Tim Wheeler

About: “I’ve been using the Tronical tuning system on two of my favourite guitars for the last year. Being a lead singer and guitarist, it has really made life easy during the live shows. Now, In between songs I no longer have to lose contact with the audience while I tune up. I just let the Tronical do it’s magic while I talk. It’s nice having more space on the pedalboard too due to not needing a tuner down there. And although I don’t use many alternate tunings, I can see myself experimenting with them a lot more in the studio now as the Tronical makes it so quick and easy with it’s multiple presets. A genius upgrade for your guitar!”

 

Timothy James Arthur Wheeler  (born 4 January 1977), known as Tim Wheeler, is a Northern Irish guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist for the rock band Ash. He formed the band with Mark Hamilton and they were originally called “Vietnam”. Wheeler can be seen playing a Gibson Korina Flying V in almost all of Ash’s music videos.

He has written nearly all of their notable pieces such as “Oh Yeah”,  “Shining Light”, “Girls from Mars”, “Kung Fu” or “Goldfinger”.

In September 2014, Tim announced the release of his first solo album, “Lost Domain”, a heartfelt and emotional response to the loss of his father George to dementia. “Lost Domain” will be released on Sony Red on 3 November 2014, with a portion of the proceeds being donated to The Alzheimer’s Society, a charity Tim has worked closely with since his father’s death in 2011.

“Lost Domain” is an album in which Tim battles to come to terms with his loss, charting his father’s rapid decline into illness, his death and the tumultuous effect that it had on his life over the course of 11 songs. As Tim explains: “After losing my father to dementia, I felt the need to personally do something to fight Alzheimer’s. My friend Neil Hannon from The Divine Comedy’s father also has Alzheimer’s so we put on a concert in Belfast in November 2011 with The Divine Comedy, The Undertones and Ash to raise funds and awareness for the Alzheimer’s Society. Since then I’ve had close links with The Alzheimer’s Society and this year was involved with the Dementia Friends campaign. I’m proud to continue to support them and raise more awareness with the album Lost Domain.”

Recorded in Ash’s New York studio, Tim played almost everything himself, roping in musician friends when he needed a hand: Andy Burrows formerly of Razorlight and Fred Aspelin (Alberta Cross) each played some drums; Ilan Eskeri and Oliver Kraus helped with the string and brass arrangements performed by the London Metropolitan Orchstra; Leanne Macomber from Ejecta and Neon Indian sang; and Moon Hooch’s Wenzl McGowen played saxophone. There’s even a sample of Tim’s dad’s piano playing on the album’s epic centerpiece Medicine.