Tim, Rick and Mark on selected topics

This is a momentous occasion. Owen Morris - enormously successful, highly acclaimed record producer in his mid 30s - is standing in the middle of the studio floor, in a static mid-strike air-guitar pose. Beside him are Ash, throwing similarly exaggerated stadium-rock shapes. It’s 2am, Rockfield studios, Wales. With a litre of vodka, a mound of empty beer cans, a half-caned wrap of sulphate testifying to the nutrition on offer, the finished mix of Ash’s new single, “Goldfinger”, gnaws through the speakers.

And then, over to the large cardboard box in the corner of the room, the word ‘Suggestions’ scrawled across the side. A stash of inspired ideas, kindly donated by anyone passing, from which Ash will select the title for their first full-length album. Something appropriate, perhaps reflecting their growing maturity and long-term aims.

“For fuck’s sake,” Rick squeals, as the winning suggestion is picked from the box. “Who the fuck wrote this?”

Tonight marks the inception of ‘Ash: The Adult Years’. The notoriously rogue-ish sixth-form blazers ‘n’ booze boys, want to grow up. Expose their one-dimensional, happy-happy, no worries, teenage-kicks world for what it is. Divulge the sensitive facets of their inner psyches… Be taken a little more seriously. Hence, they will not be calling their gritty, eclectic debut album, Ash: Look Girls, Cut the Shit and Suck My Dick.

Tim Wheeler

Tim Wheeler is 19 years old. Born January 4, guitarist/vocalist and main songwriter. A non-smoker with a nervous finger-fiddling habit. He worships Phil Lynott and used to wear a studded wrist-band. Teasingly nicknamed Jake the Peg due to the reputed size of his manhood. He’s presently slurping his way through a bowl of soggy cornflakes.

The band
We’re actually very mature, but you wouldn’t guess it from our image. It’s our own fault we’re portrayed as this mad, young, pissed band. Teenagers just fucking out of school not knowing about music and all that, but that’s not the truth. We know where we’re at, we just haven’t fucking told anyone yet. Usually we dismiss serious things, thinking we’d sound pompous or arrogant. But if people are gonna get it, you have to tell them, cos we’re not like any other band. I know we’re special.

Fame
It’s not a massive deal, because we’re no way near massive. But at first it did my head in, even though I’ve always wanted to be famous and was totally obsessed with wanting to be a rock star. Fame seems to mean that people respect you or something, but it’s just made me treat everything and everybody very cynically. Even my friends - started thinking nobody really means it. Eventually I got my head round it - some people are real and some aren’t. Unfortunately, I’m a really bad judge of character, I can never tell.

Alcohol
I don’t drink as much as the other two. I’ve got more pressures than them, so I try to keep my head together. I tend to go through phases really. I’ll binge for three days and then get bored and think, Fuck it, there’s no point. But it’s fun - I don’t drink to forget, because there’s nothing I want to forget. How do I act? I can be cool, but mostly I’m a bit of a dickhead.

Paranoia
It’s hard to be a normal person with all that going on, you do get really paranoid. I don’t think I’ve been an arrogant wanker… yet. But if you are going to be a proper rock star, it helps if you have an attitude. The attitude of being better, because people do look up to you, and it works if you play up to it. At the same time, you have to be for real. My mother said to me, Don’t stop being a nice guy… I don’t think I will.

Sex
I lost my virginity to my first girlfriend on New Year’s Eve, four days before my 17th birthday. It was pretty lame, actually, but we went out for a long time, so it got better. Sex is no big deal, but I like it. Well… I love it, but I have self-control. You do get a lot of girls who come up to you, but I can hold back. I always try and maintain my integrity. Anyway, I’m generally attracted to people I can get along with, rather than looks. I don’t like insincerity, so I wait until I can trust somebody.

Drugs
I suppose I’ve done fuck all really. I smoke quite a lot, but I don’t really count that. I took acid when I was 15 and it really fucked me up. It was after I split with my girlfriend and it just made me realise how lonely and depressed I was (laughs). I blamed the acid. I suppose I always thought that if I started taking all this stuff, I’d become a real drug addict. I like the thought of going completely off the rails - it seems attractive, but I’ve plenty of time for that later. For the moment, I’ve got to keep it together.

Childhood.
I’m lucky, I never really had any problems. Everything was very secure and stable, just how it’s meant to be. My parents are from a much older generation, so they have a sort of naivety about a lot of things, which actually makes them quite liberal.

