Mark Ashby

I first got into rock and metal in my early teens, when NWOBHM came onto the scene and bands like Motorhead, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest were appearing on 'Top Of The Pops'.

Having trained as a journalist, I first started writing about rock music in 1985 – and haven't looked back since! It those 30+ years, in addition to journalism, I've worked in most aspects of the music biz: I've been a tour manager, an A&R manager, a band manager, and I continue to promote occasional gigs and, with my wife, present an online radio show.

My favourite bands and albums change all the time, but I would still return to the likes of Bon Jovi's 'Slippery When Wet', Metallica's 'Master Of Puppets', Tesla's 'Mechanical Resonance', 'Y&T's 'Black Tiger', Def Leppard's 'High N Dry', Slayer's 'Reign In Blood' as among those releases which helped shape my diverse listening tastes.

One of the joys about being a music journalist is not only having a diverse taste but also the enjoyment of discovering new talents.