SIXX: A.M.'s DJ ASHBA On 'Modern Vintage': We Wanted To 'Make A Record Like The Ones We Used To Grow Up On'

November 5, 2014

BackstageAxxess.com recently conducted an interview with guitarist DJ Ashba of SIXX: A.M. and GUNS N' ROSES. You can now listen to the chat in the YouTube clip below. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On SIXX: A.M.'s new album, "Modern Vintage", drawing influences from a variety of '70s rock powerhouses:

Ashba: "That was kind of the whole theme and concept of this album. The whole inspiration was to go back and really dig into our past and the music collection and albums and bands we used to growing up as kids and, kind of, try to get inspired — re-inspired, I should say — by the spirit of what they were doing back then. Because when people like QUEEN and ELO and DAVID BOWIE made albums back then, they were epic, they were journeys, they were so incredible diverse. You look at them nowadays as rock records, but if you go back and really listen to them, they were more like… almost like operas. They really set you on such a crazy journey, and not one song was ever the same. So we really wanted to capture that spirit on 'Modern Vintage' and make a record like the ones we used to grow up on."

On "Modern Vintage" coming across as a more positive and upbeat album than the previous two:

Ashba: "The main thing is we didn't wanna make the same album twice, and we believe we've made three completely different albums. 'The Heroin Diaries' was very, very dark, lyrically and musically — a very dark album — whereas 'This Is Gonna Hurt' [was] super dark, but it was very aggressive; like, the way I approached all the guitar work, it was a very heavy, guitar-driven album. And this one is much more of a celebration. Although the underlying lyrical content is very dark still, we wanted to really venture into not only different bands that inspired us, but different genres of music that inspired us, such as ragtime and disco, and different things pulling from our past."

SIXX: A.M., which also features MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx and vocalist James Michael, released "Modern Vintage" on October 7 via Eleven Seven Music. SIXX: A.M. celebrated the CD release by playing its first full live show since 2009 the same night. The performance took place at the iHeart Theater in Burbank, California. The show, as well as a question-and-answer session with the band about the new album, its influences and the band's future plans was broadcast exclusively live on iHeartRadio and select Clear Channel radio stations.

SIXX: A.M. will embark on its first-ever headline tour in 2015, playing a limited number of dates across North America with special guest APOCALYPTICA.

Joining Sixx, Ashba and Michael on the road will be drummer Jeff Fabb (IN THIS MOMENT, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, FILTER),who also played on "Modern Vintage".

Find more on Dj ashba
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).