In my early teens when I was discovering music the handful of bands that sparked my interest, which developed into an obsession, were The Cure, The Smiths, New Order and Love and Rockets. So when the opportunity to interview Daniel Ash to help promote the new Love and Rockets tribute album "New Tales to Tell" I jumped at the chance. I had spoken to him in 2002 leading up to the release and subsequent tour for his self-titled solo album but in artistic years that's ancient history.

Having recently released single with Zak Ambrose, a cover of David Essex's "Rock On" which was often included in Love and Rockets' live set, and a few new songs posted on his MySpace page I ask when we can expect the new album.

"I don't really believe in doing albums anymore. They're becoming obsolete for somebody in my position. It's all about single tracks because of the nature of the internet. You listen to a track and then go on to something else," he says.

Ash further explains that the music industry has completely changed in the past decade. It used to be that bands toured to generate album sales now if a band wants to make money their only options are to constantly tour or get songs placed in films or on TV.

After 30 years of constant touring Ash has no desire to head out on the road so his focus has turned to finding opportunities to write music for television and getting his songs featured in films. A field that Love and Rockets band mate Kevin Haskins has also been exploring in recent years.

"Kevin does [film and television work] that on a regular basis. But it is so competitive that everyone wants to do that because, as you must know, the music industry is disintegrating," he says.

Ash was given the opportunity to provide the incidental music for the Fox comedy television series "Keen Eddie" that starred Mark Valley and Sienna Miller. Unfortunately, because the show was canceled after one season the work was short lived. The experience however, was a revelation. Not only could he do the work he could do it very well as evidenced by "Keen Eddie" creator J.H. Wyman's efforts to get Ash's music into the episodes of he has written for the popular sci-fi series "Fringe."

"Keen Eddie" also allowed Ash to write songs in a variety of genres ranging from reggae to rock to dance music without having to consider how Bauhaus or Love and Rockets fan or label executives might react.

He explains, "The thing is you get type cast, I'm still thought of one of the guys from Bauhaus and that was just one little fraction [of my career]. Usually the first thing you have any success with is what you're labeled with forever. Which is why it was so great for me to do a comedy and not a vampire movie."

Looking back on the past, I ask what brought about the recent Bauhaus tour with Nine Inch Nails a few years back and the two festival performances by Love and Rockets from last year.

"The idea was if we were offered decent money to do festival gigs, in preference to going on the road and doing 30, 40 or 50 dates, we'd just keep Love and Rockets and Bauhaus on the backburner and when and if we got these festival gigs we would do them," he says.

I take this to mean that there is hope in the future of more Love and Rockets or Bauhaus shows, but Ash is quick to shoot the idea down.

"No, I don't really want to go back to that. I didn't really enjoy the one's last year. It didn't feel good to me. I'm over it. Those songs are from 20, 30 years ago. It's boring to me to do that. They're done, they're there, they're documented, they're on CD. I don't want to keep doing that for the rest of my life. I don't think it is unreasonable to want to do something else," he says.

This isn't to say that Ash is looking to completely distance himself from the musical legacy that he played a part in.

"Something I have had over the years which has brought me more income than anything, which is strange, but is a song called "Go" that I did with Tones on Tail. I survive on that. It's been used many times on different adverts. It's still played in clubs and stuff, which I'm really pleased about," he admits before surprising me with his next comment.

"That was my favorite band out of all of them anyway. I had the most fun and I thought it was the most creative band for me personally. There were no commercial considerations. We just had a great time and tried to make original music. Something that was different. I think that band has stood the test of time," he says.

I comment that I found Tones on Tail to be very experimental and have been surprised how often "Go" has been used for mainstream ads.

"I had no interest in it being obscure. I wanted that weird music to be commercially successful. We did get that with "Go" but it was completely by accident. But those things often happen," he says.

I bring up how Love and Rockets' breakthrough single, "So Alive," was reportedly written on the fly.

Ash elaborates, "We were going to be recording another song that morning in the studio and I remember something inside of me saying, 'No, fuck that other song we're doing this.' And they asked to hear it and I said, 'Well, I haven't done it yet. I've only got two chords.' I went down into the basement of the studio, drank half a bottle of whiskey and finished it off."

He continues, "It was very similar to 'Bela [Lugosi's Dead],' that was recorded in a day as well and written one or two days before in a rehearsal room. It just happened without us working on it. All the best tracks seem to happen really quickly like that. It is almost like something comes through you and you're open to whatever that force is. I wish I had more of those up my sleeve. They don't happen that often. It's magic, it's almost beyond you. You can't put your finger on it or I'd be making them every week."

It becomes abundantly clear that Ash is proud of his past, despite his reluctance to revel in it. He just wishes that a little financial stability came along with the infamy of being a member of multiple highly influential bands. Particularly because it sounds like he's itching to get back into the studio. "I like to go to real studios with real equipment and spend a couple grand on a track. That's tough to do with the economic climate the way it is," he says. "I've got a little MySpace [page] called 'The Real Daniel Ash' which will give you a sample of what I'm capable of doing and what I'm doing now. But I can't afford to go in and do any more."

Despite the current economic environment Ash explains that he's tried to take on the optimistic attitude of America, which is one of the reasons he left England to live in America in the first place.

"It's tough, but it's tough for everyone out there. Things are tight all round that's just the way it is. It can be good for the soul. Fingers crossed. Out of everything bad comes something good. It's all about dealing with this stuff on a daily basis. That's the trick, how you deal with it," he says.