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