Ash frontman delight with Girl From Mars mural

Ash frontman delight with Girl From Mars mural

30 March 2022

ASH frontman Tim Wheeler was back in his home town of Downpatrick last week to see work completed on a huge mural 

paying homage to one of the band’s biggest hits — Girl From Mars.

The mural — which is certainly a ‘shining light’ at this part of the town —  has been painted on a gable wall at the entrance to the Church Street car park by artist Marian Noone and her husband  Gerry Norman.

The mural is part of a £200,000 revitalisation scheme which is being financed by Newry, Mourne and Down Council and the Department for Communities.

Tim was impressed with the stunning art work which is part of the drive to revitalise a part of Downpatrick which has missed out on major public sector investment over recent years.

Girl From Mars was written by the Downpatrick musician when he was 16 in 1993 with the song going on to become Ash’s breakthrough hit.

Girl From Mars remains the band’s defining moment with the 1995 hit still a firm favourite today.

Tim has previously revealed that he wrote the song at his parent’s home, most probably after coming home from Down High School.

“I saw in a TV listing that there was a film on, called Girl From Mars, and seeing that title sparked my imagination,” he said.

“When you’re forming your identity as a teenager, you’re always grabbing little snippets of everything and it all went into the song. I’d just broken up with my first girlfriend and I think it was me subconsciously expressing stuff about that.”

Confirming the sci-fi influence, Tim — who recently became a dad for the first time — said Girl From Mars mostly revolves around the verse and chorus.

“I wrote them as a slow little strummy thing and then when we worked on it as a band we rocked it out quite a lot. My little brother Pat was always my first port of call of seeing if a song was good and then I’d bring it to [bandmates] Mark [Hamilton] and Rick [McMurray].

“I used to love going and knocking on his bedroom door and playing him ideas and I remember that he flipped out about the song and loved it. He had the idea for the quiet verse after the guitar solo and it was great.”

Tim said as soon as the band started playing it they got a really good reaction from their friends.

“I used to play stuff before I’d even fully written the lyrics; we’d play stuff at shows and I’d mumble my way through it. I don’t think I wrote the second verse until we actually recorded it two years later. 

“I wasn’t too worried about lyrics back then, maybe because I listened to Nirvana so much and could never really understand them. Our manager and the record label were sure it was going to be a hit, so we put it aside until we’d be able to promote it. We put it out as a single two weeks after leaving school and it just blew up.”

Meanwhile, as part of the Church Street investment plan in Downpatrick, around £60,000 has been earmarked for a shop front improvement scheme with the emphasis on painting and repairing existing facades.

Elsewhere, it is proposed to spend £25,000 on what is being described as a “concept design of Church Street” with the work due to be carried out by a consultant, with £20,000 earmarked for improving shop fronts in Bridge Street.

Fifteen thousand pounds has been earmarked for De Courcey Place in English Street to replace a number of heritage-style lamps and signposts, alongside the provision of new litter bins and planting out existing granite water troughs.

Just over £11,500 is to be spent on other planting and landscaping schemes in the Church Street area, while there are also proposals for a new bus stop and power washing the area outside the former telephone exchange, with new safety railings installed outside 6 Church Street.

There are also plans to invest £12,000 on new interpretation material highlighting the Tower Bell at Down Parish Church and the grave of United Irishman Thomas Russell in the church grounds.

Last Christmas, new festive lighting was provided on the side of the Down Arts Centre and on trees in De Courcey Place. 

Downpatrick area councillor Dermot Curran has praised everyone involved with the work in Church Street, in particular, the talented artists responsible for the murals.

“Congratulations to everyone involved in the project designed to breath new life into this part of the town. Given the fact that it has missed out on major funding over many years, the £200,000 investment initiative is particularly welcome,” he said.

“The money will help property owners revitalise their respective businesses at a key part of the town where there are a number of family-owned businesses.”