Money
I don’t care much for money, I just want security. I suppose we’ve got a wee bit in the bank now. At least, more than most 19 year old’s, which is nice, but not that important to us. I know we’re all from quite middle class families, but none of us were spoilt. I rarely got pocket money and if I did, it was at 1972’s rates, the amount my dad gave my older sister.

THe teen pin up
I love the idea of being on posters, it’s cool attention. If I wasn’t in a band, no one would fucking stop to look at me. Being a pop star makes all the difference, and, at least I know that, so it’s alright. Attention is not something I need, it’s not that important, but whenever I get it, I do go for it. I remember when Justine (Elastica) said she liked the idea of 16-year-old boys wanking over her picture. I found that insulting and patronising, because I was 16 at the time. But I guess it was a pretty cool thing to actually admit.

Religion
First of all, as a Northern Ireland thing, I don’t give a shit about religion and politics. When I was younger I used to think about God, but I never really believed in him. It’s just about security, and I’d prefer to find that in relationships.

Love
I was disillusioned about love after breaking up with my first girlfriend. I don’t think I’ve been in love since then. It just felt so good, but now I find it really hard to fall in love with anyone. I’m much more cynical, and it feels really impossible after having your heartbroken. I’d like it to truly mean something.

Death
Maybe I am scared, but I just haven’t thought about it. Maybe that’s one of the great things about being in a band, and making records. You leave a mark, you never die, and I want to be significant. I don’t want to be like everybody else.

The future
We want to be around for a while, the records I’m making now won’t be a scratch on what I’ll be doing when I’m 25. I’ll be ashamed - I’ve already dismissed “Angel Interceptor” and that was the last single.

Rick McMurray

Rick McMurray. Drummer, and, at 20, the oldest member of Ash. Born July 11, 1975. A 20-a-day Malboro Lights man, he achieved three A’s after barely working for his A-Levels. An intellectual who admits to being lazy and easily led. Nicknamed ‘Frock’ after a spate of dress-wearing incidents. he pours himself a glass of wine and warns that the speed he just took may kick in at any time.

Sex
I lost my virginity at 18. It wasn’t that I waited for the right time, I just kept thinking, Shit, is it ever going to happen? It was worse than I expected, but it was alright. I have slept with people on tour, but it doesn’t happen very often and it’s usually the result of drink and luck. The thing about groupies is they want to shag someone famous and you just want sex, so both people are getting what they want. I don’t see it as taking advantage of anyone else.

Aspirations
I’d love to play the guitar actually, I have all these strange dreams about killing Tim and taking over the band (he laughs). Just kidding. But I sometimes wish I could write songs as good as Tim’s.

Drugs
I don’t really do that much, I smoke a bit and take speed sometimes. I do it when I feel like it and want to have a good time, usually when I’m off my face. I’m pretty open to the whole thing - I’d like to see what certain drugs are like, but it’s not a big deal. Taking drugs can be interesting, but I certainly don’t have to have them.

Alcohol
I love getting drunk, it’s fun, just to have a good time and jabber like an idiot at people. I don’t really care what anyone thinks - I’ve got a brain, but sometimes I like losing it. I’ve had quite a lot of blackouts recently, after drinking too much. My parents don’t worry about me, cos I lie to them, they don’t even know I smoke.

Love
If it ever came to a choice between love and the band, I’d choose the band. I’ve only ever been in love once, it lasted about a year. I don’t really want a girlfriend at the moment, I’m such a lazy bastard, I can’t be bothered with making phone calls. I prefer to sit around and do nothing. Commitment is difficult when you’re in a band. You have to face the reality of what you’re doing.

Image
I’m really tired and bored of the Kids on the Piss thing. People in bands drink, teenagers drink, it’s not a big deal. I just wish they’d get a hold of something more interesting. At the same time, I’m not going to stay straight just because some journalist’s there, I don’t care about the gossip columns. The novelty of us being underage drinkers has worn off. Time to move on.

Childhood
I was pretty quiet at school, not very outgoing. I was a bit of a late developer when it came to drinking. I’m not sure if it was the band that brought the exhibitionist out in me, because the band and drinking started at the same time. I don’t think I’m shy at all any more. You can’t be if you have to meet people all the time.

Fame
I don’t really think about it that much. There was one time backstage after a gig, I was drunk and talking sh*t as usual, and this girl turned round and said, ‘You’re only acting like that because you’re in a band, and it’ll probably all be gone in two years.’ We had this big argument for about an hour. Travelling and stuff is really cool, but being in a band doesn’t make you a better person.

