Co Down rock band ASH is ready to mark 30 years of making music with an exciting homecoming show next month.
Having sold over 8 million albums worldwide, including their hit song ‘Girl From Mars’, the Downpatrick musicians have been putting the NI rock scene on the map for three decades
Tim Wheeler, Mark Hamilton and Rick McMurray are excited to be heading back to the Ulster Hall on December 16 to take fans on a trip down memory lane.
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Speaking to Belfast Live, the band reflected on doing what they love for most of their lives, their first gig to a field of cows in Co Down and what makes playing in Northern Ireland so special.
Guitarist Tim said: "It just doesn't feel like 30 years have passed - that's a long time and it doesn't feel like that, weirdly.
"When The Girl From Mars exploded as a single and we were on Top of The Tops, that was straight after we left school and that was what lead to us going to Australia and Japan and the US for our first tours when we were just kids so that was so exciting."
"That song that was written in Tim's parents' garage took us the whole way around the world when we were 18 which is pretty crazy," Rick explained.
"There has been loads of big moments - the Good Friday Agreement gig was a huge deal as well and was so mad that we got to be involved in that."
Mark revealed that before playing major stages around the world and having adoring fans screaming their name, the rural fields of Downpatrick enjoyed their music first.
Mark said: "I remember that one of our first practices, before Rick even came and joined the band, we got these long extension cords and put them out in the garden and got the amps and faced the cows in the field next door and played a gig to them.
"We've come a long way."
The anniversary gig is a specially curated show will chart the trio’s success story from their formation in 1992 to the Number One selling album 1977, the follow-up Nu-Clear Sounds, before a return to the number-one spot with the universally acclaimed Free All Angels.
Tim continued: "It's going to be a really great show and with it being our 30th anniversary, we really wanted it to cover our whole career so there will be early stuff right up to what we are doing now.
"We used to do the Ulster Hall before Christmas quite a few time and we would always try to finish our tours in Belfast because it was always such a great homecoming for us. People are always just really up for the gigs so I think the audience is going to be amazing as well."
Rick added: "Doing this big anniversary show in Belfast is not just about the band but also looking at Northern Ireland in general and how much things have changed over the last 30 years which is pretty amazing - it's a different city and we are all better for it."
"When we talk about highlights, the Waterfront show was a big one because it seems to have been such a monumental shifting point in the history of the country and it was really good to have been a part of that," Mark continued.
On working, touring and friendship over the three decades, ASH said that performing together is in their "DNA" because they have grown up together on this journey.
"There's something about the second we come together to play, even when we haven't for a month or two, there's great chemistry because of the years and years and hours and hours of being together. There's something special when we start to play," Tim explained.
"It's just part of our DNA these days," Rick said. "The first time we got together post-Covid, I hadn't seen these guys for probably the longest time ever and getting into the practice room, I think there was a bit of anxiety not having played together for so long.
"From the first note, we were just back sounding great."
The band revealed that their fans can expect some new music in 2023 and have thanked them for being a part of this wild ride with them since 1992.
Tim said: "We were a very young band when we started out and I think a lot of our fans were teenagers so I think when we come home, you get the sense of that this music is full of memories for people."
"We always get quite a physical reaction from the crowd and it's always great to see them move and throw pints in the air," he laughed.
Belfast is always a "special gig" for the group and they cannot wait to be back up on stage in front of the sold-out crowd next month.
Mark explained: "The Ulster Hall was always our thing to do every Christmas, regardless of where we were in the world, we always brought it back home for the last gig of the year and it was always a massive highlight so to be doing that for the first time in a long time is going to be really special."
Rick added: "It's going to be a legendary party."
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