The beauty of Ashes To Ashes is their understanding that life's treasures can be found in the journey, and enjoyed in the results of relentless hard work and sacrifice. A melange of influences, the members of Ashes To Ashes joined forces to create a unique rock band who's final touches have been added by live performance experience, and the continual production of true music, banging out 6 independent discs in 7 short years of existence. These musicians join the rich lineage of rock bands that are essentially dysfunctional families who are unfathomably, yet brilliantly held together by the mathematician's "X"
Ashes To Ashes songs are an ode to grow beyond your immediate impressions of the way things are. The end result being a better grasp of one's state of self-awareness and understanding. Singer Andrew C. Bell says, "Any true pursuit is difficult at times and will entail struggle and sacrifice, whatever your goal in life may be. With Ashes To Ashes, the goal was simplicity. We aim to present the music and emotions in a manner unencumbered by too much complexity."
Ashes To Ashes passion for music is powerfully presented in the live arena, driven by the dynamic rhythm section of bassist Edd Beeler and drummer Dave Campbell. While possessing the ability to assault the audience with raw energy and physicality, it is also Ashes To Ashes intention to move the listener from the inside out - to provoke them emotionally and cerebrally.
Singer/guitarist Andrew C. Bell and bassist Edd Beeler met at the notorious Brother's Grimm Night Club in suburban Pittsburgh, PA, both fresh out of college, green and ready for action. Beeler described the meeting, "We had a conversation after the band's set, I was looking to join an act, he was looking for a new bassist. It turned into a three-day party, and we ended up jamming in Andy's basement. I literally walked into the band at this club, and we've been at it ever since!" Two years later, performing with a drummer they were looking to unload, Bell and Beeler ran into a rather loud gentleman at a club who proclaimed, "I'm going to be your new drummer, don't worry about it," and drummer Dave Campbell fell into the fold.
Strangely, for Beeler, the working class surroundings of Pittsburgh offered the group a challenge. "We've tried everything to change the blues of Pittsburgh, but it still often wanted to defeat us with mediocrity. It's a slow town for being large, but in time, it has come around to understand our great music."
It is within that nightclub and concert hall scene that Ashes To Ashes has honed their pure rock sound. Constantly at odds with the heartland sound and alterna-copies of area bands, Ashes To Ashes harder and harder work turned to gold, with one CD after another churning out of their new studio. While clearly a rock band, Ashes To Ashes did not escape the influences of the pop radio, giving birth to their occasional use of dance rhythms and electronics. The travels of Ashes To Ashes have taken them all over the east coast, and they show no signs of being unhappy about that situation. Beeler explains, "We're America's next great rock band, and there is so much in that. We are genuinely excited about traveling the country and the world, playing our music, and gaining greater insight into this society."
It would seem fair to say, by virtue of their individual and collective attitudes and drives, that an almost nomadic party quality resides at the heart of Ashes To Ashes. In a sense, you could see them as perennial hard working individualists that live life like 21st century hobos. Perhaps this goes some ways to explaining the band's underlying themes of self-confrontations, transformation, evolution, and acceptance.
