Daniel Ash

Daniel Gaston Ash (born 31 July 1957) is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He became prominent in the late 1970s as the guitarist for the goth rock band Bauhaus, which spawned two related bands led by Ash: Tones on Tail, Love and Rockets and more recently Ashes and Diamonds. Several guitarists have listed Ash as an influence, including Dave Navarro of Jane's Addiction, Kim Thayil of Soundgarden, Hide of X Japan and John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Life and work Ash was born to a half-French and half-Belgian mother and spent his childhood in Northampton. After going to concerts in his teenage years, Ash decided to perform on a stage in some way. He started playing guitar around the age of 15, He typically has used a Telecaster guitar, HH amplifiers and Marshall 4x12 cabinets for his stage gear. Later in his career, he relied heavily on the Fernandes Sustainer system to achieve sounds similar to the EBow.

After nearly five years of recording and performing, Bauhaus broke up and Ash put together Tones on Tail with Bauhaus drummer Kevin Haskins. As Ash described them: "We were a motley crew of individuals who essentially wanted to sound like a band from Venus or Mars!" In 1984, Tones on Tail was disbanded; Ash founded Love and Rockets in 1985 with Haskins and David J, also of Bauhaus. In an interview in June 2009, Ash emphatically stated that he had no further plans to play with Love and Rockets. During the last ten years, he has been experimenting more with electronic music, both with Love and Rockets and solo, limiting the use of guitar as an extra element to the songs. In an extensive interview by Visual Music Japan (VMJ) with Mandah Frénot, Ash said: "Shredding is all testosterone and ego (laughs) — just too academic. It becomes this exercise in cramming as many notes as possible into three seconds. It's like ego-wanking, really. No soul, no feeling [...] It leaves me absolutely cold [...] By the time I picked up a guitar, it felt like everything had already been done — and done better than I could do it. I mean, I loved Jimi Hendrix, but what's the point in trying to compete with someone who was already a master? I just didn't see any originality in copying that kind of playing. Also — and I've said this before — I was probably a bit lazy. I didn't have the discipline or the interest to learn scales or technique in that academic way. That route just didn't appeal to me. So, I went the experimental path because it felt more creative and more authentic to who I was. I never even considered doing it the normal way — I was just following what felt interesting to me."

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Ash created a new band, Ashes and Diamonds, comprising Paul Denman on bass, formerly of Sade, and Bruce Smith the former drummer with The Pop Group, Rip Rig + Panic and Public Image Ltd.

Ash joined Jane's Addiction on stage at Madison Square Garden in 2022 to perform Jane's Addiction's "Jane Says" and "Slice of Life" by Bauhaus.

Love and Rockets reunited in 2023 for a short reunion tour of the United States between May and June 2023, making their first performance since 2008 at Pasadena's annual Cruel World Festival at the Rose Bowl.

Ash reunited with Kevin Haskins and Diva Dompe under the Tones on Tail moniker at Cruel World in May 2024.

Ashes and Diamonds had begun to record in 2020 but due to the pandemic, the release was postponed. Ashes and Diamonds released their debut album, Ashes and Diamonds are Forever on October 31, 2025 via Cleopatra Records to outstanding reviews.

Poptone (Daniel Ash, Kevin Haskins, Diva Dompé) performing at the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco.

Discography as band member Bauhaus discography Tones on Tail discography Love and Rockets discography The Bubblemen Discography

Solo discography Studio albums Year Album details 1990 Coming Down Label: Beggars Banquet Records 1992 Foolish Thing Desire Label: Beggars Banquet Records 2002 Daniel Ash Label: Psychobaby Records 2005 Come Alive Label: Psychobaby Records 2014 Stripped Label: GO! Studio [Reissued 2016 by MVD / Main Man]2017Freedom I Love

Singles, EPs and promos Year Album information 1990 "This Love" Label: Beggars Banquet Records 1991 "Walk This Way" Label: Vertigo Records 1992 "Get Out of Control" Label: Columbia Records/Sony BMG/Beggars Banquet Records 1993 "Here She Comes" Label: Columbia Records/Sony BMG/Beggars Banquet Records 2000 Daniel Ash EP Label: Self Released 2000 "Burning Man" Label: Plastik Records 2001 "Spooky" Label: Psychobaby Records 2002 Burning Man x6 + 1 Label: Psychobaby Records 2009 "Rock On (Dirty Queen)" Label: Arsenal Records 2009 It's A Burn Out EP iTunes Exclusive 2010 The Soldiers of Everyday Label: Self Released 2011 The Push iTunes Exclusive 2011 That's What She Said iTunes Exclusive

Compilations Year Album information 2013 Anthology Label: Cherry Red Contained his two albums for Beggars Banquet with B-sides and a bonus disc of collaborations, compilations tracks and more.

Other 1991 – "Heaven Is Waiting", a B-side from the "This Love" and "Walk This Way" singles, was included on the Beggars Banquet Records compilation album Money Is Not the Answer 2000 – "Trouble" from Daniel Ash appeared in the 2000 film American Psycho 2001 – Ash provided vocals and guitar on the title track from DJ Keoki's album Jealousy 2003 – Ash recorded a version of "Fever" for the FX (TV network) program Nip/Tuck, which was included on the Nip/Tuck: Original TV Soundtrack 2004 – "Come Alive" from Daniel Ash appeared in the role-playing video game Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2008 – Ash provided guitar on several tracks from the rock opera film Repo! The Genetic Opera. 2017 – Ash remixed the track "maniera" for sukekiyo's Adoratio album, released in June.