Mark Hamilton

Mark Hamilton is 18, bassist, and youngest, most mysterious member of Ash. Born March 24, 1977. A si-fi fanatic, he doesn’t view Star Wars as a film, more another world. He believes members of his family were once abducted by aliens. Rarely quoted in interviews, largely due to his unintelligible accent and low boredom threshold. He’s slumped on the sofa, with five full bottles of lager by his feet.

Fear
I fucking hate fish. Wee bug-eyed bastards. It started when I was a kid and I found a piece of scaly skin in a fish finger. It must have triggered something.I screamed and kicked my plate across the table. At home I have to get somebody to move the goldfish before I’ll go into the lounge. I’ve been waiting for that fucker to die for eight years.

Money
I’m not really bothered about money. I mean, it’s nice to be able to afford stuff like clothes… and Star Wars figures. I remember when Tim and I were 13, in our first band, Vietnam. We used to starve ourselves all week at school, saving all our dinner money just so we could buy a lead. And if we wanted to record something even a shifty eight-track studio would cost us £80. Back then, we couldn’t raise that much money even if we both starved for a whole year.

Fame
I don’t really get recognised that much, so it doesn’t bother me. Sometimes, at home I get all these little kids going, Oh you’re Ash. But it’s not as if we have all these people coming to Belfast to camp outside our houses. I do understand fame - Princess Leia (ie. Carrie Fisher) was on the same plane as us once and I was shaking like fuck. All the others were saying ‘Go on, get her autograph or you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.’ Eventually I did, but I could barely even speak.

Drugs
I used to be mad for everything. I even tried heroin, but I didn’t like it - I got a rush for about a minute then blacked out. Then, last February, everything went wrong. I just lost it. It was a combination of problems at home, fucking hating school and too much drugs. Everything just caved in and I ended up in intensive care. I actually thought I was dead at two different points, it was so bad. Everything was just in pain, mentally and physically, it was like a really bad acid trip that lasted about six months. Every minute went on for hours so it was hell, but I got through it. I still get pains in my head, but I’m used to it. So I don’t really do any of that shit now. I just say, ’Nah, it’s not for me thanks.

Alcohol
I spent the last four months of ’95 drinking myself unconscious every night. That was cool (laughs). I don’t do it so often now, not every night. And I always get the worst hangovers, even if I only have like, three beers.

Songwriting
I’ve written three songs on the album, and the B-side to “Goldfinger” called “I Need Somebody”. I wrote that one when I was in hospital, lying in bed, just to focus on something. I was on Lostrol, Valium and Beta-blockers, really heavy downers, cos I was just mad. You know, just to calm me down. I was going fucking nuts. So it was difficult to focus on anything, I was like a vegetable for months and doing a song was the first step to getting fixed. As far as being a songwriter goes, I don’t feel I’ve got anything to live up to. I just did it.

Compassion
I’ve got a fluffy toy rabbit called Peter, it’s older than me and I take it everywhere. At the moment, though, I’m having to hide it, because Lief (sic), our guitar tech, wants to stab it.

Childhood
I was a real trouble maker as a kid. Anything I could do just to get at the teachers or stir shit, but I would always get other people to do the bad deed. I was the one busy thinking up plans, so! never got caught. The headmaster knew I was always behind it but could never prove it. I don’t know why I was so rebellious. I grew up in a stable environment, we’re a very tight, close family. My mum works with old people and my dad’s a dentist. Look! I’ve not got one filling.

Sex
I lost my virginity at 14, it was sort of weird. Not sure what to do. After that, I was the same way I was with drugs, I totally went for it. I’m not like that now. If I had a girlfriend, it wouldn’t bother me not having it when we’re on tour. I’d be monogamous. I don’t think I could live with the guilt.

Religion
Religion is quite weird for me. I was brought upon a totally hardcore Protestant estate, then we moved when I was eleven to the other extreme, a full-on Republican area. I was really prejudiced for a while, a total bastard, because that’s how I was conditioned. Then you get wise to it. All my mates back home are actually Catholics.

The future
I always think, do the band, take it as far as it will go, get really massive and then go off and do something new. I’m financing a record label, X-Wing, at the moment mainly cos there’s some cool bands in Belfast but not even one shifty wee label they can go to. We’re putting out a compilation CD called Laugh Hard at the Absurdly Evil, then we’ll do a couple of singles later on. I don’t think I’d like to end up running a big record label. I actually like the idea of being a fireman.

Death
I don’t know what to think about death. You either die and there’s nothing or you die and go to a better place. Since I was sick, though, I’ve totally changed my ways, I’ve gone from being a bit of a devious cunt to being straight and honest.