Aspera (initially Aspera Ad Astra) were an American

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 ...

band from

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

History

Aspera formed in 1996 under the name Aspera ad Astra in Philadelphia, and released a 7" split with Haelah before issuing their debut full-length in 1998. Following this the group underwent lineup changes before the release of their 1999 EP; several drummers would join and leave the group until late 2000, when A.J. Edmiston joined. Around this time the group shortened its name. They began releasing material on

Jagjaguwar Records Jagjaguwar is an American independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise ...

in 2002, including a re-release of their 2001 album ''Sugar & Feathered''. 2007 saw ''Back When Love'' issued on Philadelphia label Burnt Toast Vinyl. Aspera were part of the so-called "Psychedelphia" scene, alongside bands such as

Bardo Pond Bardo Pond are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1991, and who are currently signed to London-based label Fire Records. The current members are Michael Gibbons (guitar), John Gibbons (guitar), Isobel Sollenberger (flute and vocals), ...

and The Lilys. Aspera seems no longer to be a going concern. Tripp, Werth, and Edmiston, along with Carmine Degennaro, are now working with Ken Griffin, formerly of Irish band Rollerskate Skinny, as

Favourite Sons The Favourite Sons is an indie rock band from Brooklyn, made up of Ken Griffin (former member of Rollerskate Skinny) and four members of Jagjaguwar's Aspera.Raper, Dan (2006)Favourite Sons ''Down Beside Your Beauty'' (review), ''PopMatters'' The ...

. Drew Mills has formed the band Blood Feathers with Ben Dickey of Amen Booze Rooster.

Members

;Initial lineup *Mike Robinson - vocals, keyboards *Justin Tripp - guitar, keyboards *Drew Worth - guitar *Matt Werth - bass *Drew Mills - drums, vocals, guitar ;Later members *Chris Powell - drums *A.J. Edmiston - drums

Discography

*''Split'' with Haelah (1997) *''Peace'' (Audio Information Phenomena, 1998) *''Winged by Rhymes'' EP ( Insound Records, 1999) *''Split'' with The Lilys (

Tigerstyle Records Tiger Style Records is an independent record label located in New York City, New York. It is owned and operated by Insound. As of 2004, it is on hiatus. In 2024, the label entered a partnership with The Numero Group to reboot their operations and ...

, 2000) *''Sugar & Feathered'' (Big Wheel Recreation, 2001; reissued by

, 2002) *''Birds Fly'' EP (

Suicide Squeeze Records Suicide Squeeze Records is a Seattle, Washington-based independent record label that releases rock music, rock, pop music, pop, and metal music, metal music. Suicide Squeeze releases content on vinyl, CD, cassette, and digital. The label has als ...

, 2002) *''Oh Fantastica'' (Jagjaguwar, 2003) *''Back When Love'' ( Burnt Toast Vinyl, 2007)

Notes

References

Aspera Aspera may refer to: Music * Aspera (band), an American indie rock band * ''(a)spera'', a 2009 album by Mirah * Above Symmetry, a Norwegian progressive metal band originally known as Aspera * "Aspera", the lead track from ''We Will Become Like Bir ...

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

External links

SuicideSqueeze.net
* * {{Authority control Suicide Squeeze Records artists Jagjaguwar artists Musical groups from Philadelphia Indie rock musical groups from Pennsylvania