The Ashby School of Music tutor had been fully emersed in teaching his 80 pupils - now it was time to put some more effort into his own performing career, he said.
Music had always been a part of Ashby's life.
"Music was a constant thing in our house," Ashby said.
He began playing a ukulele at the age of six and graduated to an electric guitar at 11, he said. Through the years, he had been involved in several bands and was lead vocalist and guitarist in some of them.
He had played throughout Otago and Southland and, in the late 1980s, decided it was time to try his luck in Christchurch, where he believed there would be more opportunities to develop his music and put it on more of a professional footing.
"It was hard, breaking into an unknown scene," he said.
However, he broke into the music scene via a band called Metro, which secured a year-long contract playing at the Palladium nightclub in 1988.
The band mainly played mainstream rock and radio-play covers, he said.
After Metro wound up, Ashby filled in for several bands.
He spent four years in Christchurch, then he returned to Gore.
He concentrated on upskilling and gained a diploma in music theory and undertook advanced studies in jazz theory.
This helped him develop the music school, which now concentrated on the Rockschool syllabus.
Now he is keen to re-establish himself as a performer in his own right.
