DJ Ashba

Daren Jay Ashba (born November 10, 1972) is an American musician, guitarist, songwriter, record producer, and graphic designer.

He was the lead guitarist of Sixx:A.M. He is also known for his work with hard rock bands BulletBoys, Beautiful Creatures and Guns N' Roses.

He has worked with various artists including Mötley Crüe, Drowning Pool, Marion Raven, Aimee Allen and Neil Diamond.

He is the CEO of Ashba Media.

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 detasseling 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.

In 1996, he released his debut instrumental album, 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, piecing together the band that would become Beautiful Creatures.

After finding former Shake the Faith and No. 9 bassist Kenny Kweens, Ashba and Lesté hired session drummer Anthony Focx to become 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 Detroit, Michigan, for Kiss during their farewell 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 as part of 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.

After his departure from Beautiful Creatures, he formed another solo band, ASHBA, with Bones Elias, bassist John Younger, and former Tuff guitarist Michael Thomas, who was Ashba's replacement in Beautiful Creatures before leaving the group in 2003.

Also in 2003, Ashba was invited to participate in the group Brides of Destruction with Nikki Sixx and Tracii Guns but turned it down to focus on his solo project.

In 2005, a small controversy was caused when it was suggested that neither Tommy Lee nor Mick Mars played on the new tracks for Mötley Crüe's compilation album Red, White & Crüe; duties were supposedly handled by Vandals drummer Josh Freese and Ashba as well as Mick being replaced by Ashba on their reunion tour.

Ashba hit back at the rumors:

"Just want to set the record straight. As much as I would love to play on tour with Mötley, it's simply not true...it's a rumor. I'll be in the studio and playing shows with ASHBA. I have all the respect in the world for Mötley Crüe and I can't wait to see Mick kick ass, as always."

In 2006 Ashba had set up Funny Farms Studios with Nikki Sixx.

They began writing and producing, and performing music together which included collaborations with singer Marion Raven, whom Sixx had worked with before, on her Heads Will Roll EP and album Set Me Free.

James Michael also is credited on the albums.

In March 2007, Sixx penned "Reason I'm Alive" for Drowning Pool's new album Full Circle with both Sixx and Ashba co-producing the track.

Ashba released the critically acclaimed album The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack after collaborating with Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx and producer James Michael under the name Sixx:A.M. in August, 2007 serving as a soundtrack to Sixx's autobiography The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star.

The single "Life is Beautiful" reached #2 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks.

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.

Eventually, he joined the group Barracuda and toured with the band for two years.