Ash face up to “Meltdown”

If only Ash made being a rock star look more difficult, they’d probably be even more successful. It’s easy to take them for granted, when they invariably come up with an album full of potential classic singles – and do it with the minimum of fuss. See their new album Meltdown for proof.

How do they make it look so simple? Why do they keep a low profile? Tim Wheeler tells us why it’s important to remember the bad times too.

He chuckles when asked how Ash approached new album Meltdown. “You interviewed us last summer,” he points out. “I can’t remember what we had planned – you maybe know more than I do what I wanted when we started it.”

Well, you had said there weren’t going to be any pop ballads, but… “Oh, leave off!” he protests. “There are only two on Meltdown. That’s what I mean – I plan these things, and the songs take me over once we start.”

The release of Ash’s singles album Intergalactic Sonic 7"s in 2002 helped Tim plan the latest LP. “Listening to our singles one after the other, I was shocked that my lyrics were so self-obsessed,” he says. “No, hang on, put ’personal’. Sounds better!”

“I had to step away from myself, write about the wider world for a change. The social commentary songs, like “Clones”, are there because I’m ready now to address what I feel about politics.”

As well as political songs Meltdown has the likes of “Vampire Love” with a warped view of passion.

“It’s growing up, I guess,” says Young Heart Attack fan Tim. “When I was 17, writing songs like “Oh Yeah”, I had the idealised view of love that anyone of 17 does.”

“Vampire Love is a voice of experience. I’ve been in destructive relationships, had my heart broken a few times. Pretty sad, when I think about it.”

Tim says he can’t believe his luck over the past year. Ash have been invited to work on a Star Wars project (“I can’t talk about it, and I’m dying to”) and recorded their new album in the studio where Nirvana did Nevermind.

They’ve also found their dream producer in Foo Fighters cohort Nick Rasculinecz. “He’s like Jack Black in School of Rock,” enthuses Tim. “I’d do a riff in the studio, and Nick’s stood next to me playing air guitar.”

While writing about love in song, Ash are almost unique in that very little is known about their personal life.

“I don’t know where bands find the time to live their lives in the press,“ Tim spits. “I barely get time for a personal life – and this isn’t me moaning – so when I do, why would I hang around places where the press are? What am I, a Beckham?”

What does Tim think of their marriage? “The Beckhams? Who the hell cares?”

Last weekend, Ash celebrated the band’s 10th anniversary with their first gig in a decade at Downpatrick, their hometown in County Down.

“A freaky day, as I went back to my old school” recalls Tim. “A lot of my old teachers were there to say hi. And then I got mobbed outside the gates. Talk about a day of contrasts.”

“My school was kinda cool. One of my old teachers lent me Undertones and Clash albums – I owe him a great deal.”

Their first single was released when they were only 17, so how have Ash survived 10 years together?

“Great songs” says Tim. “It’s that simple. I struggled to write our second album. What I learned from that is to write all the time. I keep the pressure off that way. If I write 10 bad ones in a row, I don’t care, as I know inspiration will hit soon enough.”

“Self-belief, too, I never lost that. Even when everyone said we were rubbish!”

By John Earls