We sat down with our friend Ash Tustain to chat about the brand new Dig Lazarus album, his new outlook on music, and his recent solo album. Check it all out below!

It’s this weekend that the Albums out?

Yes, it’s Saturday.

It’s come around really fast actually.

It’s really weird, no one really releases anything on a Saturday. We wanted to do like a launch party type thing, so it was just easier to do it then. And it’s weird because we have no one backing this one, it’s just been us doing it. So we’ve got no one saying, “well you’re doing that wrong”, or “you should be doing this”. So, we’re just trying to find our feet a little bit.

Have you got a launch party on Saturday then for it?

There is one on Saturday in our home town which is weird because there is this like old pub which has this dirty, dingy room. It’s where we used to play when we were just starting, when we were eighteen. We’ve not played there for probably eight or nine years, so it’ll be fun, it’ll be cool. Just to go back there, just to do it.

How does it compare to your last one? I know you’ve described it as your swamp era!

Yeah it definitely, well because we’ve not got anyone telling us what we can or can’t do per se. We’re kind of edging on the tongue in cheek type thing. But, we are trying to…I think we just got to a point where we just have fun with it and not try and take ourselves too seriously. Because, literally everyone does take themselves seriously. There are not many bands that you look at and think they’re just kinda having fun. So, yeah, we’ve definitely kind of jumped in with both feet into this like, swamp, rock type. We’ve always kind of been into the groove riff thing like we’ve never really mastered it. Well, I think we did a little bit on the last record, but is wasn’t the way we really wanted it if you know what I mean. Where as, because we’ve had free roam with this, we’ve kind of gone real stoner, swampy. I don’t know, just like…you know when you smell something that really bad, that’s the look. So yeah, we’ve definitely jumped into that. It’s definitely the sound of the album.

I remember way back the last time we did an interview, you were on about kind of…it wasn’t long after the first album had come out. You were on about doing a heavier EP. So I assume that’s kind of lead into this album a little bit?

Definitely man, yeah I remember talking to you about it then. The plan was to jump straight back into the studio and then, well things happen. We all have jobs and I think that goes back to my other point, and just do it for a laugh. Have fun with it. You don’t have to have all these check points in before you release something.

I think what we were trying to do with the last album was, we did it and that was great. We kinda did everything we wanted to do. I was just so eager to get something out again and do the whole thing again. Which meant I didn’t actually get to enjoy all of that last album rotation. So when we all went back to work and started grafting again to make money to do the next EP, it kind of fell a bit flat, and it didn’t seem like the right time to do it. I was kinda dead excited,but the other two were completely right in being like, we should probably stop for a little bit. So, I’m glad that we waited until now to release something. I think if we had done that EP that I told you about, that was heavier. It would have been different to this stuff…every time you record it’s a learning process, if you don’t learn something when you go to the studio, or every time you record with someone, then you’re doing it wrong. You need to learn and get better every time. We definitely have, so I’m kinda glad that we did delay and waited until now to do the heavier stuff.

Was it written mainly as just a two piece?

Yeah, it was written with that in mind. We got so many messages about Atti… and you know when you do something and to you in your head it’s funny and it makes sense? I’m taking everything now as a learning experience. It made complete sense to me, but maybe that’s because I knew what was going on. But we’d teased for a long time that he didn’t want to be in the band anymore. And there’s no bad blood, which is what everyone wants there to be. But then I did this video that I thought was hilarious that was like saying goodbye to Atti with this black and white picture of him. Most people’s attention span is to watch like 10 seconds and then skip on. So people watched that and saw candles and him and black and white and thought ‘well, he’s died’. So we were getting asked and messaged like ‘what happened to Atti, has he passed away?’. Heck, there were people in the industry who we never speak to who never want to talk to us, and all of a sudden they’re like ‘oh, what’s happened?’. I’m not going to tell you, you haven’t wanted to speak to me for like three years! It was funny that that went so far! We’re best friends and still are.

