SIXX:A.M./Ex-GUNS N' ROSES Guitarist D.J. ASHBA: 'It Would Take A Lot For Me To Join Another Band At This Point'

During a May 28 appearance on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", former GUNS N' ROSES and SIXX:A.M. guitarist Darren James "D.J." Ashba was asked if he would ever consider joining a rock band again or putting one together. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Man, it's hard. It would take a lot for me to join another band at this point. I've been touring since I've been 13. I'm kind of at a point right now where GDM [Ashba's solo dance/rock hybrid, which he calls Guitar Dance Music] is so freeing because I don't have to really answer to anybody. Even my label, Universal, has been extremely supportive. They're just letting me be an artist. I'm a big priority there, but I have no A&R person. I can release whatever I want whenever I want. So the freedom of where I'm at in life right now and being able to just truly get my vision from my soul to the ears of the audiences — that's unfiltered. And I'm in a really unique position. So I don't think so."

Ashba continued: "I was in arguably one of the biggest bands in the world. [I am] very, very blessed to have rode that train and had the best time of my life. So I'm smart enough to know — I've seen guys, friends that join these huge bands, and sadly, some of 'em have just… Where do you go from there? I was smart enough to know I'm never gonna join a band in this lifetime bigger than where I've been or create a new band bigger than where we took SIXX:A.M., probably. So I'm at a really cool point in life where, let's try something new. Let's try something completely different. Create something that wasn't here before. That's kind of the road I took. And if I fail, it's all on me. If we can get this thing to crack, then awesome. It opens the door for hopefully other guitar players."

D.J. added: "I think this is just the beginning. We're right at the beginning of EDM… The new thing is becoming live performance with DJing, and you are seeing it happen. But six years ago when I started this, there was very, very, very little of that going on. So we're right at the forefront of kind of a… You can feel it in the air. It's changing. I think this thing's about ready to go. It's got a lot of eyes on it. I'm not gonna give up. So eventually they're gonna have to accept me."

Asked about any possible future activities for SIXX:A.M. and whether he is still in contact with his SIXX:A.M. bandmates, MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx and vocalist/producer James Michael, Ashba said: "Yeah, I talked to Sixx, like, two weeks ago. We talked for quite a while just to catch up. We're still all great friends. Me and James talk, but James lives in Ireland now. He's pretty much just at a point in his life where he's kind of… I mean, I read it on the Internet like you guys do. He's putting out videos where he's retired. And I have nothing but mad respect for James and Nikki. There has been talk, 'Hey, let's get together and create some new shit.' But if it never happens, it never…

"SIXX:A.M.'s been weird," D.J. explained. "It's a labor of love. We've never looked at it like a band. I know the world and the label, when 'Life Is Beautiful' hit, they're, like, 'You guys are now a band,' and we're, like, 'No. We're just three producers, three best friends that love to create songs together.' So we've never truly looked at SIXX:A.M. like a band. We still, to this day, don't have a drummer. Every time we tour, we have to get a drummer. But it's one of those weird, weird projects that the radio loves us. Every time we release a song, it seems to get a lot of love there. The fans have been incredibly supportive. And listen, I'm open to doing… That would be the only way I would come back and do a band thing would be if Nikki and James wanted to do another tour. I'd absolutely be down for that. But outside of that, I have no interest of joining a new band or doing anything band-wise. But that would be the one exception, for sure. But I would say, I don't know, honestly. I think we're all pretty open to the possibility of us doing something else in the future. We've never really closed the book on it. I'm down. I know Sixx is busy doing his thing, and James is doing whatever he's doing. So I think if the timing was right, I think we'd all be probably down to do something in the future.

"We've just never seen ourselves like a band," Ashba repeated. "And we just love writing songs. It's a lot of fun. It's therapeutic. It's effortless for us. When we get in a room, we can't write songs fast enough. It's just this weird chemistry the three of us have, and we laugh our way through every record we've ever made. We'll sit on the floor in hotel rooms and order pizza and just laugh our way through the lyrics. And we just always have had such a fun time. And I think it's because the lyrics to our songs cut pretty deep in all three of us. We all dig pretty deep into those wounds. So I think laughing our way through it is kind of a weird — it's very therapeutic, I think, for the three of us. It's our therapy session. [Laughs]"

When host Eddie Trunk suggested that "the likelihood of another" SIXX:A.M. record or a single is "maybe a little higher than actually going out and playing shows," Ashba said: "Yeah. I have no idea. I know if we three were to walk into a room, we'd have four songs written easily before we left the room. That's just how we've always been. I can't explain it. Something magical happens when we get in a room together, and it'd be hard for us to be in the same room without writing a song. So, who knows? I don't know what the future holds."

Regarding how SIXX:A.M.'s hiatus came about, Ashba said: "I do know at the time, I had been touring with GN'R around the world, like, six times or something crazy. We would tour for, like, eight months out of the year, and then as soon as I'd get off tour with GN'R, SIXX:A.M. would book me to go out on another tour. So for six, seven years, I really didn't get much of a break. And I know Nikki was kind of doing the same thing with MÖTLEY. So me and him were burning hard at both ends of the candle. So I think everybody just needed a break. We were just so burnt. And I think it was much, much needed at that point."

As previously reported, SIXX:A.M. will release "Prayers For The Damned & Blessed Deluxe Edition" on June 6 via Endurance Music Group. The new album will be available as a special limited-edition smoke-colored three-LP set as well as on all streaming platforms.

Nearly a decade after the release of SIXX:A.M.'s 2016 albums "Prayers For The Damned" and "Prayers For The Blessed", this deluxe edition set features both albums together with brand-new renditions of "Maybe It's Time" (Piano Version),"Prayers For The Damned" (Piano Version),and an alternative mix of "We Will Not Go Quietly".

Originally formed in 2007, SIXX:A.M. — whose name is a combination of all of the members' last names (Sixx, Ashba, Michael) — emerged as a passion project for Sixx, initially coming together to record a companion soundtrack for his The New York Times best-selling memoir "The Heroin Diaries". Over the years, the trio toured the globe and released six studio albums, a live album, multiple hit singles, including "Life Is Beautiful", "Stars", "Lies Of The Beautiful People", and — from "Prayers For The Blessed" — "Maybe It's Time". SIXX:A.M. announced their hiatus in 2021, marking the end of an era for the band.

With over 500 million streams across digital platforms, SIXX:A.M.'s music continues to resonate with fans worldwide. As the first time both original albums have been available on vinyl in years, this is a must-have for collectors of rock history and fans alike.

"Hits" was released in October 2021 via Better Noise Music. The album was a retrospective celebration of SIXX:A.M.'s biggest hits and fan-favorite songs that also included five previously unheard tracks and mixes, marking the band's first official album with new material since 2016.

Inspired by the release of Sixx's "The First 21: How I Became Nikki Sixx", SIXX:A.M. members Michael, Ashba and Sixx made "Hits" available as a companion piece to the book.

To date, SIXX:A.M. has three U.S. Billboard top 20 albums and a string of hit singles, with its full catalog consisting of five studio albums — "The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack" (2007),"This Is Gonna Hurt" (2011),"Modern Vintage" (2014),"Prayers For The Damned" and "Prayers For The Blessed" (2016) — and three EPs, "X-Mas In Hell" (2008); "Live Is Beautiful" (2008) and "7" (2011).

Photo courtesy of Reybee, Inc.