Ashes Divide

Billy Howerdel works from intuition, a modus operandi which has defined his career, guiding the move from his days in theatrical lighting around New York and New Jersey to his work as a guitar technician. Billy worked with a number of high profile rock bands, ultimately leading to his creative breakthrough as the songwriter/guitarist/producer for alt-rock giants, A Perfect Circle. Going a step further, Billy’s uses his intuition to guide his own music. He does so without the aid of formal musical training. In fact, in a recent interview about his new project “ASHES dIVIDE, Billy stated, “To this day, I still don’t remember certain notes on the guitar neck.” He started playing guitar in high school, and picked up the technical aspects quickly, roughly in six months. He recalls getting to the point that he didn’t want to learn much more. That was the moment when he realized, “I had to stop thinking about patterns and scales, and work from emotion”. He states, “The best way I can describe it is that it was like opening your eyes and then blurring them out of focus, that’s how I approach music.” The intuitive, unpredictable and yet immediately identifiable sound of Howerdel’s guitar work is at play in ASHES dIVIDE. This is his project – he’s the primary songwriter, musician, producer, and vocalist. It’s an album featuring a wide range of styles, moods, and thoughts, with echoes of early 80’s modern rock/Dark Wave mixed with shimmering guitars and heavy rock overtones. It’s both anthemic and subtle, an album that fans of The Cure to A Perfect Circle will certainly appreciate.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO INTERVIEW!