Monday 12 February, 2001
Ash: Still Shining
Irish rock group Ash grant The Edge a private audience to play acoustic versions of early single Girl From Mars and latest hit Shining Light. Band members Tim Wheeler and Charlotte Hatherley talk about the early years of Ash and their rise to fame both in the charts and in the world of modelling.
Teenage Kicks
Rock critics often use the phrase 'barely out of school' when describing young bands. The three original members of Ash were, in fact, still in high school when their first single, a limited edition called Jack Names The Planets, was picked up by Radio One in the UK. Wheeler tells of the formation of Ash:
'I went to school with Mark [Hamilton] and Rick [McMurray] and we started the band when we were 15. We got a record deal when we were 17.'
Before forming Ash, Wheeler was a self-confessed Heavy Metal fan, until he heard Nirvana. A teacher at his school then helped him to discover bands like The Clash and The Sex Pistols. It is these more punk-oriented influences that can be heard in the early Ash singles.
The band's early singles launched them into the world of pop music, and a lifestyle in which they had to find a balance between touring and completing their A-Levels. Wheeler explains:
'It all happened very quickly, about two days after I left school we were playing the Glastonbury Festival and pretty much from then on for two years we were touring round the world and we had a number one album in the UK… we were growing up at the same time, so all I can say is that it was a mad time.'
| 'We just went completely crazy' | |
Ash were well-known for their 'crazy' behaviour on tour, and Wheeler had a drug-induced nervous breakdown while the band were living the high life. Their reputation preceded them when they were due to play a concert in Norway, and the hotel wisely removed televisions from the band's rooms in case they were thrown through the windows.
The band's debut album, 1977, was released to widespread acclaim in 1996. Rather than referring to the year in which punk music became popular, as thought by critics at the time, it in fact referred to the year in which Wheeler and bassist Mark Hamilton were born – and the year in which their favourite movie, Star Wars, was released. Produced by Owen Morris, the man behind Oasis, 1977 went to number one in the UK album chart and included five hit singles.
Model Behaviour
After the success of the first album, and with university places indefinitely deferred, Ash continued to tour, and in 1997 even headlined both the Glastonbury Festival and V97 in the UK. During this time, the band began to prepare for their second album, Nu-Clear Sounds, recruiting Charlotte Hatherley as a guitarist after Wheeler met her while staying at one of her friends' houses.
With a more rock-based sound than the punky pop of 1977, critics were less impressed with the album and its less accessible songs. Although it only sold about a third as well as the debut, it still went gold in the UK.
| 'We're beautiful people!' – Charlotte Hatherley | |
Taking some time away from playing music, Wheeler and Hatherley were both asked to model clothes for Calvin Klein in 2000, as part of a series of adverts featuring musicians. Wheeler says:
'We did a campaign for Calvin Klein… they were doing a lot of bands and musicians, so we got flown to New York and got given lots of nice clothes, and did a photoshoot… It was really bizarre. I don't have the six-pack…we kept our clothes on for once!'
Shine On
In the years since Nu-Clear Sounds, Ash have been as busy as ever. They played at a peace rally in Belfast at the invitation of U2 frontman Bono, who flatteringly declared that Ash sound like he would expect Beach Boy Brian Wilson to sound if he was starting out now. Ash also played at the 'wrap' party for Star Wars movie The Phantom Menace at the request of star Ewan McGregor, an honour for the band who openly admit to an obsession with the Star Wars series and even opened their first album with the sound of spacecraft from the original movie.
Ash are returning to the pop world with new single Shining Light, and forthcoming album Free All Angels. Shining Light has been hailed as a return to form by the critics, and entered the UK singles chart at number eight. Wheeler says of the song:
'It's a love song I wrote for my girl over a year ago – another love song, you've got to fill the world with love songs.'
The title of the album takes a completely different inspiration than anything they have released before. Wheeler explains:
'It might take away some of the illusion… it's actually a Hell's Angels' saying. Well, we had some Hell's Angels doing security for us on tour, we saw the title on one of their t-shirts and I just thought that's a great title. If you remove it from the Hell's Angels connotations, it's… very open to interpretation.'
| 'You've got to fill the world with love songs' | |
As part of the promotion for the band's comeback, they have toured Ireland and also the UK, at venues chosen by NME readers and Radio One listeners. They will tour larger venues later in the year, and are headlining a benefit concert in Newcastle in April for The Campaign For A Living Wage, where they will be supported by Space and The Divine Comedy.
Despite a seemingly more mature outlook as they approach their third album, Ash are still courting controversy. At a recent signing session in Leeds, Ash bought 300 copies of a recent Westlife single and burned them in a car park. This caused Westlife to respond in a tabloid newspaper column and helped to spark a war of words between the two bands. Fans can expect more controversy and wild stories when Ash release Free All Angels on April 13th.
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| The Band |
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Wheeler describes Ash's sound by saying: 'We're a rock band, but we've got pop songs.' The full line-up of the band is:
Tim Wheeler: Guitar & Vocals
Charlotte Hatherley: Guitar & Backing Vocals
Mark Hamilton: Bass
Rick McMurray: Drums
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| Girl From Mars |
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| Ash's fifth single, Girl From Mars reached number 11 in the UK singles chart in 1995, and was their highest entry in John Peel's Festive Fifty that same year, when it reached number four. Wheeler says: 'I wrote the song when I was 16, and it was about a girl I'd been out with when I was 15.' |
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