2003 - Orpheus

Some helpful hints on how to play Orpheus from Tim... Orpheus.

11th November 2003 - Orpheus Video

You can watch a MTV video for the new song Orpheus here. Mark said "it is only the demo, MTV wanted something quick and we didn't want to give them unfinished album cuts."

9th November 2003 - News on album

Update in Tim's Studio Diary and update to Renegade Cavalcade lyrics.

7th November 2003 - Album update from Tim

Tim: "today i finished 'star-crossed' and am about to sing another sweet ballad called 'solace'." For more go here, when Tim adds more to his studio diary on the ash board I'll also add them.

Heres the Lyrics to Star-Crossed and other new songs Renegade Cavalcade, Evil Eye, Orpheus and Singapore Song.

20th October 2003

Posted on the official message board on fri 17th:

things are coming along nicely, marks fallen through the roof of julia roberts' garage and the beverly hills cops have been round twice but they didn't bring eddie murphy.charlotte's made a solo record and rick has been working the strip with divine brown (but that's ok, he's just done the best drumming of his career) the record is sounding killer! i'm gonna start the vocals next week, it's starting to take shape. we're recording 15 songs and will probably pick the best 12 out of those. we've taken a bunch of photos in the studio, hopefully we'll get em stuck up on the site sooooooooon.

unfortunately it doesn't look like we'll be touring before the end of the year, cos we're gonna be mixing in december with rich costey who mixed audioslave and jed's favourite band m**e (album of the year i.m.o). it's a fucker cos i can't wait to play all these new songs live, but it'll be worth the wait....

last but not least it's tav's birthday today!

17th October 2003

Interview with Tim

ASH have decamped to LOS ANGELES to record the follow up to 2001s ’FREE ALL ANGELS’.

The band are living in Julia Roberts’ old Beverly Hills home, making them neighbors with Doors’ keyboardist Ray Manzarek while they record the effort.

Speaking before his solo gig at LA venue Spaceland last weekend, frontman Tim Wheeler told NME.COM, the band chose to go to Southern California in order to work at Sound City studios with producer Nick Raskulinecz.

He said: "I met Andy Gill [Gang of Four] in a studio in London. He just did the Killing Joke album, which Dave Grohl plays drums on. He said he got the best drum sound he’s ever heard using this engineer called Nick Raskulinecz. He said, ‘You should check this guy out,’ and so we kind of went from there."

Raskulinecz previously produced the Foo Fighters’ ’One By One’. He also served as Mixer for Queens Of The Stone Age’s ‘Songs For The Deaf’. Ash hope he will be able to help them as they move in a harder musical direction.

"It definitely sounds like a move on," Wheeler said of the new material. "Everything sounds louder. We grew up on heavy metal stuff before Nirvana and ever since we never wanted it to be too rock, but [now] the whole rock thing is coming out of us more."

Some of the tracks being primed for the as yet untitled April 2004 release include ‘Orpheus’, ‘Meltdown’, ‘Evil Eye’, ‘Solace’ and ‘Renegade Cavalcade’ which should appear next March as the first single. Also expected to make the cut are new ones ‘Star Crossed’, ‘Won’t be Saved’ and ‘Clones’ which has nothing to do with the band’s well documented Star Wars obsession.

"It’s more about how homogenized mankind has become. People don’t really stand out," Wheeler said. "It’s a rant about some person who’s let you down, a person you thought was different and they turn out to be the same as everyone else."

Despite the amount of famous musicians within close proximity of the studio, Ash expect to finish up the release and leave LA in November without having brought anyone into the recording fold.

"Dave Grohl has been down the studio a few times, but it’s the kind of thing where it’s almost become uncool to have Dave Grohl on your record cos he’s on everyone’s record," Wheeler said. "There’s a whole bunch of people we could have called, but we just want to get our band’s sound on record. I think we’re playing the best we ever played and we just want to get that sound down. We don’t really want any extra help."

10th October 2003 - Submission tab and acoustic gig

Submission tab thanks to Mike Laverick. And Tim is taking a short break from recording and playing an acoustic gig with Matt Sharp (ex weezer) this sunday in california.

