INTERVIEWS
A chat at Manchester Academy on 22nd September 2004 -Last night in Glasgow was your first solo gig, how did that go? It was good, they were quite a quiet crowd so I wasn't sure whether they were into it or not. But afterwards we did a little signing and people seemed really into it but I didn't think that many people actually knew the stuff. -I suppose the material is still quite new to a lot of people. Yeah, and I felt like I really wanted to get out there and impress people. Because I'm going from being a guitarist in a successful band to this I'm very aware of the fact that I have to rise to the occasion. I think now the first gig is over it'll be fine, it's just getting that first one under your belt. -You should get a good crowd in tonight, Manchester's good for gigs. They're all gonna be leathered, have you seen all the students outside (this was during freshers week). You think being in a rock 'n roll band is a debauched lifestyle but then you come to freshers week and compare it with students. -How does it feel being on stage without the usual Ash boys with you, is that a bit daunting? No it's cool, cos I've been rehearsing with these guys for the last two weeks every day. I know Gavin from Idlewild who's playing bass, we're old friends, we've known each other for ages. I'm just stealing people from other bands (laughs), but I'll be with the boys (Ash) two days after my last gig. -Are you pleased with the way the album's been received so far? Yes, I'm really pleased with what I've read and I didn't expect it so one thing's led to another and I've ended up doing a video and a tour. So yeah, I'm really pleased with people's reaction to it. -Where did the idea come from to do a solo album, were they songs you had that didn't fit with Ash? I recorded Grey will fade as an Ash b-side for There's a Star and I'd had that song for ages.... it's an old song. And that song got a really great response from Ash fans; people seemed really into it, so that's when I thought I'll keep doing stuff for myself. Some of the songs I had were quite different from the Ash sound. The songs Where I'm calling from, Down and Stop were all old; I've had those for about 5 years, whereas summer, Kim Wilde and Why you wanna? were more recent ones. -What was it like recording the album because some of it overlapped with Meltdown? (latest Ash album) I went and did some of mine, then went and did some Ash stuff, then came back and mixed mine. But the recording was really good; the engineer has built a studio in his garden so there were kids, a dog and it was really sunny, so it was really laid back. It was kind of a low budget thing and then I'd go to the Ash studios and it was a big, expensive, posh L.A. studio up in the hills. It was good to do a bit of everything. -Do you actually enjoy the studio process? Some people say they find it quite frustrating. It was quite stressful because I already had all the parts written and I knew exactly what I wanted. It took quite a long time because I was playing all the guitars and the bass which was quite full on. Then I'd go to the Ash studio and, Tim's the main man when it comes to guitars and guitar sounds, so I'd just say o.k. you do your thing, that's fine, I'm all guitared out (laughing). -I heard you didn't let the boys in Ash hear your album for a while, have they heard it now? Yeah, I didn't play it to them for ages but Ash's manager played them some of the stuff without me knowing and they were really into it. They're all really supportive and Tim in particular, as a songwriter, knows what it's like to want to your own stuff. -Did you feel that you wanted some acknowledgement for yourself? In a way but being in Ash is so time consuming, I've just never had the chance to do it before now. When it got to the point where we were getting some time out I thought now's the time to do it. We were having a laugh the other night because they're all going off on holiday and I'm doing stressful work. -The first single off the album, Kim Wilde, was available as a free download. Who's idea was that? It was kind of my idea. -Was it just a good way to get some exposure? Yeah and I thought it was slightly presumptuous to assume people would go out and buy it when they haven't really heard anything yet. Again, I underestimated that because it got 8000 downloads in its first week. -Is that what made you decide to do another single and a video? Yeah, which was really good because it was directed by Edgar (Wright, director of Shaun of the Dead)). -How did you get him involved with the video? Well, we've been seeing each other for about two years now, so I got a special reduced rate, otherwise I might not have done a video. -I know you don't want to pigeon hole yourself into one genre, but if you had to sum up the style or feel of the album to someone who hasn't heard it, how would you describe it? It's definitely very poppy and some people have said it's very Californian sounding and summery, but there's a lot of other stuff going on as well. I'm a big fan of XTC and Bowie so some of that comes through. -I know it's early on, but do you have a favourite song to play live, or just a favourite song from the album? Bastardo's definitely a big one, Where I'm Calling From is another favourite and Kim Wilde is a fun one to play too. -Do you open the set with that one? Yes, it's hard for me to beat that one as an opener. We also do the b-side from Summer called SMUT, which sounds pretty cool and we're doing Taken Out as well. (Old Ash b-side, written by Charlotte) -That is an old one. That was a bonus track on the French version of Nu-Clear Sounds wasn't it? It was the Japanese version but it was also a b-side on Jesus Says, so it is very old. It was one of the first songs I ever wrote. -What's your favourite Ash song to play live? Orpheus at the moment. There's a lot going on with that song and it's very summery sounding. -Again I know its early days but do you want to do more solo work in the future? Yes I'd love to. I think I'd like to do something. . . . . . no I'm not going to say that (laughs). -Go on, I'll just cut it out. Well, I'd like to do something a bit more ambitious. I think I really see this as a first album and I can do better. Because some of the songs on the album are so old I feel like now I can actually do so much better than this. -Lastly, I've heard you're a bit of a Bowie fanatic, so what's your favourite Bowie album? It's a toss up between.... -Nobody can ever pick one. Aladdin Sane, Diamond Dogs, Station To Station, Lodger and Scary Monsters. I think if I had to pick one it'd be Scary Monsters. -I'd have to say Low myself. Thank you very much for your time, I appreciate it and the best of luck for tonight. Thank you very much.
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