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Artist:

Ash

Ash

Formed:
1992 in Ulster, Northern Ireland

Representative Songs:

"Girl from Mars," "Shining Light," "Goldfinger"

Representative Albums:

1977, Nu-Clear Sounds, Meltdown

Is Also Known As:

Vietnam

Similar Artists:

Influences:

Followers:

She's Your Sister, The Cribs, Zed

Performed Songs By:

Tim Wheeler, Mark Hamilton
  • Genre: Rock
  • Active: '90s, 2000s
  • Major Members: Mark Hamilton, Tim Wheeler, Rick "Rock" McMurray, Charlotte Hatherley

Biography

Irish punk-pop trio Ash first formed in 1989 when childhood mates Tim Wheeler and Mark Hamilton got guitars for Christmas and established the metal act Vietnam. Nothing more than something for kicks, Vietnam switched to Ash in 1992 as Wheeler (guitar/vocals), Hamilton (bass), and Rick "Rock" McMurray (drums) aimed to be something more serious. They shared a love for the raw British punk of the Buzzcocks and crafted their musical talents to take the Brit-pop scene by storm at the start of the decade. NME was swooning over these "teen punkers from Belfast," and by 1994 Ash had signed to Infectious Records to issue the Trailer EP later that fall.

Their glossy youth was undoubtedly alluring, yet their Irish roots exuded a bit of an American flair similar to the likes of Pavement and the Lemonheads. They weren't even out of high school before three singles hit the Top Five in the U.K. indie charts. A year later marked Ash's full-length debut with 1977 and a deal with Reprise Records in the U.S. Named in honor of the year Star Wars was released, 1977 displayed Wheeler and Hamilton's full-fledged love for all things extraterrestrial and science fiction-related. Sharp guitar hooks and exact production work by Owen Morris (Oasis, New Order, Paul Weller) gained the bandmembers the fame they'd been wishing for since childhood. They were headlining major festivals -- T in the Park, Glastonbury, Roskilde, and Reading -- and playing countless club dates across the globe. In fall 1997, female guitarist Charlotte Hatherley was added to the all-male lineup, a definite change for the band's sound and image and a step that led Ash's fan base to expand into more of what the band had been looking for since the beginning.

With a new bandmate and the end of their teenage years, Ash welcomed anything that came their way. The late '90s marked a maturation for Ash as a unit as well as individually. Their sound featured heavier guitars while Wheeler's lyrical content experienced a much grittier shift. Their sophomore effort, Nu-Clear Sounds (1998), had Garbage's Butch Vig (Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana) at the mixing board, and it wasn't necessarily their finest moment. NME turned on the band, criticizing Ash's new sound as "terrifying, ghoulrawk thrashnik deathcore noiseterrior sultans of satanic verse" in August 1998. Harsh words and reviews didn't distract Ash, however. Free All Angels followed in April 2001, although it didn't even see a U.S. release until the following summer. Meltdown, the band's first stateside release for Record Collection, arrived in spring 2005. A year later, and after nine years with Ash, Charlotte Hatherley announced her departure from the band. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, All Music Guide
 
 
Wikipedia: Ash (band)
Ash
Origin Northern Ireland
Genre(s) Alternative Rock, Punk Rock, Britpop, Pop punk
Years active 1992–present
Label(s) Infectious (UK),
Warner Bros. Records (USA)
Website Official website
Members
Tim Wheeler
Mark Hamilton
Rick McMurray
Former members
Charlotte Hatherley (1997-2006)

Ash are an alternative rock band that formed in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland in 1992. The media originally pegged Ash's music as Britpop when the band first found mainstream success, but the band's musical style in fact spans a number of genres including punk, power pop, grunge and hard rock.[citation needed]

Lineup

The original band members were Tim Wheeler (vocals and guitar), Mark Hamilton (bass guitar) and Rick McMurray (drums).

Initially inspired by Twisted Sister and Iron Maiden in the early 1990s, Wheeler and Hamilton formed a heavy metal band called Vietnam with a few school friends. After barely two gigs, they were left stranded when their bandmates left. Requiring a drummer, they had a few drinks with McMurray who was a year ahead of them in school and had switched from playing the guitar to drums. With McMurray on board, they set out to develop a new style of music inspired by grunge bands such as Nirvana, Mudhoney and the Pixies[citation needed].