2nd October 2003 - Latest on album

Mark: "The first song on the album is more than likely gonna be called Meltdown. It is rockin. Dave Grohl was in the studio today and said it sounded 'fucking amazing'."

1st October 2003 - News on album from Mark

"Rick has finished all the drums for the album. 15 songs are being recorded. we'll probally choose 12/13 of these for the final CD. Rick has a new cloak, Tim also has a massive new tattoo." (of a black phoneix from his right shoulder down to his elbow)

26th September 2003

Charlotte's solo album

TIM WHEELER’S RIGHT-HAND WOMAN CHARLOTTE HATHERLEY HAS CRAFTED A SOLO ALBUM FROM HOLIDAY ROMANCES GONE BAD AND A MATHEMATICAL APPROACH TO GUITAR-PLAYING

Six years after being plucked from the bosom of little-known London band Nightnurse to strum and dance barefoot with Ash, the one that the fans call Chaz has made an (as-yet-untitled) solo album of startlingly epic guitar-scrapes and the catchiest off-kilter harmony-pop since Kenickie exploded in a shower of glitter and gin.

“One of the songs, ‘Grey Will Fade’ was a B-side for Ash,” explains Charlotte Hatherley. “I ended up in the studio recording that all on my own. Rick [McMurray of Ash] played the drums, but I did everything else. That just set the tone. I thought ‘Fuck it, I’m just gonna do it on my own, I’m not gonna wait around’.”

The album has been produced by Eric Drew Feldman, a onetime member of Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band who has worked with dEus and Frank Black and plays with PJ Harvey. “Rob [Ellis] did the drums in two days and I spent the rest of the two weeks doing everything. I fucking loved it. I’m a bit weird when it comes to collaborating with people. I find I can only really come up with good ideas when I’m working on my own. I feel free to do whatever I want whereas, with Ash, Tim [Wheeler, Ash’s mainman] has always got these great ideas for guitar stuff because they’re his songs.”

“I’d just had my own songs for fucking ages and I thought ‘If I don’t put them out now I’m never gonna do it’. So I just got off my arse and made time and got it done. It takes me a long time to finish each song, though. Last year I had five that I’d already written years ago and I thought ‘This isn’t good, I need to write more’, and I wrote loads of new stuff. Then I realised it had taken me six years to write 15 songs, which isn’t good either. I needed to sit down and really go for it. I was worrying that I was turning 24.”

Ah, it’s a 24 thing.

“I wanted to get it out before I turned 24, and then when I didn’t I was like ‘Oh fuck!’. I wasn’t very happy about it. There’s so much I’d like to do musically, aside from being the guitarist in Ash. I was panicking.”

And the band is fine with it? “Cool, really cool. Tim and Rick have heard it. It’s not awkward or anything. It’ll be sweet.”

Ash fans can breathe easy. The 12 songs that make up Charlotte’s as yet unnamed album still inhabit a similar world to Wheeler’s, but draw from a larger musical palette. More complex at times, stranger yet poppier. Dare we even suggest... better? Charlotte squirms and ignores the compliment.

“My pointers for the album were XTC, The B-52’s and David Bowie. ‘Where I’m Calling From’ is probably the first song I wrote. There are instrumental sections I wanted to be quite Eno-esque. It’s quite a Bowie/Eno kind of thing. ‘Stop’ is a disjointed guitar thing, initially sounding like an instrumental from Low, but now it sounds like XTC. ‘Paragon’ is really kind of crazy, B-52’s, stupid-pop. ‘Bastardo’, one of the newer songs, I was really proud of that. I’d been listening to a lot of Pretenders. That’s my first proper punky song. It’s got a novelty thing about it but...”

‘Bastardo’ tells the tale of our heroine’s holiday romance with a handsome Lothario in which she wakes up to discover he’s stolen her precious Gibson SG, Both that the self-explanatory Elastica-ness of ‘Summer’ sound like potential radio roadshow hits, though this isn’t something Charlotte appears comfortable with.

