Ash Biography It all started in 1993 with 'Jack Names The Planets'. The perfectly crafted single alerted the musical world to an uncommonly talented three-piece from Downpatrick, Northern Ireland and the whole Ash snowball began it's roll... A hail of mighty fine releases followed, each one lodging classic melodies further into the hearts and minds of young and old alike: 'Petrol', 'Uncle Pat', 'Kung Fu' - the titles roll off the tongue like the names of best-loved friends. The songwriting continued as Ash steadily and surely soundtracked an infinite number of new found loves and perfect summers. Fame really started knocking on the door with the release of the unnervingly brilliant 'Girl From Mars' which entered the UK top ten in late '95. By the time 'Goldfinger' and 'Oh Yeah' were released fame was well and truly rattling the door off it's hinges with both singles bona fide Top 5 successes in the UK and Ireland. By the time it came to releasing their debut album '1977' the music buying public were desperate to get their hands on what became a UK number 1 album, staying in the top 40 for 4 months and selling worldwide in excess of 850,000 copies, winning Platinum and Gold awards in Britain, Ireland and Thailand as well as massive success in Japan, Scandinavia and Germany amongst others... The rest is history...the band have featured on covers of nearly every key British, Irish, and various international music publications, 18 months solid touring covering the longitude and latitude of the Globe and worldwide recognition as one of the UK's newest musical mastercraftsmen, including 4 Hotpress awards in Ireland a BRITS nomination and a Kerrang! award along the way. 1997 saw the band commandeer London's Astoria for an unprecedented five consecutive nights. Each date sold out quicker than ever imagined, seeing fans and new converts alike flocking to catch the astounding Ash live experience. The arrival of the '97 summer festival season saw Ash storm Glastonbury and pluck two sterling performances out of the bag, headlining both the Friday and Sunday nights, the first ever double appearance achieved despite the now infamous weather conditions. Going from strength to strength, the band quickly followed on by appearing at the Bizarre festival in Cologne and V97 - an occasion marked by the public debut of fourth member Charlotte Hatherley. Expanding their musical range and aiding Tim Wheeler with backing vocals and guitar parts, anybody who saw the band's closing set at V97 in Chelmsford would testify that the show was arguably one of their strongest yet! In October the band acquired the movieworld seal of approval with the release of 'A Life Less Ordinary', the title track of the acclaimed Ewan McGregor / Cameron Diaz film. The band had written the song exclusively for the film and it continued their run of top ten single success. 1998 and Ash, the four piece, reconvene to the studio to work on new material - older, wiser and still with swarms of the Ash-patented melodies filling their heads. The first results were aired in the excited, sweaty atmosphere of a secret Camden Barfly gig, followed, in celebratory mood the next night at MTV's Five Night Stand at the Shepherds Bush Empire. The band had also hit the headlines with their historic show at Belfast's Waterfront in May when they appeared alongside U2 and Northern Ireland MP's John Hume and David Trimble, as part of the 'YES' vote Referendum show - the first time both politicians had been on the same stage. The event made front page news the world over and saw the band ably charm a constant stream of global press and TV. August 1998 and you'd be hard pushed to find an equal to the suss and swagger of the new single 'Jesus Says', due in September, it's the first release from the band's forthcoming long-player 'NU-CLEAR SOUNDS' and is pre-empted by an appearance at the Reading Festival (guests of messrs Plant and Page no-less!) Marking a natural progression in the life of Ash the album is sure to confound and delight fans and critics alike... 'Jesus Says' is released on the 14th September ably supported by 'NU-CLEAR SOUNDS' on October 5th, both through the mighty Infectious label. Ash will be touring throughout the UK and Europe in October and November. - see press for details... After what seems an eternity...bar a handful of live commitments including their participation at the historic 'yes vote' Referendum show in Belfast and a particularly low-key appearance at Camden's Barfly Club...Ash return with a new single! Entitled 'Jesus Says', it's the first recording to emerge from the band's recent work sabbatical at Rockfield Studios and is one of a series of aural instalments expected from Ash over the coming months.   Ash unveiled their long-awaited second album 'NU-CLEAR SOUNDS' on October 5th. Recorded in South Wales ably assisted by Chris Kimsey and Owen Morris, the album shows all of the usual musical prowess one has come to expect from arguably one of Northern Ireland's finest musical exports. The band have managed to encompass all the melodies, hooks and song-writing genius of songs past on this, their follow-up to 1996's platinum-selling '1977' album. 'NU-CLEAR SOUNDS' again sees vocalist Tim Wheeler as the mainstay of the songwriting quartet more than competently assisted by bassist Mark Hamilton, drummer Rick McMurray and (relatively) new recruit, guitarist Charlotte Hatherley. The addition of Hatherley as an extra guitarist / vocalist has undoubtedly added an extra dimension to many of the new songs and as witnessed on stage at recent appearances in London provides a perfect foil for Wheeler as well as adding a visual and musical cohesion to the previous three-man incarnation. 'NU-CLEAR SOUNDS' sees Ash reappearing with a suss and swagger that comes in the knowledge that it's arguably their best work yet & ldots;from the almost tear-inducing strains of 'Low Ebb' to the harder guitar-edged songs such as the noise bastardingly rock of 'Numbskull' sitting comfortably alongside the melancholic feel of 'Aphrodite' and the almost majestic finale in the form of the achingly beautiful ballad 'I'm Gonna Fall'. Thanks to Infectious Records for this biography. Taken from the official Ash Website.