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Issue link: https://digital.miamilivingmagazine.com/i/497473
EXCLUSIVE MIAMI LIVING 97 It is two days before Thanksgiving. The air is particularly chilly in Nevada and the sun is beginning to descend behind the mountains when I arrive at the gates of an affluent development, a few miles from the Vegas strip, and check in with the security guard. DJ Ashba comes out to greet me as I am getting out of my car in his driveway. The 42-year-old musician is wearing fi tted jeans and a black ASHBA t-shirt that reveals the colorful inked art crawling up his neck and down his arms. His black hair is slicked back, his blue eyes are rimmed in thick black eyeliner, and several piercings punctuate his ears, nose and lip. DJ leads me through an enclosed courtyard into his pristine home featuring contemporary décor peppered with unique pieces that highlight his affinities. In the living room there is an impressive exhibit of motion picture quality horror masks curated like an art installation, a life-size Jason Voorhees mannequin —complete with wooded backdrop and faux shrubbery— stands guard of the dining room, and a collection of guitars hang on the walls. We take a seat at the dining table, where DJ begins the CliffsNotes version of his life story in a soft-spoken tone, starting from the middle, and volleying back and forth between the beginning and end. Halfway through, during a pause between questions, he asks, "Can you piece all this together?" I think so, I reply. He laughs good- naturedly before continuing. (DJ, here is my attempt.) DJ is widely known as a "rock star" (a word he hates), rightfully as he is the lead guitarist in two of today's biggest hard rock bands: Guns N' Roses and Sixx:A.M. But there is much more to this rocker than his artful guitar slaying. DJ has penned lyrics for chart-topping records (co-wrote 11 out of 13 songs on Mötley Crüe's album), co-produced albums (for his bands, Neil Diamond, Mötley Crüe, among others), scored music for movies, sketched cartoons and renderings for major brands, and physically built projects from the ground up. Yes, rock star is a fitting title, but it does not do him justice. In my opinion, he is far better characterized as a versatile, visionary artist. And when someone is as multi-faceted as this, if he is a smart man, he culls these gifts, enlists an exceptional team to support him, and showcases it all under one umbrella, like DJ has done by establishing his creative agency, Ashba Media. An ambitious artist from an early age, DJ has been honing his talents since grade school. Born in Monticello, Indiana, DJ grew up in a small, religious farm town fraught with corn fields, Fairbury, Illinois —a place he likens to the town depicted in Footloose. "My dad left when I was 4. I had a real shit childhood," he says matter-of-factly, free of resentment, during an explanation of his affinity for crows (more on that later). His family did not have a television, but they did have music. At age 3, his mother taught him how to play piano. He played "Ode to Joy" at his first church recital when he was just 5-years-old. During this time, DJ's hunger to create was channeled into drawing — on everything from paper plates to napkins, wherever he was, even at church. His mother longed for him to be an artist, ["but artists don't make money, unless they die," he argued] while he wanted to play music.