{"id":29595,"date":"2016-04-28T07:00:41","date_gmt":"2016-04-27T21:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=29595"},"modified":"2016-04-26T19:12:36","modified_gmt":"2016-04-26T09:12:36","slug":"dj-ashba-sixx-m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2016\/04\/dj-ashba-sixx-m\/","title":{"rendered":"Dj Ashba of Sixx: A.M."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sixx<\/a>
\n\u201cIt\u2019s cool because we look at ourselves as a new band so to speak and we know we\u2019re gonna have to roll up our sleeves and work our way back up to the top again and that\u2019s exciting for us. So yeah we couldn\u2019t be more pumped about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Release: It\u2019s a universal truth that true artists will always busy themselves creating, and that truly great artists will always find an audience for that work. It is little surprise then that despite storied individual histories playing in and working with some of the most iconic bands ever to have stalked the planet, Nikki Sixx, Dj Ashba and James Michael collectively known as SIXX:A.M.\u2014find themselves on the brink of unleashing yet another rock monster onto a burgeoning fan-base, that has already taken them firmly to their hearts.<\/p>\n

In Las Vegas and getting ready to open his first retail shop, Dj stopped to give us a call to talk about the new Sixx:A.M. album \u2018Prayers For The Damned Vol. 1\u2019, its creation, the growth and evolution of the band, touring, guitars, and plans for the future\u2026<\/p>\n

What has \u2018Prayers for the Damned\u2019 allowed you to do that you haven\u2019t been able to do on the band\u2019s last three releases?<\/strong>
\nYou know what we did differently on this first of all we went into the studio with the intent to do a double album, not like typical double albums we wanted to write two standalone albums that complimented each other but to be released in the same year but at different times. That way we get one out, we let the fans absorb the music that we did and then hit them with another one. It\u2019s kind of the way I designed both album covers and I designed the album covers the same way we wrote the music and that is, if you never saw or heard Volume 2, Volume 1 tells a complete story beginning, middle and end and same with the artwork, but if you took both albums and put them side by side there\u2019s a bigger picture, they both go together and same thing with the music, so that\u2019s one thing we did different. Number two we brought in our live band for the first time ever on an album, so what you hear on these records is a lot more aggressive and heavier; that is exactly what our live band sounds like. When we did our last tour we felt that we really wanted to capture that on an album and I feel like we did that.<\/p>\n

I feel like with this record the band has truly found its footing and clicked in to place, has it taken a little while to get to that point?<\/strong>
\nYeah you know because we never wanted to be a band, we were just best friends, still are but at the time best friends that all produced albums, we all wrote songs, we got together just as song writing partners and you know what we thought let\u2019s just bring Nikki\u2019s diary to life musically and I remember in the beginning we were just going to put the CD in the book when you bought it and there were going to be different singers on each song, we were never going to be a band, ever. \u2018Life Is Beautiful\u2019 obviously blew up the charts and I had no idea in the beginning that James could sing, I worked with him for many years but I just knew him as a great producer but when we were going to get all these different singers he sent over a track called \u2018Dead Man\u2019s Ballet\u2019 and it was the first song I ever heard him since and I looked at Nikki and said why look any further? *laughs* It was just one of those things we were just so jaw dropped by his voice, and then we had him sing on everything, but still we wanted to be a band. Many years later, next year it will be the ten year anniversary of \u2018Heroin Diaries\u2019 and yeah we\u2019ve definitely evolved but we\u2019ve always had that Sixx:A.M. sound without even trying, it\u2019s just one of those things where we get together and that\u2019s what comes out of the three of us and it\u2019s a really special thing, it\u2019s a very magical thing when you\u2019re in the room watching us write together, it\u2019s pretty cool.<\/p>\n

