Ash | |
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 Ash at the O2 ABC in Glasgow in 2010 L to R: Tim Wheeler, Rick McMurray, Mark Hamilton | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Downpatrick,County Down, Northern Ireland |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Labels |
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| Members |
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| Past members | Charlotte Hatherley |
| Website | ash-official |
Ash are a Northern Irishrock band formed inDownpatrick,County Down in 1992 by vocalist and guitaristTim Wheeler, bassist Mark Hamilton and drummer Rick McMurray. As a three-piece, they released mini-albumTrailer in 1994 and full-length album1977 in 1996. This 1996 release was named byNME as one of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[8] After the success of their full debut the band recruitedCharlotte Hatherley as a guitarist and vocalist, releasing their second recordNu-Clear Sounds in 1998. After narrowly avoiding bankruptcy, the band releasedFree All Angels in 2001 and a string of successful singles.
The band became a three-piece again in 2006 when Hatherley left, and after five conventional albums the band released 26 singles in theA-Z Series in 2009, one every two weeks. The band have had onesilver, twogold and twoplatinum-selling (andchart-topping) records in the United Kingdom, as well as 18 songs in the top 40 of theUK Singles Chart.[9] They have been associated withBritpop, though they were not comfortable with the association, as emphasisingBritishness could be interpreted assectarian inNorthern Ireland.[10]
Ash officially formed in 1992, reportedly having taken the name from the first word they liked in the dictionary. Prior to this, Wheeler and Hamilton were in anIron Maiden cover band called Vietnam, which had formed in 1989. The new band created three demo tapes that year –Solar Happy in June,Shed in September and theHome Demo in November. These tapes featured their earliest material and the first recordings of some songs that were later on the 1994 release,Trailer, including "Intense Thing", "Get Out", "Obscure Thing," and the future single, "Jack Names the Planets".
In 1993 the band recorded theGarage Girl demo tape, which featured "Jack Names the Planets" and "Intense Thing", taken fromShed, and new tracks, including "Petrol". FollowingGarage Girl, Ash released a compilation demo tape,Pipe Smokin' Brick later that year, which featured an assortment of songs from the other tapes. Downpatrick musician Ray Valentine recorded Ash's demos at his studio, Cosmic Rays. At that time, the band was known as "Genuine Real Teenagers," because they were so young when recording their early material. The demo tapes did not gain much attention at that time and the band was still playing small shows at local clubs but, in early 1994, Stephen Taverner came across theGarage Girl demo tape. Taverner put up the money to press 1,0007″ copies of "Jack Names the Planets" on his own LaLaLand record label. Taverner subsequently became the band's full-time manager.
Ash released the mini-album,Trailer, in October 1994, comprising seven songs. Airplay bySteve Lamacq followed onBBC Radio 1 and the debut single was followed by "Petrol" and "Uncle Pat", on their new labelInfectious Records. In 1995, Ash left school and released the breakthrough singles "Kung Fu" (featured over the end credits ofJackie Chan's North American breakthrough film,Rumble in the Bronx), "Girl From Mars" and "Angel Interceptor". The movieAngus was released, which featured two Ash songs, "Jack Names the Planets" and "Kung Fu," and served to introduce Ash to American audiences.
Ash marked the end of their breakthrough year by releasing a cover ofthe Temptations' "Get Ready", as a limited edition red vinyl 7" single onFantastic Plastic.[11][12]
In 1996 the singles "Goldfinger" and "Oh Yeah" were released, with the successful album1977 being released between these. The track "Lose Control" from that album was featured in the video gameGran Turismo.[13] On 17 February 1997, Ash releasedLive at the Wireless, a live album, recorded at theTriple J Studios inAustralia. A limited-edition version of the album was released in the UK on the band's own Deathstar label. In the summer of 1997, Ash played at theGlastonbury Festival, and at age 20, Hamilton became the youngest person ever to headline the festival.[14][15]
While touring with the American bandWeezer, Ash felt the limitations of a three-piece format. This led to the recruitment of a second guitarist and vocalist,Charlotte Hatherley, who had previously been with the bandNightnurse. She was introduced at a few small gigs a week before the band's appearance at theV Festival in 1997. The first recording to be released with Hatherley was the single "A Life Less Ordinary", which featured on thesoundtrack to theEwan McGregor /Cameron Diazfilm of the same name.
