By the magic of e-mail...
Mark, Rick and Tim* talk about their favourite things, politics, W***ers and Ash's future...
I’m not a politician but if I was…?
Mark: I’d demand that UK signs mandatory legislation to reduce carbon emissions by 3% a year and fine the worst polluters by a carbon tax. Invest heavily in public transport. Tax gas-guzzlers off the roads. Massive investment in wind and hydro clean energy resources the UK is abundant with. Stop the privatisation of the NHS, rule out and phase out nuclear energy, make it unlawful for any MP or other voted public servants to sit on any private firm. Charge those accountable for the lies that were told before the Iraq war for war crimes. Restore civil liberties after they’re been all but eroded since 9/11. The list could go on but those are the first that spring to mind….
Rick: I'd hang out with Tony Benn, and have policies that everyone would admire but no one would vote for. That or line my own pockets while no one was looking.
Tim: I’d look really sharp and sensitive and I’d have beautiful, soft hair. My friend Bono says we should help sick kids and stuff so I’d probably focus on that.
If you weren’t in a band what exactly do you think you would be doing instead at this point in your life?
Mark: Maybe I’d become a professor. I want to add it to my list of titles!
Rick: God what a question! It scares me, trying to answer! If it all ended tomorrow, I'd do something clichéd like gardening, which is what most drummers I know end up doing. If I'd never been in a band at all, I'd be living on the fringes of society, sending letter bombs to Mark!
Tim: I would be an astronaut about to embank on a mission to Mars.
If you had to pick your favourite Ash song it would be______, because______.
Mark: TOTI, it’s our most epic show off song and it’s great to play live.
Rick: Twilight of the Innocents, because I know Tim and Mark will say this too and I want to present a united front. Seriously, it is my fave; I think it really stands out as an individual song in our catalogue and is perhaps a hint of things to come. I hope so anyway.
Tim: Sneaker, cos the feedback from our hardcore fans is positive and we always listen to our hardcore fans, God bless you all.
Favourite gig you’ve played this year and why?
Mark: Fuji Rock, The crowd was immense, but I also really loved the run of KOKO’s . It was great reactions every night.
Rick: It’s a tough call between the 3rd night at Koko or Fuji rock. At both we were playing so well and the connection with the audience felt really strong. It’s not often you give yourself goose bumps while you're playing, but that happened at both of those shows.
Tim: Has to be the Koko shows with the obvious reason of getting to meet so many freaks who think we are God - oh and i just wanna say thanks for that special massage on friday night, you know who you are ;)
Do you like the fact that some fans seem to turn up at almost every gig or do you find it quite disturbing?
Mark: It’s cool, some people are into crack others like Ash, it’s great to see familiar faces in the crowds.
Rick: It’s very touching that our band means so much to some people. They don't seem to be psychos, just very enthusiastic.
Tim: I have one thing to say to these people, bring me pie next time, i want pie, pie is good!
Are you quite honoured to have fans flying across the Atlantic etc to see you play?
Mark: Yeah it’s pretty cool, we fly across the Atlantic to be there ourselves! ;)
Rick: Again it’s cool that these people would dedicate their time and money into coming all that way for a show. You have to admire it.
Tim: It's all cool until they start stalking you and demanding private sessions involving having to play b-sides like Sneaker! You know this one dude held a gun to our heads until we played that song.
What have you got planned for the next year or so?
Mark: Well we want to release a bunch of EP’s next year, do the festivals in the summer and then hopefully tour in the Autumn again. We’ve got lots of idea’s for taking the online thing forward but we’re still working all that out.
Rick: I think we're gonna get into the studio early next year and start work on some new material to be released as singles/ bundles/ whatever they're gonna be called then. We'll also be touring in Japan, and hopefully some places in east Asia while we're out there. I’m really looking forward to our new way of working; its going to be really exciting.
Tim: Well by then our world domination plan should be in its finally stages if not completed so i think we'll be kicking back with our hardcore fans, playing songs they request, maybe doing an odd dance or two and generally rocking out.
You’re all getting on a bit now, how old do you feel inside?
Mark: My liver feels like it’s 80 but I still feel pretty young mentally, apart from the odd backache I’m holding up fine. That bass is pretty heavy!
Rick: My insides are polluted after a drinking binge a couple of nights ago, which was a reminder to stay away from spirits. I’m sure I’ll be felling invincible again by Sunday. My age definitely fluctuates with the abuse.
Tim: Getting on a bit? What you on about look at this face, is this not the face you remember back in the days when emos did not exist? Now bring me pie, I want pie!
How did you feel when TOTI didn’t chart as highly as it rightfully should have?
Mark: Yeah that was pretty disheartening but it’s also good for making us rally round each other. We’re more determined than ever to continue and create even better music. We’re mega proud of the album and the public responses at Reading and Leeds were huge moral boosts.
Rick: Pretty bummed out to be honest. we knew it was going to be a struggle when Polaris was outside the top 30, but I never imagined the album slipping as far as it did. Thank god we had the Koko shows that week. It really kept our spirits up. Of course it was all the more depressing knowing that we'd made a damn fine album.
Tim: was sad for a moment but then I caught sight of my reflection in the mirror, gave myself a wink and thought "it's ok Timmy boy, you still got it"
These are a few of my favourite things: 1.________ 2.________ 3.________
Mark: Star Wars & Transformers Toys, Spicy food, Snow
Rick: Reading, rocking and the gift of laughter.
Tim: Sandwiches, herbal essence shampoo (not the conditioner, I don’t need conditioner!) you guys, my hardcore fans :D
How do you rate Warner’s promotion of yourselves?
Mark: Bollocks
Rick: Null points. Next.
Tim: It was like bad sex with a herpes ridden hooker.
Your favourite place in the world is_________?
Mark: Flying down an empty mountain on a snowboard.
Rick: My living room, when its stormy outside, and the fire is on. Crack open a fresh bailey's. I’m old Gregg.
Tim: On top of it.
I wish people would pay more attention to___________?
Mark: The news. People are so preoccupied by celebrity, Hollywood gossip and other trivial, moronic nonsense that they tend to be unaware of their environment or what decisions are being made by their ‘leaders’. Also there’s too much pandering to religious groups in society. People personal beliefs are fine as long as they keep them to themselves. No free and modern society should be run with religious based policies.
Rick: Their appearance.
Tim: My hair. My beautiful soft shiny hair. My good friend Bono likes to stroke it and rub his nose in it. My other good friend Chris Martin always politely declines, but I can see he is tempted.
Have any of you ever considered using your position of influence to be more vocal about and promote causes you are interested in?
Mark: Yes, I contacted Friends Of The Earth and they’re gonna be pretty prominent on the UK tour.
Rick: I think I am more likely to move to a remote area and hide from real life.
Tim: I leave that to my good Friend Bono, and also my good friend Chris Martin. My bass player does it a bit too.
What do you see in the future for Ash?
Mark: We’ll we’re gonna push the digital side of things with a brand spanking new website. We want to get into the studio in Jan and start recording again and there should be new Ash material released before the summer. We don’t plan on going anywhere soon!
Rick: I’d love us to have more real hits and get up to arena sized shows and headline Reading. We already have the tunes we just need the recognition.
Tim: I plan to colonise vast areas of the galaxy, relying on help from my Krishna Guru, Toby and my good friend Bono who is already working on world domination.
If you'v got any questions you'd like us to put to Ash then e-mail them to us!
*or maybe we were forced to make up Tim's reponses.... ;-)