With Nikki no longer having Motley Crue duties and yourself out of Guns N Roses and with your full attention now on SIXX A.M. has this in any way helped shape the new album the way it has?<\/strong>
\nAbsolutely, it\u2019s lit a whole new fire beneath all three of us, it\u2019s exciting, because \u2018This Is Gonna Hurt\u2019 is one of my favourite albums it\u2019s really guitar heavy driven but it was the darkest period because we knew we weren\u2019t going to be touring on that and we knew that it was hard. Now when we wanted to write the double album knowing holy shit, I just left Guns, Motley\u2019s coming to an end it\u2019s exciting, we\u2019re actually going to be a band for the first time and commit and it\u2019s really exciting. It\u2019s cool because we look at ourselves as a new band so to speak and we know we\u2019re gonna have to roll up our sleeves and work our way back up to the top again and that\u2019s exciting for us. So yeah we couldn\u2019t be more pumped about it. \u2018Rise\u2019 is such an anthem in a music scene really missing the big fist in the air motivational type songs, why was this the right time for a song like this? You know, it needed to be written. There\u2019s so much going on in the world and we\u2019re not a political band for sure, but we\u2019re very reflective, we\u2019re artists, we write about what we see, we write about things that we\u2019re living through and you have to be hiding under a rock not to know about the big election, it\u2019s the ugliest election ever in the history of elections and all the crap going on. It\u2019s just like it needed to be written because the power lays within the people you know? United we stand and it\u2019s one of those songs where we can make a change, we can make a difference, this is our world we need to stand up, it\u2019s not just an elite group of people that call the shots, we all come together and rise up for what we believe in. We\u2019re not telling anyone what to believe in, but whatever it is that you do believe in now is the time to let your voice be heard and make a difference in the world, so it needed to be said and I\u2019m glad that it\u2019s really connecting with people and that\u2019s because we wrote it from the heart and it\u2019s been number one at radio for the third week in a row as the most added song, we couldn\u2019t be more proud and more grateful for the radio stations that are believing in us and all the fans for calling in to the radio stations and requesting it, so it\u2019s a real thrill to see the song blowing up the charts.<\/p>\n

You mentioned before the album being heavier and there\u2019s another song on the album that stands out for me, \u2018When We Were Gods\u2019 is massive, is there a story behind that song?<\/strong>
\nWell you know \u2018When We Were Gods\u2019 and me and James will both tell you the same thing, it\u2019s one of those magical songs, it\u2019s very heavy guitars, very heavy riffs, but it\u2019s one of our favourites solos James and I, we were in there I remember and you look for these moments throughout your career when the right notes in a solo are going over the right chord combinations and it was just one of those beautiful moments where it\u2019s just what I was feeling at the time and it came out and it\u2019s just one of those solos that I\u2019ll be proud of until the day I die. It\u2019s a really great, great moment in the song and the song in general is just a great song, so I\u2019m really proud of that one.<\/p>\n

I have to ask as everyone else has been, when is Sixx:A.M. going to make it to Australia?\u00a0<\/strong>
\n*laughs* I would leave on a plane right now, that\u2019s how much I love it there, I have so many friends in Australia, I\u2019ve spent a lot of time there and man, I honestly don\u2019t have our schedule in front of me but I know it\u2019s a big priority for Sixx:A.M. all three of us, obviously we\u2019ve all three of us spent some time over there so we really cannot wait to get the band over there. You\u2019ve played with some absolute legends of Rock, do you ever pinch yourself and make sure it\u2019s all real? *laughs* Actually you know what, my sister stops me once in a while because I\u2019m really hard on myself and I never stop and kind of do that and her and my wife have been really good at stopping me and saying, man, take a look around look at all you\u2019ve done and it\u2019s really hard because I\u2019m always three years ahead of myself and lately I\u2019ve stopped and smelled the roses a little more since I\u2019ve gotten married and I\u2019m really grateful and proud of what I\u2019ve done, it\u2019s cool. I think in my mind and my heart the best years are yet to come and we\u2019re just getting warmed up and I really believe we\u2019re gonna do some pretty great things in this world before it\u2019s all over. Four albums and almost ten years in for SIXX A.M. now, what do you see as the biggest evolution that\u2019s taken place within the band over this time? I don\u2019t know I think it\u2019s happened over time, we were such great friends when we started this and now we\u2019re family, I think lately the biggest evolution is when we all decided that the fans are relentless, they won\u2019t take no for an answer, we tried not to be a band. It\u2019s a really rare situation with Sixx:A.M. most bands who have number one songs time and time again the head out on tour, we were the one band that kept putting out hits and not touring. Not because we didn\u2019t want to but because we had other things we were committed to and had to do, so the fans are the reason we\u2019re a band today, they absolutely wouldn\u2019t accept that this is just a labour of love project and they never stopped believing in it and for some reason the songs we write they really connect to and God bless them. So now it\u2019s our turn to go wow, thanks for hanging in there for ten years and now we\u2019re gonna go out and do what we\u2019ve always wanted to do and that\u2019s tour, we have a huge catalogue of songs now even though we look at ourselves as a new band we have an incredible catalogue of songs to choose from, so it\u2019s going to be a great show and a fun tour and we\u2019re really excited to get out there.<\/p>\n

