Bassnectar
Personal life
Personal life
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Although born in [Santa Cruz, California](/wiki/Santa_Cruz%2C_California "Santa Cruz, California"), Ashton grew up in a [hippie commune](/wiki/Intentional_community "Intentional community") until age five, when his parents became [born again Christians](/wiki/Born_again "Born again") and left the commune. He was originally from the [San Francisco Bay Area](/wiki/San_Francisco_Bay_Area "San Francisco Bay Area") and was described by the *[Rolling Stone](/wiki/Rolling_Stone "Rolling Stone")* as "a long\-haired neo\-hippie." Through adolescence, he worked odd jobs such as a grocery bagger, children's entertainer, and [census](/wiki/Census "Census")\-taker. He initially identified with visual arts rather than music, creating movies with his dad's camera at the age of ten. Eventually, Ashton came to attend [Bellarmine College Preparatory](/wiki/Bellarmine_College_Preparatory "Bellarmine College Preparatory").

In 2016, Ashton was diagnosed with [skin cancer](/wiki/Skin_cancer "Skin cancer") under his left eye, for which he underwent surgery to remove. The operation was successful.

Ashton has been a vocally [anti\-Trump](/wiki/Anti-Trump "Anti-Trump"), even offering to play a free show following the former President's [impeachment in 2019](/wiki/Impeachment_of_Donald_Trump_%282019%29 "Impeachment of Donald Trump (2019)"). The show did not materialize.

Ashton endorsed [Bernie Sanders](/wiki/Bernie_Sanders "Bernie Sanders") in his candidacy for the [2016 U.S. presidential election](/wiki/2016_United_States_presidential_election "2016 United States presidential election").


How old was Ashton when he started creating movies with his dad's camera?