The Ash frontman tells Pat Carty how he now feels he suffered a burnout after their first album
Tim Wheeler, of the band Ash, performing during the 2025 Heritage Live music festival in Essex. Photo: via Getty Images
Anyone with any sense joins a band as a teenager and dreams big. Once reality lashes out a few kicks, the majority get on with their lives but that’s not how it panned out for Downpatrick native Tim Wheeler.
Having served time with the poorly-named Vietnam (“the worst band in Co Down”), he formed Ash in 1992 with school pals Mark Hamilton and Rick McMurray at the ripe old age of 15. It was Wheeler’s blistering punk pop song writing that set them apart.