Ad Astra Per Aspera is an American,

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

-based

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

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. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

band, formed in 2001 and currently releasing records through

Sonic Unyon Records Sonic Unyon Recording Company is an independent record label based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Their former retail store was located on Wilson Street near James Street North. The label has put out releases by bands including Tristan Psioni ...

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

and the

Pixies A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas arou ...

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 branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

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'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

Pretty Girls Make Graves Pretty Girls Make Graves was a post-punk 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 t ...

, Minus Story, and

Ghosty Ghosty is a Lawrence, Kansas-based indie rock band formed in 1999. They are best known for their positive reviews by NPR, Currently the Ghosty lineup consists of Andrew Connor (guitar, vocals), Mike Nolte (bass, guitar, vocals), David Wetzel ( ...

. After playing the 2007

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

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 databas ...

(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 {{US-indie-rock-band-stub