Daniel Ash

Daniel Ash
Ash at the 2008 Lollapalooza festival.
Background information
Birth name	Daniel Ash
Born	31 July 1957 (1957-07-31) (age 54) in Northampton, England
Genres	Alternative rock, gothic rock, post-punk, electronic
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, keyboards, saxophone
Years active	1979–present
Labels	Columbia Records Beggars Banquet Records Psychobaby Records
Associated acts	Bauhaus, Love and Rockets, Tones on Tail

Daniel Gaston Ash (born 31 July 1957, in Northampton, England) is the guitarist for Bauhaus, Tones on Tail, Love and Rockets, and solo projects.^[1]

Life and work

After going to concerts in his teenage years, Ash made a decision to be on a stage in some way. He started playing guitar around the age of 15, but confessed to have been very lazy and only learned three chords and nothing more for about three years. He began playing in cover bands, often together with future band mates David J and Kevin Haskins whom he knew since nursery school. His first gig was in the Glasgow Rangers Workman's Club.^{[citation needed]}

Daniel Ash while in Love and Rockets

Ash had become friends with Peter Murphy in his teenage years. Ash went to art school and Murphy went to work in a printing factory. They met up five years later and Ash suggested forming a band. Rigging up a makeshift rehearsal space, Ash played an Echo 12 - bar blues, while Murphy sang a series of newspaper articles. Four weeks later, they formed Bauhaus and recorded "Bela Lugosi's Dead".

That song, released in 1979, became one of the most influential songs in gothic rock music, even though they saw themselves as a "dark glam" band and have always distanced themselves from the gothic label. From early on, he was intent on sounding original, and often tried to "make the guitar not sound like a guitar". He worked to develop a guitar style that included other-worldly and atmospheric sounds by the use of an EBow. He typically has used a Telecaster^[2] guitar, HH amplifiers and Marshall 4x12 cabinets for his stage gear. Later in his career, he relied heavily on the Fernandes Sustainer system to achieve similar sounds to the EBow.

After nearly five years of recording and performing, Bauhaus broke up and Ash put together Tones on Tail with Bauhaus drummer Kevin Haskins. As Ash described them: "We were a motley crew of individuals who essentially wanted to sound like a band from Venus or Mars!" In 1984, Tones on Tail was disbanded, and Ash founded Love and Rockets in 1985 with Haskins and David J, also of Bauhaus. In an interview in June 2009, Ash emphatically stated that he had no further plans to play with Love and Rockets.^[2]

Ash has stated that guitar solos do not interest him much since they rely on a musician's ego. He cares much more for the craft of songwriting and the overall production of a song rather than a focus on guitar or any other single instrument.^[3] During the last ten years, he has been experimenting more with electronic music, both with Love and Rockets and solo, limiting the use of guitar as an extra element to the songs. Since the last reformation of Bauhaus however, he has been returning to a more guitar-based rock sound.

In 2008, Bauhaus released Go Away White (their first studio album in 25 years) and a reunited Love and Rockets played at Coachella Music and Arts Festival.

In June 2009 Ash released a cover of the David Essex song "Rock On" featuring singer Zak Ambrose on vocals.^[2] Recorded at the Swing House rehearsal and recording complex in Hollywood, the track is on the Swing House Sessions Vol 1 EP. Later in 2009, Ash released a four song EP exclusively through iTunes, entitled "It's A Burn Out".

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album details
1991	Coming Down Label: Beggars Banquet Records
1992	Foolish Thing Desire Label: Beggars Banquet Records
2002	Daniel Ash Label: Psychobaby Records
2005	Come Alive Label: Psychobaby Records

Singles, EPs and promos

Year	Album details
1991	"This Love" Label: Beggars Banquet Records
1991	"Walk This Way" Label: Vertigo Records
1992	"Get Out of Control" Label: Columbia Records/Sony BMG/Beggars Banquet Records
199?	"Here She Comes" Label:
2000	Daniel Ash EP Label: Self Released
2000	"Burning Man" Label: Plastik Records
2001	"Spooky" Label: Psychobaby Records
2002	Burning Man x6 + 1 Label: Psychobaby Records
2009	Rock On (Dirty Queen) Label: Arsenal Records
2009	It's A Burn Out iTunes Exclusive

Other

• 1991 - "Heaven Is Waiting", a B-side from the "This Love" and "Walk This Way" singles, was included on the Beggars Banquet Records compilation album Money Is Not the Answer
• 2000 - "Trouble" from Daniel Ash appeared in the 2000 film American Psycho
• 2001 - Ash provided vocals and guitar on the title track from DJ Keoki's album Jealousy
• 2003 - Ash recorded a version of "Fever" for the FX (TV network) program Nip/Tuck, which was included on the Nip / Tuck: Original TV Soundtrack
• 2004 - "Come Alive" from Daniel Ash appeared in the computer role-playing game Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines
• 2008 - Ash provided guitar on several tracks from the rock opera film Repo! The Genetic Opera.

See also

References

1. ^ "Daniel Ash closes door on Love and Rockets: ‘It’s boring for me to do those songs’". Slicing Up Eyeballs. 2009-08-01. http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2009/08/01/daniel-ash-interview-love-rockets-tribute-bauhaus-tones-on-tail/. Retrieved 2010-03-14. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} "Daniel Ash: Rock On". SuicideGirls.com. 22 June 2009. http://suicidegirls.com/interviews/Daniel+Ash%3A+Rock+On/. Retrieved 2009-06-22. 
3. ^ "THE Wonder YEARS.(thirty-two influential guitar players during eighties decade)". Guitar Player. 2001-04-01. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-11528951_ITM. 

External links

• Official Site
• Goth Is Dead says Daniel Ash
• Danny Boy

Persondata
Name	Ash, Daniel
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1957-07-31
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death