Ad Astra Per Aspera is an American, Lawrence,

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

-based

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

and

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

band, formed in 2001 and currently releasing records through Sonic Unyon Records and Love Garden Records. Their experimental and eclectic

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise music, noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimal music, minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, a ...

sound has drawn comparisons to bands such as

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1981. Founding members Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar), Thurston Moore (lead guitar, vocals) and Lee Ranaldo (rhythm guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of ...

and the

Pixies Pixies may refer to: * Plural of Pixie * Pixies (band) The Pixies are an American alternative rock band from Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1986 by Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim ...

Background

Ad Astra Per Aspera was born in Lawrence, Kansas in the fall of 2001. Their name comes from the State of Kansas motto which when translated from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

means "To the Stars through Difficulties." The band consists of Mike Tuley (vocals/guitar), Kurt Lane (drums/percussion), Brooke Tuley (guitar/percussion), Julie Noyce (keyboards) and Scott Edwards (bass). Vocalist/guitarist Mike Tuley and guitarist Brooke Tuley were married in June 2010. Ad Astra began playing live in the fall of 2002 quickly becoming part of the Lawrence music scene. They released their debut EP "An Introduction To" in April 2003. The follow-up EP "Cubic Zirconia" was released on Big Brown Shark Records in May 2004. After extensive touring the band signed to Sonic Unyon and was the subject of a two-part documentary on ''The Turnpike'' as they toured in support of their October 2006 full-length album "Catapult Calypso." In October 2008 the band relocated to Brooklyn. Ad Astra has previously played with such bands as

The Thermals The Thermals were an American indie rock band based in Portland, Oregon, United States. The group was formed in 2002. With influences heavily rooted in both lofi, as well as standard rock, the band's songs were also known for their political a ...

Pretty Girls Make Graves Pretty Girls Make Graves is a post-hardcore band formed in Seattle in 2001, named after The Smiths' song of the same name (which itself was named after a quote from Jack Kerouac's ''The Dharma Bums''). Andrea Zollo and Derek Fudesco had played ...

, Minus Story, and Ghosty. After playing the 2007

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

festival they went on a national tour. They have recently released a new 7" single on the Love Garden label and are preparing for another American tour.

Discography

Reviews

AllMusic Guide AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

(3.5/5)
IGN
(9.2/10)
Pitchfork Track Review – Voodoo Economics
(3.5/5)
Pitchfork Album Review – Catapult Calypso

Music Emissions
(4.5/5)

References

External links

Official SiteMySpace
Indie rock musical groups from Kansas Sonic Unyon artists Musical groups established in 2001 2001 establishments in Kansas Musicians from Lawrence, Kansas {{US-indie-rock-band-stub