ASH-INTERVIEWS 

• What about the title of your new album, 1977, the birthyear of you and Tim? 

It might be attractive to alot of people, but...maybe it's freshness, some sort of...excitement. It's hard to say, cause I've never been older (laughs). And I'm not one of the people, who sort of look to us and see our attraction, cause I'm actually part of it. So it's hard to think about that. 
 

• There is an element of an 'I don't care' mentality in what I read in the press and also a bit in the music. Cause songs are about girls, they're about drugs. Do you think thats part of the attraction? 

Tim writes mostly about relationships and sex. Just proper relationships. The drugs side of it, I'd come into it, but I don't know about that 'I don't care'. There's a lot of negativity in the British press. And more bitterness from people who have tried for years to become successful.

• Can you hear by the music that the band is from Ireland?

Well, I think that you can hear that it's not British or English. It doesn't sound English, it doesn't sound American, it's somewhere in between. It's more accessible to American then English music. 

• What is 'Goldfinger' about?

Tim wrote it about his girlfriend or a girl who is sitting in during the weekend. She's gonna come to the house and she's off into the town to get some drugs or drink or whatever. Which she is gonna bring in and have a fun night. It's a bit [trovy?], but then it's also got to do with raising above your environment. You've got this [spread?] which makes you feel better above it. 

• What do you think is the appeal of Ash?

For start, before you can have any appeal, you got to have good tunes, that people like. And after that the youth side can be very attractive, maybe. Maybe...dangerous. And we've got a bit of a 'bad boy' reputation back home, which I don't know if comes across over here. Definitely people in the U.K. think that is a bit funny. We are very aggressive on the exciting life. 

• A lot of Irish music from the past has got an element of melancholy to it. Where's the mellon collie in Ash?

There is quite a lot of emotion in some of the songs on 1977. Like: 'Lost in you' and 'Gone the dream'. A lot of Tim's lyrics are about missing girlfriends or whenever you are gonna do an impressive stage you've been bent on drugs. There is a lot of emotion and moods. Tim tries to write more about feelings and moods. 

• Who did the puking on the hidden track on 1977?

Thats myself and our guitartech called Leif, who is sort of the hidden 4th member of Ash. And if you listen real closely, the world-famous Owen Morris is actually pissing in the background (laughs). It was basically Tim and Rick and everybody were on acid. And I wasn't actually drinking, I was just feeling sick, ill. And Leif was drunk and Owen was drunk. And shit happened. It was never meant to go on the album, it was spontaneous. The first couple of times you hear it you'll say: 'Oh, that's disgusting', but after a couple of times, you hear more the humor side of it. 

• What can we expect in the future from Ash?

Well, we're gonna tour for the most of this year. And then we will definitely take a break for at least two months starting next year. Cause we'll be wrack. And then we will start getting songs together on the road. I know Tim is bursting with confidence, he is gonna write stuff that is gonna piss all over 1977. He is gonna write an even better album. So we still got a long way to go.

• Ash is who? 

It's myself, Mark. I play the bass in the band. Tim sings and plays guitar. And Rick plays the drums. It's just the three of us. We've been friends for years at school. 

• You are from Belfast?

Yeah, we actually come from a town just outside Belfast. But it's part of Belfast, I suppose. 

• What kind of music do you like?

Lots of music. Bands from Black Sabbath to Abba. The Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix, Iggi Pop, Sonic Youth, Nirvana. Everyone. 

• Was it a dream for you to be in a rock band?

Yeah, since we were twelve. Not to be a rock star, but to sort of have the lifestyle, the fun. Thats what we wanted to do. Play and party. 

• Girls?

Yeah (laughs). 

• Was it difficult to grow up in Belfast?

No. 

• The war.

Yeah, but you were sort of blown [born?] into it. You don't know better. You ignore it. You don't care about it. And you forget about it. And go on with your life. Most young people don't give a shit about it. Only the older people. 

• What about the drinking and drugs in Ash?

That's sort of for after the shows, the party's afterwards. 

• Not before?

Yeah, well, during and before (laughs again). We're not really into heavy drugs. Just recreational ones. And I don't use them. I used to, but not any more. The other two do. It's fun, it's a good laugh. 

• The press and magazines are telling that you are the best new band of 95. Is that true for you?

Yeah. I would think so! We are number 1 in the U.K. Where we have been working for it the hardest. Now we are gonna do the rest of the world. 

• Last year the best new band. The MTV-award. How does that feel? You were on MTV, now on TMF. Then you are a real rock star.

I don't really think about it. You just do it. It's fun. If you think about it to much, you become this big ego. 

• What will Ash be like in about ten years from now?

I don't even know what's gonna happen next week, never mind ten years! 

• A new cd?

Of course. Next year. We're gonna tour the rest of the year. Then we're gonna make an album, tour, make an album. 

• Same tour, same music.

(With a seeming serious look on his face) Oh, definitely. We're gonna record the same songs all over again. 

• Can you tell us a little bit about the new album?

Not really. Because we haven't written it yet, but we have got some ideas. It will be alot different from 1977, but not to much. You'll still be able to tell it's Ash.