Music
13 Nov 14

His Shining Light - Hot Press meets Tim Wheeler

Tim Wheeler’s first solo project is dedicated to the memory of his father George, who passed away in 2011. The Ash frontman talks to Roisin Dwyer about the influence he had on his career and how making the album Lost Domain helped him come to terms with his loss.

“He’d drive around with a big Ash sticker on the back of his car! I’d be sitting there mortified with my head in my hands. He basically had a massive advert for us on his rear window! He’d always drive Ash to any gigs too, we’d all be piled in the back of his car. On his lunch break he’d be the old guy going into local music shops and moving Ash to the front. He was a district judge. Any time we had to sign any contracts or do anything official he would always oversee it, the lawyers would be shitting it,” smiles Tim Wheeler.

The Ash frontman is chatting about his debut solo album, Lost Domain, inspired by the death of his father George from Alzheimer’s in 2011. Rather than an introspective downbeat affair, the collection is uplifting, expansive and a celebration of the father/son bond, reflecting the happy memories he is fondly recalling now.
“I was afraid that it would be really depressing and when people started saying it was very emotional I was a bit worried. I didn’t want to put anyone through something very harrowing. People have been saying it’s uplifting so I’m really happy with that."
As with many degenerative illnesses, Tim knew for some years he was losing his father and a number of the songs on the album were written during this period.
“For example, the song ‘Medicine’ I startedwriting when he was in the dementia ward,” he explains. “I came back from seeing him one day and I just wrote a stream of consciousness. That’s why it’s long form and has a somewhat repetitive chord sequence.
“Some of the stuff was really difficult to write but I suppose I was trying to process what was happening.”
During this time Ash joined forces with The Divine Comedy and The Undertones to do a charity show in Belfast to raise funds for The Alzheimer’s Society.
“It was the year my dad died and I felt helpless the whole time,” recalls Tim. “Neil Hannon’s father is also a dementia sufferer. It was great to have someone who was going through the same thing who you have known for a long time to talk to.
“It was nice to feel that we could do something. I have been delighted to be part of the fundraising.”
Lost Domain features a host of collaborators and friends, such as former Razorlight drummer Andy Burroughs and Neon Indian vocalist Leanne Macomber. How did they respond to the request to feature on such a personal record?
“Well I suppose I didn’t really tell them,” says Tim. “For example with Andy I just said, ‘I’m working on some songs do you want to come and play on them?' When I sent him the tracks he said ‘that almost made me cry’. I didn’t give him that much warning!”
Unsurprisingly Tim’s Ash bandmates, who had known George most of their lives, were incredibly moved by the album.
“They found it hard to listen to, I know it had Rick (McMurray – Ash drummer) crying,” he says. “I approached a few people to help me cut down the songs as I had 15 to choose from but Mark (Hamilton – bassist) got it exactly right.
“I thought that was quite apt as I have been playing in bands with him since I was 11. He has always been the first filter for my songs.”
In related Ash news the trio are halfway through the follow-up to 2007’s Twilight Of The Innocents.
“It’s going great. It will be a pure rocking record,” reveals Tim. “We’re trying to make it as close to the three-piece sound we spent years honing as possible. The old school Ash fans will love it! We have 13 songs done at the moment. When I go back to New York I’ll be laying down more vocals.
“It should be out in spring of next year. But I have all these other interests,” he adds. “I enjoy messing around with technology and synths and strings and stuff."
Given that the last sonic installment from the troupe came in the form of the A-Z Singles project - one track every fortnight over the course of a year - can we expect an unusual delivery method for the next opus?
“Maybe people are getting tired of gimmicky ways of releasing things, as U2 might have just discovered,” he smiles. “I would like to do something interesting though.
“Looking back at A-Z Singles, it was possibly hard for people to digest that much music in hindsight. If you were living through the project and getting a song every two weeks that was great but for the people who came to it at the end there was about three hours of music or something like that!”