“I think the full length is
kind of dead, really I like the
perfect three minute pop song.”
Daniel Ash
by Aaron Andrews
AUXILIARY october 2009
Daniel Ash, reluctant goth icon, motorcycle enthusiast, DJ, and man of fashion, certainly has an infamous name and reputation in alternative music. The recent release of a Love and Rockets tribute album is evidence of that. Ash started out playing in cover bands with the Haskins brothers before all three joined with acquaintance Peter Murphy to form Bauhaus. At the end of that iconic band, he went on to front Tones on Tail and its follow up Love and Rockets with one and then both of the Haskins brothers. It’s an impressive list of bands and an impressive body of work. Despite having a ton to get a swelled head about, Daniel Ash has to be one of the most pleasant people I’ve ever talked to. He’s forthcoming, friendly and gracious. Talking to him over the phone was like chatting with a new friend, and he made it seem like he’d love to talk about music or motorcycles whether there was a project to promote or not.
However, he is currently doing press for New Tales to Tell the aforementioned tribute album, put together by friend Christopher “The Minister”. Christopher is a DJ for Sirius XM radio, a fact that escaped me for a few seconds as Daniel repeated over and over to me that he was a “serious” DJ and I thought, “of course, why do it if you’re not serious?” Of course, it dawned on me what he meant and I, still kind of shy, meekly suggested, “the satellite?” With the misunderstanding resolved, we moved on to the album itself that Ash had no hand in but evidently his friend The Minister has made a pet project.
There are quite a few different artists represented, including fantastic names like The Flaming Lips, Frank Black, and Maynard James Keenan’s Puscifer. Ash seemed genuinely pleased to have Black as a fan, and, when asked to pick a favorite, he expressed his preference for Dubfire’s version of “I Feel Speed”. While he had quite a few nice things to say about contributors, he seemed a little disappointed that Tom Jones didn’t appear with a cover of “So Alive”. The Welshman played the song in his Vegas show and Ash “kept hearing his version was coming out, but it didn’t make it.”
Daniel Ash isn’t really the kind of person to sit around waiting to be adored and have his songs covered. He’s still interested in making his own music. In fact, I happened to call on one of the days that final mastering was going on for an EP’s worth of new material to be sold on iTunes. Previews are available on his Myspace page: www.myspace.com/therealdanielash. The press notes I’d received said this EP is due in the fall to be followed by a full length in the new year, a fact Mr. Ash corrected, “No full length. The full length album is really kind of dead.” I was surprised to hear an artist who’s come up through years of making albums to declare them obsolete and not even be wistful about it. “What about the concept album?” I asked. “Concept albums are awful,” he answered. “I guess I liked Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of The Moon as a concept album; it was very good. But like Yes albums, they’re just awful.” Resistant at first, he explained that he’s come to see the digital music revolution as an exciting turn for the better. Ash mentions a love of the “perfect three minute pop song” a few times, and the new tracks are definitely just that: five three-minute tracks that are all distinctly his, some sexy and quiet with a few guitar driven rock songs.
He also has an interest in branching out to film, an avenue that seems almost inevitable considering the mood and atmosphere he’s always managed to instill into his guitar sound. Also because for me and my friends our first ideas of what Daniel and his Bauhaus bandmates looked like came from the cameo in 1983’s The Hunger. He contributed guitar parts for several songs in the recent film Repo! The Genetic Opera adding to a list of well-known contributors. This follows up his television experience with 2003’ Keen Eddy, an action comedy that saw one season altogether split between Fox and Bravo. Ash is credited with a few songs for the series on IMDB but when talking suggested he’d written or co-written much more. He seemed very hopeful to branch further into scoring in the future and enthused about a potential project, “with motorcycles coming up that I’m interested in working on, I can’t talk about it much, but I’m hoping it comes my way.”
Motorcycles are not something unfamiliar to him. He’s an incredible lover of British and American bikes, Nortons and Triumphs from the British bike world, and he complemented America on its Harley. From there we struck off on a long tangent on Triumph when I mentioned some childhood memories of my father’s Bonneville. He lit up at the mention of it and took the opportunity to recommend I get myself to a Triumph dealer to see all the newest models. Clearly this was the man’s other love, maybe even his first love.
There is something he sees as more of a hobby though: his DJing career (although, after a quick reflection he decides it is more than just a hobby as, “they are paying gigs.”) When discussing his DJing gigs, it becomes very evident that Ash is interested in other music than alternative rock saying, “I love 70s disco, I think it’s just some of the greatest music.” He also mentions Deep Dish and its side project Dubfire again as personal favorites as well as taking a liking to The Ting Tings, “an excellent British pop band.” His DJing sessions seem to be all about his own personal enjoyment as he has some trouble picking out any more than a few specific artists or sounds he likes just saying, “I just play what I like and it’s a lot of fun. It’s very different than performing live, less pressure and the feedback is instant.” The one thing he’s quite sure about not playing is goth music, “I can’t stand it really. I know it sounds funny since I was in Bauhaus but really we were an art band not a goth band.”
MUSIC
The legacy of Bauhaus is obviously not lost on him and I wanted to find out more about the Love and Rockets moments and feelings. When asked what high points stood out in his memory in regards to the Love and Rockets, he picked a favorite memory, “being number three on the American charts, with Prince at number one and Madonna at number two. We thought we’d be starting all over in America and we were big, playing huge shows.” True to his love of the perfect pop song, he picked “So Alive” and “Ball of Confusion” as stand out tracks for the band. With recent Bauhaus and Love and Rockets reunions still in close memory I wondered if he thought them successful. After a pause he went on, “I think they were very successful. I mean, we toured with Nine Inch Nails and sold out 29 shows. So yeah, that’s successful.
It’s odd doing that, though, especially with Bauhaus because the songs are 30 years old.” A potential Tones on Tail reunion is not looking like it’s on the horizon. But he did say they’d re-recorded “Go!” and marveled at the enormous success that it’s had being used everywhere in both commercials and films.
Looking through pictures of his performances it’s obvious Daniel Ash has always been a fashion conscious man, a fact he didn’t shy away from when asked if fashion or visual appeal matter to music. “It does to me,” he said. “You have to be doing something up there. A lot of bands show up in jeans and tee shirts like the 60s, like hippies you know?” His approach to fashion has changed over the years, “just look at the album covers and see that,” but its importance hasn’t. He emphasized that being involved in the visual aspect of the show and looking the part is essential.
Over 30 years after Bauhaus had its beginnings, Daniel Ash seems to be very content with the path he’s walked. He’s contributed to an excellent sum of music and strived to find originality and new sounds at every opportunity. In all this he’s maintained a jovial attitude and friendly demeanor. The time I spent talking with him felt more like catching up with an old friend than talking to one of my musical heroes. Thanking him for his time he shrugged it off as if the pleasure was equally his and thanked me in return.
31 october 2009 AUXILIARY
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