Members

  • Tim Wheeler — Guitar/Piano/Lead Vocals
  • Mark Hamilton — Bass
  • Rick McMurray — Drums

Former members

  • Charlotte Hatherley — Guitar/Piano/Backing Vocals (1997-2006)

History

Early 1990s

Ash officially formed in 1992. They created three demo tapes that year, Solar Happy in June, Shed in September, and the Home Demo in November. These tapes featured their earliest material and the first recordings of some songs that were later on their 1995 release, Trailer, including "Intense Thing", "Get Out", "Obscure Thing," and their future single, "Jack Names the Planets".

In 1993 Ash recorded the Garage Girl demo tape, which featured "Jack Names the Planets" and "Intense Thing" taken from Shed, as well as some new tracks including "Petrol". Following Garage Girl, they released their compilation demo tape, Pipe Smokin' Brick later that year, which featured an assortment of their best songs from the other 4 demo tapes. Downpatrick Musician Ray Valentine recorded Ash's demo's at his studio, Cosmic Rays. Ash's moniker at the time was "Genuine Real Teenagers" due to the fact that they were so young when recording their early material.

The demo tapes had not gained much attention yet and Ash were still playing small shows at local clubs, but in early 1994, Stephen Taverner came across the Garage Girl demo tape. Taverner put up the money so that they could press 1000 7″ copies of "Jack Names the Planets" on Stephen's own LaLaLand record label. The band was on its way and Stephen became their full-time manager.

Ash released their mini album, Trailer, in October 1994, which only included seven songs. They received some airplay from DJ Steve Lamacq on BBC Radio 1 and so followed up their debut single with "Petrol", and "Uncle Pat" on their new label Infectious Records.

In 1995, Ash left school and released their breakthrough singles "Kung Fu", "Girl From Mars" and "Angel Interceptor".

Late 1990s

1996 saw them release the singles "Goldfinger" and "Oh Yeah" either side of their album 1977, which saw considerable success. On 17 February 1997, Ash released Live at the Wireless, a live album, recorded at the Triple J Studios in Australia. The UK fans could buy a limited edition CD of it on the band's own Deathstar label.

During their time touring with Weezer, Ash felt the limitation of a three-piece band. As a result they recruited Charlotte Hatherley who had previously been with the band Nightnurse and she made her gig debut at a few small gigs a week before appearing at the V festival in 1997. The first single that she appeared on, "A Life Less Ordinary", featured on the soundtrack to the Ewan McGregor / Cameron Diaz film of the same name.

In September 1998, Ash released "Jesus Says" the following month the second album proper, Nu-Clear Sounds, and in November "Wildsurf". The stress of near non-stop touring of 1977 and Nu-Clear sounds began to affect the band's mentality.

Early 2000s

Ash in Tempe, Arizona - Mark, Rick, Charlotte, Tim - March 2005
Enlarge
Ash in Tempe, Arizona - Mark, Rick, Charlotte, Tim - March 2005

In 2000, Tim Wheeler disappeared for a short while following the commercial and critical failure of Nu-Clear Sounds. He eventually emerged in New York making the self-deprecating, blood, drug and sex fueled video for Numbskull. A note for Stephen Taverner attached to the video said, "I've killed Bambi".

Ash nearly became bankrupt as they prepared to release possibly their last album. Luckily, this was not to be the case. The band retreated to Wheeler's parents' house, to play and write songs in the same garage where the band began.

The single "Shining Light" was released in January 2001, followed by the number one album Free All Angels in April. Subsequent singles released from Free All Angels were "Burn Baby Burn", "Sometimes", "Candy", and "There's a Star" . The single "Shining Light" won the "Best Contemporary Song" award at the 2002 Ivor Novello awards. A new single "Envy" was released, followed shortly afterwards by the singles collection Intergalactic Sonic 7″s with the bonus disk entitled Cosmic Debris. Q magazine named Ash as #2 of its "50 Bands To See Before You Die".

