JENNY SCOTT talks to Ash drummer Rick McMurray and learns why the band prefer playing in small, intimate venues

IT'S a long way from Julia Roberts' Hollywood home to a February gig in Preston.

But that's the journey punk pop band Ash have found themselves taking as they've recorded and performed their new album Meltdown, due to be released in May.

"We prefer playing the smaller venues," explained drummer Rick McMurray.

"It's better for the fans and it makes sense to have a more intimate atmosphere."

Meltdown has a much heavier rock influence than any of its predecessors - something Rick says is entirely due to the US surroundings in which it was written and recorded.

"We spent nine months touring the States in 2002, which really kicked the band into shape.

"We recorded the album in Los Angeles, in the same studio where Nirvana did Nevermind. We ended up renting Julia Roberts' old house - where she lived when she did Pretty Woman.

"We actually got a really good deal on it. It had five bedrooms, the biggest TV and a swimming pool.

"We were on Rodeo Drive, in the heart of Beverly Hills. We were like the neighbourhood hillbillies!"

Despite enjoying such luxuries, Belfast-born Rick admits Ash spent most of their time in the studio.

However, he added: "It was much more relaxed recording this album, because for the first time we weren't living in the studio.

"And I love playing rock. It's definitely more fun for me to play, as a drummer. But the way we play our music isn't something we plan. It's just the way the songs come out."

Having been in existence since 1992 and with Rick, the oldest band member, still just 28, Ash have become known as music's youngest veterans.

They burst on to the scene in the mid-90s with their album 1977 and their music has always managed to maintain its fresh, edgy sound.

But that's not to say they haven't had their ups and downs.

The lead singer Tim Wheeler found it difficult to cope with the band's initial success.

"After we did the 1977 tour Tim was pretty stressed out and found it hard to adjust," said Rick.

"We talked about it and in the end we decided playing music was what we all still wanted to do."

And at one stage Ash even found themselves just £1,000 away from bankruptcy.

"It was in the two-and-a-half year gap between the Nu-Clear Sounds album and Free All Angels, when there was virtually no money coming in," recalled Rick. "We had a meeting with our manager and the accountant who told us we had to stop spending."

Despite such crises, Rick can't imagine Ash's laid-back attitude changing when the band members turn 30.

The line-up - which also includes bass guitar Mark Hamilton and singer Charlotte Hatherley - still have much in common, not least their well-documented love of Star Wars.

"I can't imagine being in a band where there's lots of tension," grinned Rick.

"If you have the right formula, don't change it. The way things are going at the moment, I can't see it changing that much."

Catch Ash on Friday, February 27 at Preston Mill. For tickets call (01772) 883617.