I have to say that I am in love with your signature series Schecter guitar, it\u2019s a thing of beauty, did that help to make the record into what it was?<\/strong>
\nIt actually was used on the record quite a bit, the prototype as we were still designing it and tweaking it, yeah but man, I abused that thing on the record and we got it perfect. Schecter is by far the best guitar company that I\u2019ve ever had the opportunity of working with and that was what I was looking for, a solid partner that understood the art and really believed in the artist. Before I joined Guns and I was playing Ernie Balls I always had the Floyds, my true style of playing is much different than Slash\u2019s, right? I took the gig and as a songwriter and producer it\u2019s a no brainer to do that and to play that gig it\u2019s a Les Paul and Marshall, that\u2019s the sound of Guns, but that\u2019s not the sound or style of me in Sixx:A.M. So when I left Guns my number one priority was to find a guitar company, a partner that really wanted to work with me and truly help me design the ultimate Dj Ashba guitar, the ultimate guitar that would get through any Sixx:A.M. song I ever wrote or played, so it really is designed around my style of playing.<\/p>\n

Some of the sounds it makes, like on \u2018Belly of The Beast\u2019 you\u2019ve got it down, alright\u2026<\/strong>
\nYeah that song was a lot of fun and actually that was the very first song that we wrote for the album and it was just one of those vibey songs that we had gotten together and that song was written in four hours.<\/p>\n

I did a video interview with Sebastian Bach last year where he said he needs to call you about a song, just following up, did he call you?<\/strong>
\n*laughs* Yeah we talk now and then, he\u2019ll call me, I\u2019ll call him, he\u2019s been wanting this song that I wrote for Axl that Axl never recorded and he\u2019s been wanting this song *laughs* maybe I\u2019ll give it to him one day, I think his voice would sound killer on it and he heard one of the songs that I demoed up and he really loved it, so maybe one day we\u2019ll do it together or something for fun.<\/p>\n

Lastly, let\u2019s look ahead to the future, so finish this sentence for me, by the end of 2016 the one thing that SIXX A.M. wants to do is…<\/strong>
\nWin a Grammy\u2026 *laughs* was that a good answer? *laughs* It\u2019s been a big goal of mine to win a Grammy and I think Sixx:A.M. is the perfect band for that, I think the songs we write we really do write from the heart and the songs really run deep in our veins and I know they cut deep in other people\u2019s veins, so hopefully it would be cool but if not it\u2019s not the end of the world, maybe one day we\u2019ll get nominated and win a Grammy. *laughs*<\/p>\n

Well the album is a monster, so much so that I need part two right now, so I can\u2019t wait to hear it and to see you down here\u2026<\/strong>
\n*laughs* I appreciate that so much, we all thank you. Thank you so much.<\/p>\n

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Essential Information<\/strong><\/h3>\n

From:<\/strong>\u00a0Los Angeles, CA, USA<\/p>\n

Band Members:<\/strong>\u00a0Nikki Sixx – Bass, Dj Ashba \u2013 Guitar, James Michael – Vocals.<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong>\u00a0http:\/\/www.sixxammusic.com<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n

Latest Release:<\/strong>\u00a0Prayers For The Damned Vol 1 (Out April 29 \u2013 Sony Music Australia) – Check out our review HERE<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Apple<\/a><\/p>\n

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