Tim Wheeler talks barnets and blasphemy

Ash are back with a new single, “Jesus Says”. Singer Tim Wheeler called us to talk about the track, his bizarre haircuts and the Omagh bombing.

How’s your hair looking today?

It’s pretty regular - it’s all grown back.

How did you end up with the big shaved stripe?

This mate of mine, he’s a hairdresser and he just went to town on my hair. I liked it. I thought it was cool, but I’m not sure what everyone else made of it. It lasted about two months, I think. After a while, I couldn’t be arsed. It needed high maintenance. I was getting Rick to shave it. So I’m going for a more chilled-out look.

The new single, “Jesus Says”, is a real statement of intent, a dirty, primitive rock n’ roll song

It’s like a Velvet Underground sort of tune. It’s like glam rock and it’s got a lot of attitude. It’s very New York. I though it would have to be the first single, coming back with a lot of attitude and a different sound. Some of the songs on the album are probably more obvious singles, a bit like the old style, but I thought it would be better to come back with something different. It’s so simple. there’s four songs in the whole song. It’s a killer live.

How did you decide upon the album title, Nu-Clear Sounds?

I saw a laundrette in America called “Nu-Clear”. It was about two years ago, you see, and it just stuck in my head. We twisted it round into Nu-Clear Sounds. Just when we were finishing the album, I thought this would be a good title. It sounds quite modern to me - it’s quite a modern record, it’s not retro or anything. We thought it would apply.

There’s a tremendous variety across this album

It’s all over the place! I think we were getting a bit bored with the restrictions of having to be a three-piece boy, punk-pop band, so we got Charlotte in and things like this. With this album, we thought, ‘Fuck it, we’ll do whatever happens, what ever comes out.’ There are quite a few really mellow songs, and some songs are heavier than anything we’ve ever done before. We just went off to a farmhouse in Surrey for two months and wrote about 20 songs.

How did Charlotte make a difference to the sound of the album?

It kind of helps having the extra guitar for working stuff out. As soon as any of us had an idea, we didn’t have to imagine all the extra parts, cos Charlotte could play them. We could play it as a four-piece. It was more complete, right from the start. We recorded almost all of the album live. We felt a bit burnt-out after all the touring. We decided we weren’t going to start it until we were totally recharged. And we were mad for it!

Idlewild are supporting on your autumn tour. Anyone else?

Chicks are hopefully coming out, too. I think they’re going to have to take some weeks off school. In 19994, we were at school when Elastica took us out on tour, and we missed school for three weeks.

Having taken part in the “Yes” vote concert in Belfast, how do you now assess the prospects of peace after the Omagh bombing?

I was gutted. Everyone’s really angry at home. Everyone’s devastated. But with things like Sinn Féin condemning it, a lot of unprecedented things are happening. I think it will make people more determined it will never happen again. I don’t think we’ll be making any more appearances as part of the peace campaign. I think we’ll leave it to the politicians, really. I do believe they’re trying to do something. These things take time. a lot of people thought it was going to be an instant thing, people who don’t quite understand it. After the referendum, they thought that would be it. It was always going to take time, really.