Ash

by Keiron Mellotte

In a musical year ostensibly dominated by Oasis, Stone Roses, Elastica and Blur; there sprang up an eager bunch of young pretenders, whose collective ages was enough to make all and sundry feel like they were well past their prime. Ash are a three-piece who hail from the provinces of Northern Ireland and at the ripe young age of seventeen are too young to vote, order a pint in a pub, but old enough, thank God, to be allowed access to a recording studio. Early 1994 saw the release of their debut single "Jack named the Planets": A loveable post Pastels/Wedding Present slice of jangle-pop that managed to dodge the usual generic pitfalls, mainly due to singer Tim's plaintive vocals and a clever bit of lyricism. Then came the venomous "Petrol", a pure pop broadside in the tradition of fellow countrymen That Petrol Emotion's "Big Decision". This not only surpassed their debut but also spent a fair amount of time loitering with intent around the top spots of the indie-charts. Extensive gigging and the release of their mini LP "Trailer" consolidated their position as the band most likely to impact into the top ten and started a bidding war between major labels. Now, as 1995 kicks into gear, Ash are back at school, studying hard for their A-levels and trying to keep it all in some kind of perspective. I spoke to Tim about his band's brilliant year and found that wisdom sits easily on the shoulders of one so young.

"Before all this happened I was pretty interested in school but now I find it really difficult to summon up the enthusiasm. Obviously we've got to finish what we've started because if we left school now it would be a waste of two years' work. Besides, I want to be able to have the results to go to University, if I wanted."

Was that the real reason you turned down the tours with Pearl Jam and Green Day? Because you had too much homework?

"Well, yeah. It would have been a really good opportunity to have done the Pearl Jam tour. It would have been travelling round South Asia, seeing places we've never been to before, playing stadiums to large crowds for good money. That's what we want to do, but it'll have to wait until after the studies. As for Green Day, it was just a couple of dates down in London but we couldn't fit it in. Also we're in the nice position now where we don't need to do much 'cause we seem to be already in the public's attention."

Is that the direction you want to head in? Playing stadiums and festivals on massive stages?

"I don't think we really have any long-term plans, except fulfiling our commitments to the people around us. But it would be good to play bigger stages. Mark (the bass player) always complains that he doesn't have a lot of space to run around in when we play, so slightly more space would be a start. I have this vision of the three of us standing on a huge stage, miles away from each other. We played this open air gig in 'Derry on a moderately big stage and that was one of our best gigs. We opened for the other bands just as the sun was setting, it was brilliant."

Does that mean we can expect a more commercial approach on future recordings?

"Not necessarily a more commercial approach, but definitely better song writing. And if that means more commercial success then fair enough. When "Trailer" was released we were really happy because it was dead raw like our live gigs, with loads of energy, but, looking back on it, I don't think it worked very well. Now, with our experience gained and a little more work, we know what we want to do a lot more clearly. The new songs are a lot cooler with more character. Also they're a little bit more accomplished in comparison to "Uncle Pat" and earlier stuff, a little bit more radio friendly."

Who writes the songs?

"Well mainly me but sometimes we'll be fooling about with a riff and accidents will happen. That's what happened with "Uncle Pat". It just sort of grew out of nowhere."

It was a strange choice for a single, though.

"Yeah. We needed to release something else off "Trailer" and we weren't keen on a re-release, so it couldn't really have been anything else.

What about the new single?

"We originally recorded "Kung fu", the new single, as a possible B-side for the proposed single, "Angel Interceptor", on Boxing Day. But when we played it to people they preferred "Kung Fu". It's more immediate, and that's what a single should be. So we're going to keep "Angel Interceptor" for the LP. I've been listening to a lot of old stuff at the moment whilst writing the new songs. Thin Lizzy, Talking Heads, The Ramones, things like that. It seems a lot cooler than a lot of the stuff that's in the charts these days. Hopefully it'll help me write cooler, better stuff, too. "

What about "Girl from Mars", I thought that was going to be the next single.

"That's going to be the single before the LP. Hopefully "Kung Fu" will be an indie chart success and a minor top 40 hit, so as we don't have to do Top of the Pops! We want to build up a gradual, solid fan base. I think if success happened too quickly it could only be a bad thing. Besides you're supposed to save the best to last."

You seem to be thinking quite far ahead.

"Well, you have to be sensible about these things. I don't want to sound bad, but the last thing any of us wants is to be is in the charts and then gone. That's what happens to the majority of bands who sign to a major label. They disappear without a trace."

Does that mean you won't be giving in to the pressure of the major labels currently chasing you?

"We've got a three LP deal with Infectious at the moment and they're as good as any major. The guy who runs Infectious used to run RCA so he knows all the ins and outs. But we've been talking about a licensing deal for America with Interscope, Atlantic and Warners. It's far too early to commit ourselves to some long term deal for silly amounts of money."

So what's in the future for Ash, then?

"Exams, song writing and some hard work. Hopefully we'll be doing a short tour in July and recording our debut LP. Then who knows, as long as we're having fun and things are going okay for us."

With that I let Tim get back to his homework, safe in the knowledge that the future of rock'n'roll is in the hands of three one hundred percent guaranteed teenagers. This is the sound of youth, not the sound of some fashion conscious hack plodding on about some bollocks mod revival. Pretty soon you're going to see Ash emblazoned on jackets and T shirts across the land. Proof positive that hard work and talent can still give a result, even if it's still in short trousers.