In September 1998, Ash released "Jesus Says" followed in October by the band's second album proper,Nu-Clear Sounds, and in November by "Wildsurf". The pressures of near non-stop touring of 1977 and Nu-Clear Sounds began to affect the band. In 1999, Tim Wheeler disappeared for a short while following the commercial and critical failure ofNu-Clear Sounds. He eventually emerged in New York making the self-deprecating blood-, drug- and sex-fuelled video for "Numbskull". A note for Stephen Taverner attached to the video read "I've killed Bambi".[16]
Ash became almost bankrupt as the band prepared to release what could have been its last album. The members 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 albumFree All Angels in April. Subsequent singles released fromFree 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 afterward by the singles collectionIntergalactic Sonic 7″s with the bonus disk entitled Cosmic Debris.Q named Ash as No. 2 of its "50 Bands To See Before You Die".
In 2003, it was leaked to the music and tabloid press that Ash was working on a horror film described as a 'teen slasher'. The film, calledSlashed, was shot while the band was 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 byChris Martin (Sherbet Bones) andJonny Buckland (Agent Ford) ofColdplay as a pair of FBI agents hired to track down a supernatural serial killer. Other star performances include that ofMoby,James Nesbitt,Dave Grohl and Ash themselves.[17] The film was not put on general release.
On 29 June 2004, Ash releasedMeltdown, which reached number five in the UK. At the same time Hatherley also wrote and recorded her solo side project albumGrey Will Fade. The band teamed up withLucasArts for a newStar Wars game entitledRepublic Commando. "Meltdown" and "Orpheus" were part of the soundtrack forShaun of the Dead and appeared on the in-game soundtracks for the video gamesNHL 2005,Burnout 3: Takedown andMidnight Club 3: DUB Edition. The song "Vampire Love" was used forAmerican Pie Presents: Band Camp. "Starcrossed" and "Renegade Cavalcade" were later released as singles from the album. Also in 2005, Tim Wheeler received a companionship (an honorary degree) fromLIPA (Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts).[citation needed]
On 20 January 2006, Hatherley left the band; in an interview in July 2007, the others hinted they asked Hatherley to leave as they "wanted to be a three-piece".[18]
In 2006 Ash started working in aNew Yorkrecording studio on what would become their first album after reverting to their original line-up,Twilight of the Innocents. A preview track, "I Started A Fire" was released in February 2007, coinciding with a full-length UK tour. The album's first physical single "You Can't Have It All" was released in April 2007,[19] and the album itself followed the next month, along with an appearance at theIsle of Wight Festival. Two further songs from the album, "Polaris" and "End of the World", were issued as singles in June and September, respectively. Ash stated thatTwilight of the Innocents would be their last album and that instead, they would only release singles as "(t)he way people listen to music has changed, with the advent of the download the emphasis has reverted to single tracks".[20]
The original three-piece line-up played two-sold out nights at London's Roundhouse in September 2008, performing1977 in its entirety. This was followed by the release of a 3-disc special edition version of1977, featuring remastered and re-edited versions of the tracks, as well as tracks fromTrailer and live performances from the time of its release. Ash started recording new material, which was previewed at a series of live dates in 2009.[21] These dates coincided with the release of the single "Return of White Rabbit". This single was a precursor to Ash releasing a 7" single every fortnight for a whole year, starting in September 2009. Each single was simply titled by a letter, released in alphabetical order, and formed theA–Z Series.[22]These singles would later be compiled and released together on CD.Russell Lissack, who joined the band as a live guitarist in 2010, left in early 2011.[23][24]The Best of Ash compilation was released in 2011.[25] The same year Ash collaborated withWe Are Scientists to release a cover of the song "Washington Parks" by British songwriter Robert Manning,[26] raising money and awareness for Multiple Sclerosis and The MS Society.[27][28]
In November 2012, the band played some US dates with Weezer and went on to headline their own shows on the East Coast. They played atSouth by Southwest in Austin, Texas in 2013, along with seven other US cities,[29] and supportedthe Smashing Pumpkins at Wembley Arena. Despite having achieved much success throughout the U.K. and Europe (among other regions) as well as extensively touring the U.S., Ash had not achieved as much success in the U.S.[30]
After declaring in 2007 that Ash would no longer release albums, the band brought out new long-playerKablammo! in May 2015.[31] It was preceded by the single "Cocoon", and "Free" and "Machinery" were released as follow-up singles. In December 2016 the live albumLive on Mars: London Astoria 1997 was released,[32] and supported by a tour.[33][34]
Islands was released on 18 May 2018, preceded by the single "Buzzkill", with vocals from Damien O'Neill and Mickey Bradley fromthe Undertones.[35] The band released a second single, "Annabel", in April 2018, and a third, "Did Your Love Burn Out?", in May to coincide with the album release.[citation needed]
On 14 June 2023, "Race the Night" was released as the first single from their upcoming album of the same name. The album was released in September 2023.
Former
I was really proud of this at the time because of the chord sequences and melodies. It's a long way from three-chord punk rock and was a big moment in our development.
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