“It’s definitely not my intention. It wasn’t what I was thinking when I wrote it. It would be weird actually. I don’t really have any desire to go on Top of the Pops and play ‘Bastardo’.”

So the perpetually sunny world of pop isn’t for her? “I’m not anti-pop. I watch CD:UK, still buy Smash Hits occasionally, dance to S Club down the disco...”

This is, most definitely, a guitar album, ranging from the one-string speed solos of her Ash work to symphonies of layered e-bow effects. There is a recognisable, distinctive Hatherley guitar style.

“That’s good! I don’t know where it comes from. I don’t really have any guitar heroes. A lot of it comes from David Bowie because he used so many amazing guitarists.” Large pictures in Charlotte’s living room of Bowie in Labyrinth and Heathen haircuts jostle for mantelpiece space among the zombie memorabilia belonging to her film-director boyfriend Edgar Wright [of Spaced fame].

“Maybe it’s not really knowing what I’m doing. I started off practicing my scales and I was really good at the maths behind guitar playing. It’s something that I don’t really understand. You get much more interesting stuff out of it. I don’t know where my thing comes from. Though it’s nice when other people point it out.”

Following in Ash’s footsteps may be a huge undertaking, but Charlotte’s not expecting to take over the world; she’s just happy to be making her own musical mark on it. “I’m very critical of everything I do so I find it hard to say ‘Oh yeah, it’s fucking great. Go and get it’. It would be really fucking cool if people love this record. But I haven’t quite got my head round the whole thing.

“One of the best things about playing with Ash,” she continues, “is having girls coming up to me and saying ‘I play guitar because of you’. I get a lot more out of that than reading a good review.”

But in order for people to do that, it really is going to have to be a Charlotte Hatherley record. People are going to need to put a face and a name to these songs, aren’t they?

“I like the faceless aspect of recording,” Charlotte counters. “And initially, I was gonna put it out under a project name. I changed my mind about that because I play everything, bar the drums, and I’ve written everything. I think it would be selling it short if I put it behind another name. So I’m just gonna put it out there as me.

“The whole Ash thing was just luck. I fell into that. But I’ve been doing music ever since and I love it. Without wanting to sound too cheesy, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else....”

- Timothy Chipping, Bang, October 2003

From NME, ash to play Barfly gigs...

TRAVIS, ASH and THE POLYPHONIC SPREE are amongst the acts confirmed to be playing a series of intimate 'BACK TO THE BARS' gigs to raise money for the SHELTER and WAR CHILD charities.

Passport: Back To The Barsis a series of six nights of shows at Barfly venues across the UK taking place from March 1 to 6 next year. Each gig will feature some of the biggest names in music playing 200-500 capacity shows in Cardiff, Exeter, Glasgow, Liverpool, London and York, XFM reports.

Britain's biggest DJs will also be playing sets prior to each gig and also at each aftershow party.

People wishing to go to the gigs pay £2 to send a text or make a phone call to enter a 'draw' to win a pair of 'passports' to that artist's show. Also five pairs of the passes for each show will be retained and auctioned online to the highest bidder over a two-month period.

The draw and auction will raise money for the events two main charity beneficiaries War Child and Shelter.

The artists booked so far are Travis, Badly Drawn Boy, David Gray, Elbow, Ash, The Polyphonic Spree, Gabrielle and Big Brovaz.

More acts are expected to be confirmed over the next few months, and details of the exact venues and line ups will be announced closer to the event.

4th Septemeber 2003 - Site updates

Just re-done the layout of the tabs section, i think it looks pretty smart now.

and updated the albums section, though a little late as ISS was out this time last year and FAA was out two years ago, i'd just never bothered to upload album covers till today.

26th September 2003 - Charlotte's solo album and Ash Barfly gigs

News on Charlotte's solo album from Bang - thanks to guy from the ash board who typed it up - sounds like its gonna be quality and its rumoured it has a december release date. And news of ash gigs for charity at the barflys.

3rd September 2003 - Demoed Tracks

News from Mark on 9 new demoed songs here, on a new page dedicated to descriptions of the new songs, including those new ones from April.

