Tim Wheeler from Ash: our headmaster was really cool, he let us put on gigs in the school and charge 20p admission

Explaining how the Downpatrick band managed to balance being both rock stars and grammar school students at Down High, Tim, who is celebrating 30 years of Ash alongside Mark Hamilton and Rick McMurray, said: “We always tried to do the band stuff on half term breaks or school holidays. Even in that gap between Christmas and New Year we went off and recorded ‘Kung Fu’ and ‘Angel Interceptor’ one year. I think we recorded ‘Girl From Mars’ during an Easter break.

"The only time we took time off school was for a two week tour with Elastica. Our manager had to come over from London to meet our headmaster to ask for permission. He was bricking it outside the office.

“I think one time we got let out of school early to record a session for Across The Line (BBC NI radio show). We showed up in our school uniforms.”

Tim said their parents and principal Jack Ferris made sure the boys didn’t rush things: "Our parents had to sign the record deal for us because we were too young. They said we'll sign this for you as long as you finish your A-levels.

"I'm kind of glad I did because it bought us a bit of time, it stopped things kicking off early, it meant we were a bit more ready for it.”

He added: “Our headmaster was really cool. He allowed us to play our first gig in the school. We charged 20p in, there was three or four bands we managed to get to play.

“Our school friends have good memories of the gigs in the school. We were terrible but it gave us the first chance of being on stage.

"We had a band called Vietnam before Ash – that was me, Mark and three other fellas. We'd have been 13 or 14 when we did the first gigs in the school as Vietnam. I think we did an Ash one as well.

"I remember we did one for Comic Relief – the only comedy was how bad we were.”

He added: “When we were starting out there weren't many places who would let us play so we had to get together with other bands and book community halls. We used to play in a pub in Belfast called The Penny Farthing, we'd get the bus up and play there.”

Tim said his band took inspiration from another local group: “Therapy? had paved the way for us, they showed it could be done by a Northern Irish band.

“We got a lucky break through a friend who sent our demo to Bad Moon press agency who did Nirvana and bands like that. The guy who he sent it to, his ears pricked up because his wife was from Downpatrick. He gave our demo a chance.

"It was crazy. We ended up in the magazines we were buying when we were at school. We advertised for our first drummer through Kerrang.”

Thirty years on, Tim touched on the band’s longevity: “If you're going to have a long career you're going to have plenty of downs along with the ups. You have to be good mates, you have to have a good band dynamic to get through it.”

Girl From Mars immortalised in mural

Discussing what has become the band’s signature tune and also the inspiration for a mural in their home town – ‘Girl from Mars’ – Tim said: "I remember when we were writing it being excited about it. I'd no idea it could be a hit. At some of the early gigs friends would single it out, these were mates who I trusted their taste.

“When we got management they had a feeling it was a hit, so we didn't record it for ‘Trailer’ (the band’s mini-album released in 1994).

"They didn't want to release it when we were at school because they thought we wouldn't be able to promote it. We kept it back for two years then it came out two weeks after we left school.”

Coinciding with 30 years of Ash, a mural was recently painted in their home town celebrating ‘Girl From Mars’ by Irish artist Friz.

Tim said: “The cool thing is we didn't know anything about it happening until someone sent a picture as it was half done. My jaw dropped. I was really touched.”

Tim lives in London with his girlfriend Julia and her 10-year-old daughter Romy. Earlier this year the couple recently celebrated the birth of son George, who Tim says gives him an incentive to leave the recording studio on time.

He said: “We're working on a new album. I'm going to the studio a lot earlier than I did in the old days, then I can get home and hang out with the baby in the evening.”

Band have affinity with Star Wars

When Ash first burst on the wider music scene in the mid nineties they made no secret of their love of Star Wars.

Tim said: "Star Wars was in a bit of a lull when we started out. It was before it came back strong with new films (starting in 1999) and also before the reissued versions. Maybe if we'd been starting at a different time we may not have banged on about it as much. It was a little bit more of a cult thing at that moment.”

Ash’s ‘1977’ album, released in 1996, begins with the sound of a Tie Fighter and the band also covered ‘Cantina Band’ from the original movie. In 2005, their song – ‘Clones’ – appeared in the ‘Star Wars: Republic Commando’ video game.

Tim said: “Because of the Star Wars game we got to do some cool stuff – we played a gig at Industrial Light and Magic (George Lucas’s visual effects company) and we stayed at Skywalker Ranch (Lucas’s workplace). Those were some really good perks."

The band also had a song – ‘Lose Control’ – on the first edition of the popular Gran Turismo racing game series in 1998: “That was the first really big game that had full tracks on it, not pre-programmed music.

“We got a really good royalty rate on that. The money from that kept us going when our second album didn't do very well.”

Asked if there such a thing as too much Star Wars given that the original three films have exploded into a galaxy of prequels, sequels and televisual add-ons, Tim said: “There seems to be hits and misses, but the hits are worth it, The Mandalorian was worth it."

Ash played the Ulster Hall on December 16 for a gig to mark their 30th anniversary.