With a Strong set of material, the band took to stage for their successful live debut early March 2017. Two weeks later the band began their Wolverhampton, Metal to the Masses campaign, progressing to and winning the Grand - Final in late May 2017. Ashen Crown then delivered a hugely successful major-festival-debut, laying waste to a packed-out New Blood Stage at Bloodstock Festival 2017, thereby cementing them in the ranks of the Bloodstock Alumni. Gaining a reputation for an aggressive, energetic live show and earning respect from peers and promoters, the band have since gone on to guest at regional M2tM events, support the likes of King Parrot, Memoriam and Obituary... not to mention a string of very successful headline shows. This has no doubt helped secure slots on prestigious UK festivals such as Hammerfest, Uprising, HRH Metal Meltdown, Manor-Fest and Amplified. Delivering hard hitting tracks, filled with raw energy, the band certainly pride themselves on getting the pit well and truly moving wherever they play!
After working with Fat Angel Management at Bloodstock 2017, Ashen Crown teamed up with them once again in October 2018 for bookings an PR. This has proven to be a successful move which has helped push them on to greater things within the metal community. However, this wasn’t the only change for the band around this time, as founding member / Drummer Chris McGrath, stepped down from the AC drum throne, plunging the band into a cloud of uncertainty. After advertising for a replacement, one candidate stood out head and shoulders above the rest... Mike Ellis (former As The Sky Burned / Whispering Vault) was a perfect fit and after an impressive audition secured the AC drum throne.
Ashen Crown’s initial releases have been well received earning Radio / Podcast play across the UK, Europe and USA, with the debut single / video "Fall of Thine Eyes" being released to great reception in March 2018. However, a full release was long overdue. With a full album pretty much ready to go, Ashen Crown have been extremely busy throughout 2019 recording and finalising their debut album - "Obsolescence" (due for release 1/11/2019). Recorded with Neil Hudson of Krysthla at Initiate Audio and Media, the new album signifies the start of a new chapter for Ashen Crown...
1.Tell us your name and the band you
play for
I`m Ste Fowkes and play in UK Extreme
Metal band Ashen Crown.
2.Who made you want to pick up the
guitar
Dimebag Darrell was the player that
really made me want to start playing. I remember seeing the Walk
video on MTV at about 12 years old and being blown away by his riffs
and leads.
3.Are you self taught or did you take
lessons?
.
A bit of both really. I taught myself
as a kid and developed a half decent ear. I did however take some
lessons later on with a good friend of mine Steve Smith at Progress
Music Academy, just to get a bit more understanding in keys, scales
and basic theory.
4. Can you read music, Can you read
tab?
I can`t read notation, TAB is the go to
for me.
.
5.Do you feel like you have your own
sound / tone ?
Yeah sure, or I`d like to think so at
least. I dig heavy saturation but still like to maintain the clarity
of the notes and let things breathe a little. I always notice very
similar sub tones and nuances when playing through different rigs
too, so guess a fair bit comes from a players hands.
6.Tell us about your guitar ( brand
,model . year , color )
My main 2 guitars for Ashen Crown are
the Ibanez RGA Iron Labels. One grey / black fade and the other is
the surreal blue burst. Absolutely gorgeous guitars!
7.What about pickups? Passive or active
? Tell us about them
I use Seymour
Duncan passives at the minute. TB-6 Distortion in both my RGA`s in
the bridge and one has a SD Jazz and the other has a SD 59 in the
neck… may look to try out some Bare Knuckles though as I`ve heard
some great things on them for Metal tones especially.
8.Lets get into amplification, Same
drill brand , model , speakers etc
I`m currently using a Marshall, JVM
205H through a 1960a Cab (JCM900 Lead) with G12-75T speakers. The JVM
is a monster but so incredibly versatile, it does beautiful warm
cleans, dirty bluesy crunches, heavy as hell overdrives and searing
leads. Does everything I need from it and more. Speaker wise I prefer
the tighter bottom end on the G12-75T`s to the V30`s. I am looking at
trying out the X pattern soon though in the never ending search for
the perfect tone… Which of course is totally subjective. LOL.
.
9.Do you have a pedal board? Tell us
about that badboy
Yeah I`m just in the middle of re-doing
it to be honest. It`s quite basic really, but I do like a few trick
toys to play with. Aside from the tuner and gate, I have a Maxon 808
OD to boost the front of the JVM on my rhythm tone or dirty up the
odd clean, a vintage BOSS HM-2 for when I want to play some dirty
Swedish DM chainsaw stuff, a vintage BOSS CE-2 Chorus, an
Electro-Harmonix Neo Mistress flanger… then in the loop I have a TC
Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb and a Flashback Delay.
10..Now tell us your Dream Rig in
detail…..
My dream rig, that’s tough! I like so
many tones from different amps for different applications… So
probably an old Peavey 5150 and Mesa Triple Rectifier for my
Overdrives, a Marshall JCM 800 for my crunches (or add a HM-2) and
maybe a Vox AC or a Fender Bassman for my cleans.
11.What guitarist can you not stand?
Not sure there`s any one player I
can`t stand?.. anyone who`s ego outweighs their talent I guess??
12. Is tone more important or is
technique?
Both kinda go hand in hand for me, I`m
quite an average player in the grand scheme of things, so having half
decent technique and tone gets me by. Without decent level of quality
in either I guess it`d sound pretty bad. Ultimately, I think
technique would be most important.
13. Name your top 5 guitarist
In no order:
Dave Gilmour
Josh Middleton
Dimebag Darrell
Dave Mustaine
Jeff Hanneman
14.Who is the most overrated guitarist
Rather keep the one to myself to be
honest… LOL
15.Who would you like a one hour
private sit down lessons with anyone dead or alive?
It would have to be Dime`, the guy had
it all in my eyes… and as long as we could sink a few Blacktooth`s
after too!
Pretty kewl 🤘
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