New songs demoed so far include (working titles): Go to Hell, Renegade Cavalcade, Clones, Orpheus, I won't be saved, Evil Eye, On a wave, Cool it Down, Arguement, Solace, Detonator, Meltdown, Vampire Love, Star-crossed, Out of the Blue, Wipeout, Singapore Song (re-vamp), Blue Blue and Tintsletown.....

27th August 2003 - Demos coming

News on the next album from Mark: "some new titles for you 'Vampire Love', 'Detonator', 'Out of the Blue', 'Meltdown' and 'Wipeout'.

more to come, we're demoing 7 new songs over the next week. preparing for the Pilgrimage to Sound City in LA. the home of 'Nevermind'..... 3 weeks and the new album begins"

12th August 2003 - Charlotte Solo Album

On channel 4 its said that Charlotte is close to finishing her solo stuff side project and Tim says he hasnt heard it yet, but can't wait. I'm guessing this'll be released on Infectious/homegrown and maybe quite low key, I dunno.

11th August 2003 - Album Info

A few clips from an ash interview on teletext, about the next album...

Tim: "It won't be as pop as people are used to. I can't see there being a 'Shining Light' on the next record."

Tim: "But, while the lyrics are personal, I think they'll be weirder and darker than anything I've tried. It's wrong to call the next album 'experimental' - it'll still be rock music - but I want to challenge the way I write lyrics."

The whole interview will be here soon...

Also from an xfm interview, Rick said that Evil Eye could well be the 'comeback' single. Just added the rest of the interview to the news section.

11th August 2003

The xfm interview with Rick...

In the postcoital glow that followed their Robbie Williams support slot at Knebworth and their sold out gig at Somerset House in London, Ash have been speaking to Xfm Online about their new material.

Just prior to their gig as part of the Grolch Somerset House Sessions show in London (August 8), Ash drummer Rick McMurray has been talking about Ash's new songs, especially the four new tracks that the band have recently recorded,

"We did some demos just before we went to America," he explained, "And we've been throwing a few new songs into the set since then. There's 'Orpheus' which is a classic Tim Wheeler summer song with big riffs and mad freak out bits in it, that's quite a journey of a song. A musical journey.

"We do a song called 'Renegade Cavalcade' which has been getting comparisons to The Pixies or Nirvana, probably because its taken that quiet/loud/quiet/loud dynamic to the extreme. Once again it's got Tim's great melody on it. Most of the chorus consists of just one word, which is 'Yeah', so that's kinda hooky.

"'On A Wave' is definitely one of the darker songs. It's definitely got a dark vibe to it. It's like satanic surfing. I think a lot of the new stuff has a bit of a darker edge to it. There are fewer references to summer in there. There's a few in there - it's Tim, he can't help it - but generally the themes are about the darker side of love. It definitely a little bit different.

"For my money, 'Evil Eye' is gonna be the comeback single. Its really instantaneous. Once again it's go that quiet/loud thing going on. Just a real great pop/rock song."

The band will start recording the new album in September in Los Angeles, and according to McMurray fans can expect a heavier record than 2002's 'Free All Angels'.

"We've been threatening to do a rock album over the past few years," the drummer explained, "But we always seem to settle into the pop thing, especially with the last album, now we've got a new producer [Nick Raskulinecz - Foo Fighters] so it's time to change things. It feels like the trough of depression after 'Nu-Clear Sounds' has cleared. That chapter's closed, its time to move on."

5th August 2003

Radio 1 online wrote:

Ash get rockier for next album

Ash were one of the support acts who played to the 370,000-strong crowd at Knebworth during Robbie Williams' weekend gigs.

They played a set of their hits which went down well, but they say they will be revealing some new tracks when they play the V Festival in two weeks.

They're due to start recording their new album in September in LA with the Foo Fighters producer Nick Raskulinecz. They're planning to rent a big villa and hope to get some surfing in too.

This is how Tim and Rick describe their new songs:

"I think they're like Ash with Dave Grohl on drums, except it's Rick. I don't know if that clears things up for you at all."