The Infamous Charlotte shower scene from 'Slashed'
Enlarge
The Infamous Charlotte shower scene from 'Slashed'

In 2003, it was leaked to the music and tabloid press that Ash were working on a horror film described as a 'teen slasher'. The film called 'Slashed' was shot while the band were on tour in America but some scenes were also shot in the UK. The screenplay, written by Jed Shepherd and directed by Alexander Marks included star roles by Chris Martin (Sherbet Bones) and Jonny Buckland (Agent Ford) of Coldplay as a pair of FBI agents hired to track down a supernatural serial killer. Other star performances include that of Moby, James Nesbitt, Dave Grohl and Ash themselves. The film was much hyped due to the celebrity performances but it was never generally released to the public and is now currently being held in storage. Rumours circulated that certain scenes were too gory and would not be suitable for Ash's audience, but it was also said that Chris Martin vetoed its release due to scenes of him running around in his boxer shorts, covered in blood, fighting demons which may have been detrimental to his new celebrity status.

On 29 June 2004, Ash released Meltdown. It reached number five in the UK. The band teamed up with Lucasarts for a new Star Wars game entitled Republic Commando. "Clones", taken from the album Meltdown is the first licensed music to be used in anything Star Wars-related. "Meltdown" and "Orpheus" are featured on the popular British movie, Shaun of the Dead as well as appearing on the ingame soundtrack for the video game Burnout 3: Takedown. Also featured is their cover of the Buzzcocks song "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" featuring Chris Martin on backing vocals. "Starcrossed" and "Renegade Cavalcade" were later released as singles from the album. Meltdown gets a US release date of 8 March, through Warner Bros. Records imprint Record Collection. Also in 2005, Tim Wheeler received a companionship (a honorary degree) from LIPA (Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts).

Ash in Tempe, Arizona - March 2005 - Photo by Nancy J Price.
Enlarge
Ash in Tempe, Arizona - March 2005 - Photo by Nancy J Price.

During the recording of Meltdown, Charlotte Hatherley also wrote and recorded her solo side project album Grey Will Fade, which included hit single "Bastardo".

Late 2000s

On 20 January 2006, Charlotte Hatherley left the band after nine years leaving only the original members remaining. An official statement reads: "After 9 years Ash and Charlotte Hatherley have mutually agreed to part company. The decision is completely amicable and they wish each other the very best for the future". In an interview in July 2007, the other band members suggested they asked Hatherley to leave as they "wanted to be a three-piece."[1] On 6 June 2006, NME reported that Ash were in a New York recording studio and had twenty seven "rough" songs. Wheeler hinted that the eventual album is likely to be more retro sounding than any of their previous material. No shows were planned for the remainder of 2006, but Wheeler says Ash are hoping to test out their new songs "in tiny New York bars" once the album is completed.

Early in 2007, Ash announced a full-length UK tour for February and March 2007. The tour is a warm-up for their album release in June and summer festival appearances, including the Isle of Wight Festival on 9 June 2007. The tour is of small clubs nationwide and calls at Preston, Newcastle, Glasgow, Norwich, Liverpool, Sheffield and Southampton amongst others. Named "The Higher Education Tour", Ash are to work closely with the National Union of Students (NUS), including student pre-sale, which explains their gigs at universities in Southampton, Keele, Sheffield, Exeter, Warwick and Kings College London amongst others. Support will be the indie-rock band, V//Formation.

On the 19 February 2007 Ash released the first song from their new album, which was announced as being called Twilight of the Innocents. This new material was a download only sneak-preview track called "I Started A Fire". The first physical single "You Can't Have It All" was released on 16 April 2007[2]. The release of YCHIA coincided with an in-store gig and signing in Virgin Megastore, Belfast. The music video for "You Can't Have It All" debuted on MTV Two on 11 March 2007. Other singles are "Polaris", "End of the World" and probably "Twilight Of The Innocents", as Tim said on a interview at the band's site.

On 12 June 2007 Ash revealed that Twilight of the Innocents would be their last album. They however denied that they were splitting and instead stated they would only release singles from now on as "The way people listen to music has changed, with the advent of the download the emphasis has reverted to single tracks".[3]

Discography

Main article: Ash discography

Studio albums

References

  1. ^ Ash: We are way better than The Beatles (thelondonpaper)
  2. ^ "You Can't Have It All" Release Date BBC
  3. ^ http://www.nme.com/news/ash/28918
  4. ^ a b c d e f

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Artist. Copyright © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ® , a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Ash (band)" Read more

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