The debut single from ASHBA, the solo project of former GUNS N’ ROSES and current SIXX:A.M. guitarist DJ Ashba, will feature a guest appearance by Cali Tucker, the daughter of country music singer LaCosta Tucker and niece of country music legend Tanya Tucker.
ASHBA‘s first full-length effort, which will include “different singers from different genres on every song,” will arrive later in the year via Edgeout Records/Universal Music Group/UMe.
On Friday, Ashba took to his Instagram to post a short behind-the-scenes clip and photos from the video shoot for his new single, and he included the following message: “ASHBA Update: Great news for The Abducted!! My debut single is coming soon featuring Cali Tucker on vocals! She crushes this track! Here’s a few clips/shots from ‘Behind The Scenes’ of my new video!! Directed by KasterTroy @level8studios So f’n excited, this has been an incredible 4 years in the making, and to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel is a feeling I can’t even begin to explain! #theabducted #fwpt #edm #rock #dancemusic Who’s ready for some new music????”
Although Ashba initially started work on the project as a collaboration with with his SIXX:A.M. bandmate James Michael — under the band name PYROMANTIC — it has since evolved into an Ashba solo venture, with Michael announcing in 2018 that he was stepping away from the group.
Ashba commented: “Over the past couple of years, I have found myself going through a musical transformation — almost an evolution, you could say. I allowed my creativity to flow freely without trying to restrain it to conform to a particular genre. I found the whole journey very liberating and also very exciting. It allowed me to experiment with new sounds and compositions that cross the boundaries of multiple music genres, to create something so unique and exciting that I cannot wait to share it with the world.”
Regarding his upcoming solo disc, DJ told Fox5‘s “More”: “I spent three years in the studio creating this new sound and I took Latin, pop, rock and EDM and I just threw it in a blender as a producer. I’ve done the rock thing, I’ve done that my whole life, but I wanted to create a new sound — something fresh, something anybody could latch on to. If you like Latin, there’s enough of that; if you like rock, there’s enough of it in there. So it’s a really cool, unique sound. I’m pretty proud of it.”
According to DJ, he will promote the LP by embarking on a tour on which he will be joined only by a VJ.
Last year, Ashba spoke to “Vegas Junkeez” about how his new project came together. He said: “It started off in the beginning, me and the singer from SIXX:A.M., James Michael, we had some time off and we started writing like we did. And it eventually evolved, and obviously, it went in a direction, and I pushed it really hard in a direction, and then James kind of got busy and went off [to do] his thing. But it’s evolved into this incredible thing that’s just awesome. And to have congas and horns… And it’s very worldly. It’s designed to make the body move. It’s full-on dance stuff, but it’s great.”
Calling his solo effort his “number one priority,” Ashba said that he is “so, so inspired” by the music that he recorded thus far. “This is everything I’ve ever wanted to do,” he said. “It’s kind of like your whole career, you learn all these things, you work with all these people… [This] is kind of just my labor of love — it’s something I truly wanna do for me — and it’s so gratifying to be able to be in a position…
“I’ve had an incredible career — thank god — but this new thing is just the next chapter,” he explained. “It’s really special, and it’s really a lot of fun. And it’s given me the freedom as a songwriter and a producer just to create any style… Basically, I don’t have to write for one vocalist or one voice… I can write not only for that, but multiple genres, as long as we keep it within kind of these wide walls that we call [ASHBA]. It’s finally my vision unfiltered. So it’s really cool. And I’m excited. I think people are really gonna like it. It’s something completely different than I’ve ever done — something new. It’s very creative. And me being a creative person, it’s the perfect, perfect thing for me, I guess — the perfect project.”
Photo credit: Michael Pool