"It's a little bit more rock. After spending quite a lot of time in America the riffs are a bit heavier and also we've got the old pop melodies, a la Tim Wheeler."

"The stuff's sounding really good. I guess so far the songs are about being a freak and trying to be an individual in these homogenised times. I don't know - maybe it's spending too much time in America."

5th August 2003

"Ash get rockier for next album" news here.

As you might have noticed there's a slight change in the layout of this page, the Tabs section is be re-vamped very soon to, if you have any problems viewing any part of this page or with any links, please let us know. Thanks.

Somerset house show on Thursday sold out.

1st July 2003

Ash are supporting Robbie Williams on his UK tour at the mo and are gonna play a one off gig in London on 7th August, info about the gig and how to get tickets here.

Tab for the fantastic newie Evil Eye here and the Envy b-side Tonight You Belong To Me solo tabbed here both by Mike Laverick, whos turning into a bit of an ashtabs legend.

24th May 2003

Tab for new and unreleased track Renegade Calvacade here, tabbed by the legend Chad Peck.

13th May 2003

News from Tav on releases: 'single jan/feb 2004, album spring 2004'. bit like shining light and FAA. Mark has said before going on the U.S. tour they were demoing in London and they are 'on the rock side of things'.

10th May 2003

Ash played a free gig at the Manc Apollo on thursday, which was only there second gig of the year. airing four new tracks Orpheus, RC, Evil Eye and On A Wave. Also Tim said they'll be recording a new album at the end of the summer (theres also talk of a single round then). Full Carling Review

Full Set List: Lose Control, Cherry Bomb, Girl From Mars, Orpheus, Goldfinger, Jesus Says, Shining Light, Renegade Cavalcade, Jack Names The Planets, Oh Yeah, Evil Eye, Walking Barefoot, Sometimes, Envy, A Life Less Ordinary, Kung Fu / On A Wave, Burn Baby Burn

23rd April 2003

New Live EP: 'Satellite Transmission Vol. 1'

Ash, one of Irelands finest exports and one of the UKs most successful rock bands, will be back from Europe this spring to go on a massive headlining tour of the US, rocking venues in more than 26 cities. In conjunction with the tour, the band will release a limited edition EP. The as yet untitled EP is exclusive to the US and will only be available at the bands live performances, www.ash-offical.com & www.kineticrecords.com. This exclusive release was recorded during the bands North American tours in 2002 and will include acoustic and live versions of tracks from Free All Angels.

Tracklisting: cherry bomb (live), walking barefoot (live), girl from mars (acoustic), burn baby burn (acoustic)

16th April 2003

Cherry Bomb Bass Tab thanks to Jonno.

14th April 2003

News from Mark about new songs :)

"1. Go to Hell - Garage rawk, it's all about them riffs. sing along with me now 'G O T O H E L L !'

2. Renegade Cavalcade - sorta Pixies (as heard @ RAH) gotta middle 8 riff to swing your dick in the wind to.

3. Clones - Heaviest song we've ever recorded. tuned down to a PHAT C (I jest not...)

4. Orpheus - Chilli peppers meet The Doors, Sabbath and well.. us (as heard @ RAH)

5. I won't be saved - a bit like teenage fanclub before the pipes and slippers days.

6. Evil Eye - McMurray shows off thinking he's Grohl in this dark / heavy pop song. Muse fans might like this.

7. On a wave - Big riffs, unusual chord sequences and mega 'Who' style breakdown in this Surf anthem.

8. Cool it Down - Fast paced, pounding drums and a chorus as catchy as a world champion frisbee catcher. destined to be a mosh pit favourite.

