DJ Ashba

Ashba was born in Monticello, Indiana. He was raised in Fairbury, Illinois. His mother was a classically trained pianist who began teaching him about music as a toddler. Ashba performed in his first piano recital at the age of five, where he played Beethoven\'s "Ode to Joy". His next ambition was to learn the drums. He built kits out of garbage cans and pots and pans, until he finally acquired a real set at the age of six. When he was eight, he took a job detassling corn in the fields to earn enough money to buy his first guitar out of the Sears catalog. He would ride to his job in the corn fields on the bus with a guitarist from a local band, who would teach him a new chord each day on a fret that they had carved into the back of a bus seat with a pocket knife. For his 16th birthday, his father took him to his first concert: Mötley Crüe\'s Girls, Girls, Girls Tour. He later said, "The crowd, the music, the lights! It was the night I realized that no matter what it takes, I was gonna be on that stage one day." At the age of 18, he packed up his possessions and moved to Hollywood to begin his career.\n', ' Eventually, he joined the group Barracuda and toured with the band for two years. In 1996, he released his debut instrumental album titled, Addiction to the Friction. In 1998, Ashba joined BulletBoys as part of the band\'s new lineup. It was during his time with the band that he met Joe Lesté of Bang Tango. In 1999, he departed the group to start a new band with Lesté.\n', ' In 1999, Ashba began piecing together the band that would become Beautiful Creatures with Bang Tango frontman Joe Lesté. They added former Shake The Faith and No. 9 bassist Kenny Kweens and session drummer Anthony Focx, who performed in the 1992 film Wayne\'s World appearing as the drummer in Tia Carrere\'s club band. Focx became the group\'s second guitarist and Glen Sobel, another session drummer, was brought in to take over drums. This was the first lineup under the moniker Beautiful Creatures. Prior to naming, the band opened one show in Houston, Texas for Kiss during their reunion tour after Ted Nugent pulled out. The band then signed with Warner Bros. and released their self-titled debut Beautiful Creatures, produced by Marilyn Manson cohort Sean Beavan, on August 14, 2001. Album track 1 A.M. was featured in the soundtrack for the 2001 horror film Valentine and TV series Smallville. Ride was featured on the soundtrack to the 2002 remake of Rollerball. Despite appearing at Ozzfest, the Rolling Rock Tour the band was dropped from their label due to poor album sales. On February 13, 2002, the band announced that Ashba had left the group and the band found a replacement and continued on.\n', '