He did play a bit on the album. But most of the songs were written knowing we were going into this new phase of the band.

Are you planning on playing as a two piece for now too?

Yeah, just the two of us. We’re really enjoying it! It’s definitely a challenge. I’m not a gearhead, I just plug in and play, I don’t want a shit load of pedals, so I’m running a bass amp and a guitar amp and try and click in on the bass. I really didn’t want a backing track. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but if you’re gonna do it, do it well, and I don’t think we’d do it well. Sometimes we start at the completely wrong tempo, so trying to play along to a click… we pride ourselves on being a live band and we want to be as live and authentic as we can.

We had a lot of people ask if we wanted them to come and sit in until we found a permanent bass player. We had a couple of conversations and were very grateful that people want to be in the band, but ultimately with the point we’re at now, we’re such close friends it would feel really weird doing it with someone else. I’m not saying in the future we might think differently, but right now we’re happy with just doing the two. It sounds cool, it sounds different. The more I listen to it, the more I wish I could step out from it a second and stand out the front a little. From where I stand, it gets you.

Playing a guitar through a bass rig is well cool. I’d urge anyone to go and get a rig, or come and plug into the one I’m using!

Have you got quite a busy rest of the year?

We wanted the first gig back to be this album launch. Then we’re booked up with festivals over the next couple of weeks. Then we have September and October off, and then we’re off on tour with SKAM. That’ll be cool, and we’ll have released another video by then and that’ll be the official album tour. We’ve just had some more dates added too. That’s pretty much the whole month of November.

I imagine it’s a different approach writing for your solo stuff compared to Dig?

Yeah, it has been. It’s odd because I don’t really sit down to write a song for anything specifically. But there were definitely songs that weren’t right for Dig, and then they’ve kinda turned into my own songs. But then that’s kinda egged me on with this narrative on this solo album where I ended up writing this whole album about me moving from Leicester to Newcastle and having this whole new life.

I spent so many years in interviews not wanting to talk about lyrics and stuff. I either took things too seriously or I made everything a joke, which isn’t really fair to people. So I just wanted to be honest and write a solo record there was no pressure on. It was scary to start, to write these songs that are so open and personal. They would never be Dig songs. Just to do it for me, and the hope that people kinda got a little more of me, a piece of me, the whole point of the album!

But yeah, it is different to the stuff with Dig, especially now with the swamp thing going on. It definitely takes different lyrical turns. The solo stuff is serious things that happen in my life, while Dig stuff now is little more tongue in cheek. I think it helped me write better lyrics for Dig.

Are you writing some more stuff already?

Oh yeah, definitely. I’m really enjoying the solo stuff at the minute. People seem to really dig it, which I’m so happy about and grateful for. I didn’t know how it would go, if I was gonna take a load of Dig fans or have to start again. Luckily I’ve done both; I’ve collect some whole new fans that have then gotten into Dig, or vice versa. It’s fantastic, and I really appreciate the support from the Dig fans a lot. I released a live vinyl before the album to basically afford to record the album, and the response was amazing.

So yeah, my plan is to carry on with it [solo stuff]. That last album, I keep referring to it as my poor man’s Dave Grohl; I wanted to go in and play all the instruments. It sounds great, and I’m glad that we got to do that. That doesn’t necessarily work so well live. Some booking agents find it confusing to have the solo album with all the instruments, but live I only play the guitar. I just wanna make a newish album or EP that’ll be a little less… not chaotic but less instruments, a little more stripped back.

I mean, I’m always writing stuff. I’m very excited to get another solo effort out. I speak to a lot of people who are either starting a band or don’t know where to go with their band, and what I’ve learnt over the last two years if you don’t need all these things ticked before you release something. I sat on my solo album for a couple of months and I put myself off from recording anything because I didn’t have anyone behind me or a tour. Then I put it out and then the gigs started to come. I wouldn’t get replies from managers or booking agents, and then suddenly they would start to come through. Don’t let things like that stop you from doing it, you know? Just get your music out. If you’re proud of it, put it out!