9. Arguement - the most accessable / pop of all the new stuff. a bit R.E.M.

10. Solace - This has potential for greatness. It's a bit like a heavy 'i'm gonna fall' with one big phat chorus.

anyway these are the first 10 finished 'new' tracks. These titles might not stick but then again they might. as for making the demo's avaliable..... not yet, but closer to release there'll be plenty happening. until then smuggle mini disc's into future shows and bootleg away. oh and btw, these new songs are just the tip of the iceberg

who was talking electro was talking out of their ass"

9th April 2003

Touring Info: Ash have now confirmed US tour dates for May and June (First US headlining tour in 5 years). They are also the main support for Robbie Williams for his sold out shows in June and playing the Salzburg festival in Austria 14th Aug. Info from the Tour section on the official site.

30th March 2003

Ash played two news songs at their gig at the Royal Albert Hall for the Teenage Cancer Trust on Friday. Orpheus a very nu-clear sounds heavier rock tune. and Renegade Cavalcade (only working title), choppy quite then loud ash number - very catchy and my fav of the two.

The setlist was Lose Control, Cherry Bomb, Girl From Mars, Orpheus, Goldfinger, Jesus Says, Shining Light, Renegade Cavalcade, Jack Names the Planets, Oh Yeah, Walking Barefoot, Sometimes, Envy, A Life Less Ordinary, Kung Fu. Encore: Burn Baby Burn

Apparently Tim is finishing the new material then ash are heading back to america round april/may time. no news of any release though.

26th March 2003

News from Jed after speaking to Mark...

1: Ash will play 2 new songs tomorrow (guessing Jed means friday at the R.A.H), they have been practicing like mad for the last few days over and over again.

2: They have demoed alot of songs, and have probably got enough fuckalicious songs for 3/4 of a new album. yay! But as they are breaking America and touring like mad, dont expect a new album too soon.

3: Half of Ash are on TV. Rick and I cant remember who else, probably Tim as I heard he is the lead singer of the pop/rock combo Watch The Christian O Connell Show tonight on Channel 5. Thats XFM's Christian O Connell.

4: Rick has a gruesome beard.

13th March 2003

From NME

ASH say their next album is a "lot more experimental" and is influenced by the sounds and ideas featured in their short film ‘LOVE AND DESTRUCTION’.

Tim Wheeler composed all the music for the film electronically, and has stated he is hoping "to push the sonics of the band a lot more".

Now guitarist Charlotte Hatherly has told XFM that the follow-up to 2001's 'Free All Angels' should reflect the darker music heard in the film.

She said: "We’re only just starting to get the songs together for the new album....Tim has been writing a lot on his computer. He’s been f***ing around with loops and stuff like that, like the stuff in the documentary, so we’ll see."

I'm guessing there'll be poppier singles as its Tim, and love songs pore out. NCS rocker darkness plus some top singles sounds amazing. Also its rumoured that a few new tracks will be heard at the albert hall for those who will be there. i hope so.

6th March 2003

Tim Wheeler and Barry & John from Mogwai are djing and doing acoustic performances in The Village in Dublin on the 14th March.

5th March 2003

Ash have confirmed for V2003, i think on the same day as coldplay and the foos!

4th March 2003

Ash are demoing.

I have moved older news to the News section.

26th February 2003

I've also added all of the pictures I have uploaded to the picture section, though there arent many and i'll be uploading some more soon. also i've removed the message board i had coz i couldnt be bothered with it anymore and just linked to the official board.

5th February 2003

Ash to play Charity gig with Supergrass in London, on 28th March. Info here

13th February 2003

Cd promo copies of ash's next release 'I'm On Drugs' were given out at the advanced preview of Love and Destruction in London this week. the cd contained the 2 minutes of punk madness which is the great 'I'm On Drugs' and the 10 Masked Men death metal cover of Candy, which won the xfm competition in August. Ash plan to release the two tracks on a limited 7" soon, here is the cover artwork.

News on Love and Destruction. Original News from Official Site .

New News from Tav......

......."it will get repeated on channel 4. There are also plans for a dvd (an hour long version + extras) later in the year.

me, mark and tim saw the first 12 minutes (they are still editing) yesterday and it looks amazing.

tim has written the soundtrack and there's a section in the film where the whole band jam out a mental new track live in the house.

the tv version is only 30 mins long."

27th January 2003

ash are rumoured to be booking studio time in the summer to record the next album.