Astral is a

shoegaze Shoegaze (originally called shoegazing and sometimes conflated with dream pop) is a subgenre of indie rock, indie and alternative rock characterized by its ethereal mixture of obscured vocals, guitar distortion (music), distortion and effects, a ...

group based in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States. Astral was formed by singer-guitarist Dave Han and drummer Shawn in 1999; bassist Amy Rosenoff joined them in 2001. Their vocals are frequently compared to those of

The Cure The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Crawley in 1976 by Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith (vocals, guitar) and Lol Tolhurst (drums). The band's current line-up comprises Smith, Perry Bamonte (guitar and keyboards), Reev ...

; other influences include My Bloody Valentine and

Joy Division Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...

. Their music is of an ethereal, melodic nature; this ambient sound is created largely by heavy use of

distortion In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio signal ...

and feedback effects in Han's guitar. Astral are also notable for incorporating improvisation into their live performances. In 2002, Astral released a self-produced EP, "Only Sometimes". In 2003, Astral released an LP, entitled "Orchids". Two songs from that album, "Raining Down" and the title-track

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

, were preloaded in the Rio Carbon MP3 Players. In 2008 the band released their second album ''Sleepwalker''.

Current lineup

* Dave Han – Vocals, Guitars * Gary Hews – Bass * Mark Shriver – Drums

Original lineup

* Dave Han – Vocals, Guitars * Shawn Nakano – Drums, Percussion * Amy Rosenoff – Bass

Discography

*'' Only Sometimes'' (EP) 2002 *'' Second Stitch'' (EP) 2002 *''

Orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Earth ...

'' 2003 *''

Transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

'' (EP) April 2007 *" Turn Me Around" (7" single) 2002 *'' Sleepwalker'' 2007 *" A Lullaby from Amsterdam" (7" single) 2008 *'' Excerpts from Down the Rabbit Hole'' (EP) 2010 *'' Forever After'' 2010

References

External links

Official Website Myspace
American dream pop musical groups Musical groups established in 1999 1999 establishments in California {{US-alternative-rock-band-stub