Artwork by Carly Schulman
The singers Aaron Messing and Anni Hochhalter from the NU band “Late Aster”. The quartet will release its premiere EP entitled “True and Toxic”.
A & E.
The musicians of the band Late Aster began a friendship in their first year in the Northwest, during which they bonded through nightly jam sessions on campus.
Aaron Messing (Bees ’12), Charles Mueller (bees ’12), Cameron LeCrone (bees ’14) and Anni Hochhalter formed the musical quarter after graduation in 2012. The band plans to release their debut EP “True and Toxic” on May 21st. The EP is the culmination of a decade of work and years of “rediscovering her musical voice,” said singer Messing.
“We changed the musical direction several times,” said Messing. “It is the culmination of this new thesis, this new voice that we have been developing for almost 10 years.”
The band performed on campus and were all part of the improvisation group “Mee-Ow”. After graduation, the group began freelancing and playing concerts in Chicago before officially becoming a band. It was at that point that Hochhalter, who was introduced by mutual friends, joined the band.
Over the years the band used different names and experimented with different types of music before officially becoming the Late Aster. With Hochhalter and Messing on vocals, Mueller on guitar and bass and LeCrone on drums, the band finally decided on a style of music.
“Our songs are strongly driven by brass, electronics and vocals,” said Müller. “We produce new music that is rooted (in) classical and jazz traditions and merges with the sounds of bebop and alternative rock.”
“True and Toxic,” an EP the band had been working on since the pandemic hit, is the culmination of this mashup of styles and genres.
Messing said years of listening and talking about music helped diversify the group’s sound and reshape the way they think about the course of their discography.
“I love being able to articulate all of our influences at the same time,” said Messing. “Instead of asking, ‘I like this song or I like this band, how can we emulate them individually?’ We’re trying to sew them together. ”
Hochhalter said the reason they are open to experimentation is because the band has confidence in the skills and tastes of the other players. You and brass want create New sounds such as the merging of electronics and brass underline the intimacy and versatility of instruments that often play a passive, secondary role in rock music.
“True and Toxic” lays the foundation for these experiments, said Müller.
The EP, which can be streamed on most platforms on May 21, also includes accompanying music videos that “aim to stylize and personalize the music,” said Messing. The videos do not present a formal narrative – instead, each video stands on its own and uses unique cinematic elements to present each song.
The band’s musicality isn’t just attributed to their knowledge and love of music, said Hocchalter – it’s also because of their love for one another.
“In all honesty, the band is successful because Charles (Mueller) is a phenomenal engineer and guitarist and Cam (LeCrone) is a killer drummer,” said Hocchalter. “After almost a decade of making music, the band’s chemistry and success are based on years of friendship and collaboration.”
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