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Ash Latest

Music 4 You Magazine 19 May 2001

TOP INDIE BAND ASH WERE SO DESPERATE TO BE WITH AN INDEPENDANT LABEL RATHER THAN A BIG RECORD COMPANY THAT THEIR FIRST EVER RECORD DEAL WAS FOR JUST Ł12,000.

The band wanted to keep control of their work and not be told to change their music by the record company. And it paid off - their first album 1977 went to No.1 and sold a million copies. The money has been rolling in ever since for the three schoolpals from Downpatrick, Northern Ireland and guitarist Charlotte Hatherley, who joined the band in 1997.

It's early ten years since Tim Wheeler, now 24, wrote "Girl From Mars" at school with bassist Mark Hamilton and drummer Rick McMurray. Then they were a heavy metal band called "Vietnam". They changed their name one day after staring to trawl through the dictionary. They got bored in the A's and plumped for Ash because it was short and easy to remember.

Says Tim : "If we had an even shorter attention span we would have been called Aardvark !" Tim, Mark and Rick spent their days at school dreaming of being musicians. Tim Wheeler admits : "I've always wanted to be famous." But to keep their parents happy the boys agreed to sit A levels and have an education to fall back on.

A school pal spent hours sending off the band's tapes and eventually they landed a deal for 1,000 copies with a small record company called La La Land Records.

Within weeks their first single "Jack Names The Planets" was being played on Radio 1 by Mark and Lard and Steve Lamacq. In the Easter holidays, when they were just 17, Tim, Mark and Rick flew to London to play a number of gigs at the Power House, Mean Fiddler and the Garage and to start looking for a record company. Tim says : "We were young but we knew we wanted to make our own kind of music and we knew we didn't want to sign for a major label and have pressure piled on us."

Korda Marshall of small indie, Infectious Records saw the band in London and days later travelled to Downpatrick to see them again.

That's when the band signed on the dotted line...for Ł12,000 because they didn't want to be under pressure to make instant hits.

Tim says : "It was a tiny amount to sign for even for an indie label. Bands normally sign to indie labels for about Ł100,000. We didn't want the pressure of having a big deal hanging over us."

But amazingly, "Girl From Mars" rocketed to No.1 in the singles charts just two weeks after the band had completed their A levels.

Tim recalls : "Those were insane times. It was the maddest summer of my life. It was mental. We played gigs non-stop and then went on Top of the Pops."

From then on, their lives took off, playing to bigger and bigger audiences.

Because Mark Hamilton is a Star Wars nut - their album was called 1977 after the year it was released - they were invited by Ewan McGregor to play at the wrap party for the Phantom Menace.

Tim says "The three of us had been playing well together but decided that we needed a great guitarist. We weren't particularly looking for a girl but we found Charlotte through a friend who introduced us. We stole her from a band called "Nightnurse" who had been used to playing the London circuit to a couple of hundred people. The week after she joined, we played the V97 festival to 20,000 fans ! She was thrown in at the deep end and it was a real shock to her."

Ash have spent the winter writing the tracks for their latest album - "Free All Angels" - out earlier this year.

Tim admits that now the band take their time writing their records - unlike those early hits which took five minutes.

His favourite track on the new album is "Sometimes".

He says : "I think that's a pretty smart track, but the whole album is covered in singles and I think it's going to be massive."

The band are currently on tour (May) but are looking forward to their new role as ambassadors for music4you.

Tim says : "When we were approached about being ambassadors we didn't have to think long and hard before saying "yes." It's a really great campaign to give music to the people - and somewhere along the way we may be able to help someone be a rock star or a musician. That's all we ever dreamed of and if our dreams can come true, they can for other people too."

MIKE RIDLEY

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