RouteNote Exclusive Interview: No Hot Ashes

Interview

RouteNote Exclusive Interview: No Hot Ashes

By Jacca-RouteNoteSeptember 30, 20159 mins read

No Hot Ashes are a 4-man band straight out of Manchester, UK playing gritty funk rock with indie vibes. Since forming in 2012 No Hot Ashes have been making waves on the local scene, being dubbed one of Manchester’s top 20 bands to look out for in 2015.

A year after their debut single “Goose”, recorded with platinum record producer Gavin Monaghan, the lads have reunited with Gavin for their new Double-A sided single “Easy Peeler”. With Easy Peeler hot off the presses we thought it was the perfect time to ask No Hot Ashes some questions about their music and themselves.

How did you first get into music and what spurred you to start making it?

We all started playing our instruments from an early age, probably around 7/8 so it was a natural progression as we met other musicians and began playing in bands. We all came from different backgrounds but as the current lineup we began around late 2013 making songs.

Did you learn from teachers or were you self-taught?

All of us are self-taugh in our instruments, a few of us have had a few lessons along the way but for a long time now we have just been making music on our own.

If you could choose anyone to collaborate with – who would you choose?

If we could choose anyone it would have to be Red Hot Chili Peppers, they’re the band that we all really bonded with and have always seen as massive influences as musicians – as a collective we think that they are four of the most talented musicians ever to exist… so yeah it would have to be the Chilis.

What is it that you most enjoy about creating/playing music?

Probably playing live – we get a massive buzz from playing to crowds no matter how small they are and it’s what we really love doing. We’ve always had the mentality that a bands live performance is crucial to them succeeding and we stand by that. Recording is also really cool because you get to craft the songs and fine tune them which always hits a ceiling when writing in a practice room, so to hear the tracks being produced is always a really satisfying time

What do you imagine you would be doing if you weren’t doing music?

Well at the moment we are all working/studying at university at the same time so we all have a realistic outlook on being in the band. It’s one of the hardest industries to progress in so we all have to work around that and keep ourselves driven and hope that in the near future we can justify quitting our jobs/university to pursue our music careers.

If you were stuck on a desert island and could take 5 tracks to listen to and one possession of yours, what would they be?

Shit that’s hard… We’ll all pick one to be fair.

Lui (Lead Guitar) – “My 1965 Fender Mustang”

Spanish Sahara – Foals

Jack (Bass) – “My Seat Arosa”

Incredible (Shy FX Remix) – General Levy

Isaac (Singer/Guitarist) – “My Mega-Rider”

1998 (Delicious) – Peace

Matt (Drums) – “My Left Drumstick”

Sir Psycho Sexy – Red Hot Chili Peppers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PU0Cdtzk6o

What’s your favourite piece of equipment to make/play music?

We’d all have to say our instruments – without them we wouldn’t have a chance, haha.

If you had to choose just one of your own tracks that you are most proud of, which would it be?

We would have to pick our last single “Goose” it was the first track we ever wrote with our current producer Gavin Monaghan (Editors, Ocean Colour Scene, The Twang) and it created a massive buzz after we released it in October 2014. After it had been recorded it was the first time we had ever been truly happy and proud of our music.

What are your plans for the next year?

We’re looking to get out of our hometown of Manchester and gig around other cities in the country. It’s a hard thing to do because we obviously have very few fans outside of Manchester but we need to do it.

What advice would you give to other aspiring musicians?

Honestly – Do what you want. Don’t try and please people or change your style to suit others or the norm. I guess we can’t really say much else yet because we haven’t signed a record deal but the way we go about our music is simple – we write music that we like and don’t try and write for other people, if people like it then it’s a bonus. We’re trying to start something new.