Former Arctic Monkeys touring guitarist is auctioning off gear and other memorabilia
Former Arctic Monkeys touring guitarist John Ashton is auctioning off gear and other memorabilia from his time with the band.
Ashton joined their touring operation around the release of their third album, 2009’s Humbug, when they rapidly jumped from clubs to arenas in the space of just two years. He left in late 2011 and later turned down an offer to rejoin their touring party due to the imminent birth of his now 11-year-old son.
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He had also performed with frontman Alex Turner in his side project The Last Shadow Puppets.
The items going under the hammer include merchandise such as pin badges, framed, signed tour posters and t-shirts. There’s lots of gear available too, including a Danelectro 12-string Varitone and a smorgasbord of effects pedals.
“I hadn’t realised I had so much, it’s all very evocative,” Ashton tells BBC Yorkshire.
He first saw the band play live at London’s 800-capacity Islington Academy 20 years ago, noting that they already seemed a “fully formed” live act despite being so young.
“I had never seen anything like that and I have never seen anything like it since,” he recalls. “It was sold out, everyone knew all the words.”
Ashton also says that his experience with the Sheffield indie rockers was “the time of his life”. The opportunity, he says, came up in a “very organic” way.
“It was just in passing,” he says. “Alex was like: ‘Oh, by the way, do you want to join the band on keyboards?’ I was like, ‘Well, of course!’
“I remember [drummer Matt] Helders had his headphones on, Alex nudged him and said: ‘He’s in. He just replied: ‘Oh, right’ and put his headphones back on.”
Ashton now runs a studio in Gateshead, where he lives, and is also a production manager at the Boiler Shop venue in Newcastle.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
