We're not really into the whole "let's pretend someone else wrote our biography so we can taut ourselves in the third person" biography. SO HI. We're Ashbury. We started about 3 years ago with some humble beginnings, practicing in the same garage that we still practice in today. By a stroke of luck, or fate, we were entered into a contest in 2006 that Bon Jovi put on called "Have a Nice Gig." We promoted from day until night, and came out on top of the local competition. We opened for a band that night that we had all been listening to since we were little kids, it was definitely a defining moment in our careers and lives.
After that we were entered into the larger scale competitions against all the other bands who had won their local "Have a Nice Gig." Yet again we found ourselves in shifts, at least 2 of us up at any given hour, trying to live our dream. After thinking we had lost the national competition, 94.1, our local top 40 station surprised us and Bon Jovi had personally invited us to come to Giant's Stadium to play with them again in front of a sold out crowd of 50,000. We can't begin to tell you how surreal it is, even 2 years later that we actually played that stage. 94.1 was also kind enough to put us on rotation for a few weeks, and we did really well, staying in the top ten almost the whole time we were on rotation. That opened up a lot of opportunities for us.
Eventually we were approached to have our music on some MTV shows. The night we signed the contract, we weren't aware that they'd air it so soon, but it was amazing to have one of our good friends call us and say she had heard our song Come On on The Hills that night. We later had more songs on Laguna Beach and Pimp My Ride. We bought ourselves a legitimate 15 passenger van after that and we went where we had always hoped life would take us, on tour. We finally made our way out to Wisconsin to write the new album and to use as a home base so we could tour on the east side of the country for a while. Originally we had planned this album themed around Ghosts, each one metaphorical. The title of the album was going to be called "The Things that Haunt You." So we wrote as many songs as we could, and recorded them into garage band and started sending them to our favorite producers. The first producer we contacted was Lou Giordano. We had all gone through some of our favorite bands looking to see who produced them. And Lou was on so many of these records including The Ataris, Taking Back Sunday, Goo Goo Dolls, and Sherwood (one of our all time faves). It was amazing not only that Lou got back to us, but he was genuinely excited about our new songs.
It took a lot of time before we figured out all of the logistics. But after amazing friends of ours Shane Valdez and Vickie Combs decided to Executive Produce the record,we were all set. We got to live in New York for a month and record with Lou at Millbrook Sound Studios. It was hands down one of the best months of our lives. The album came together and we decided to call it "Off With the Lights." So here we are, back in Las Vegas. We just got the Mixes back, and it's an understatement to say that we participated in something unique and amazing in making this record. Now were trying to get everything done so this stuff can get to your ears, and we can get back in that van and do some more touring. We're beyond thankful that we've got to come this far, and we can't wait to see what's ahead!