ASH GRUNWALD | Giving back and paying it forward with new album launch
With the current climate of the music industry making it difficultfor independent musicians to record, release and market music to the standard of major commercial recording artists, Ash Grunwald’s forthcoming release would not have been possible if it wasn’t for the support of his fans through the crowd funding phenomenon ‘Pledge Music’.
It is almost impossible not to be transported into Ash’s world, where the relationship between a grinding guitar and a stony, rock-strewn voice is all that is needed to convey absolute exhilaration. - Jmag
The campaign will continue to run until the album release on September 25th and gives fans the opportunity to pledge on unique experiences and exclusive offers including meet and greets, music lessons, VIP packages, intimate house concerts and more! With a desire to be socially and morally responsible and conscious, Ash Grunwald will donate 5% of all profits raisedby his Pledge Music campaign towards 350.org, an organisation working towards building a global climate movement to eradicate the use of fossil fuels and to create a sustainable future.
Produced by Nick Didia (Pearl Jam/Springsteen/Rage Against the Machine) from Studio 301 in Ash’s home town of Byron Bay, NOW is set to stand as a sonic landmark in Ash Grunwald’s career as a respected Australian roots musician. Grunwald delves into a more experimental and modern approach explaining his intention was to create a “modern psychedelic, sci-fi, samp rock, blues album, if there is such a thing. Ha!” Drawing inspiration from collaborators Ian Peres (Wolfmother) on synth, Pete Wilkins (formerly Blue King Brown) and of course Nick Didia, Ash aimed to approach the album with a traditional power trio reminiscent of seminal acts such as Hendrix and Cream.
“I wanted to go in there with a classic power trio like Hendrix but use a synth player instead of a bass, Ian Peres brought that and a whole lot more playing a fair bit of rock organ in there, which is something that he honed whilst playing in Wolfmother. In the studio we used a whole lot of our own effects, for example, I had the same vocal effect that I use when I play live. While doing vocal takes, I had a guitar delay pedal on a music stand that I would tweak to the feel of the song if I got it wrong, we did it again.
The effects were very much part of the music, which Nick encouraged. Nick's approach was to basically coach the band into doing the best possible performances as he pulled the sound he was chasing in real time. The aim was for the end product to be as close as possible to be what we were delivering live in the studio.” – Ash Grunwald NOW will be released on September 24th prior to Ash’s 28 date national NOW tour – which includes Wickham Park Hotel (Islington) on Thursday, October 1st (tickets available through www.bigtix.com.au).
WIN WIN WIN! We have 5 copies of Ash’s soon to be released NOW CD to giveaway! To win, visit the GIVEAWAYS page at www.intouchmagazine.com.au. Register for intouch online and tell us why you’re Ash’s biggest fan! Good Luck!
