insideSUSSEX Magazine Issue 10 - December 2015 | Page 19

ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT

insideSUSSEX’s publishing director,
Adam Ready, catches up with legendary
drummer Rick McMurray from the band Ash
Following a UK Spring tour and festival appearances around the globe, Ash announce an
extensive UK tour for December, stopping in Brighton for a sold-out show on 13th December.

Tim, Mark and Rick will play eleven dates in
the UK and Ireland with a London show at
Shepherds Bush Empire.
The trio released their latest album Kablammo!
in late May from which new single “Machinery”
is taken, released in October. Described by
Tim as “probably the most indie pop tune
on the record” it’s “essentially a song about
someone in modern times trying to find a real
connection,” he explains. “It was one of the
final ones we worked on,” says Mark. “It’s just
a beautiful melody.”

I said we can’t use that but we did – it’s a bit
tongue in cheek.
Did you enjoy making this album as much
as your previous works?
It was our biggest break away from studio for a
while, so I was bit nervous, but we had a clean
slate. We had a 10-day recording session, and
we came away with 6-8 songs; it was better
than we expected. Also it had been seven
years since the last full studio album, so we
had to live up to our previous albums.

Kablammo!, released to a fanfare of positive
reviews, marks eight years since the release
of Ash’s last studio album. The album saw
the band capture the live essence of Ash as a
great rock band, and has been widely lauded
as their best since their number 1 “Free All
Angels”.

Ash celebrated their 20th anniversary at
the Garage, London back in 2012. Does if
feel like the band has been going for 23
years now?
Bizarre to think about it. 2016 is the 20th
anniversary of “Girl from Mars”, which charted
at number 11 in the UK singles’ chart. We play
it at every show, and it is a weird feeling.

What was the inspiration for your new
album’s name?
It was (lead singer) Tim’s idea and came from
something Homer Simpson says. Friends of
ours in a band from Northern Ireland sent Tim
a drum sample and it was called Kablammo;

Ash is no stranger to the festival circuit,
having headlined Glastonbury and
Reading festivals. What has been your
most memorable festival moment?
Reading has always been a big thing for us;
we played it a couple weeks after “Girl from

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Mars” charted. We were on the smaller stage
and it was rammed – the place was going
nuts. We like to bring out the big hits for the
festivals. Playing