The A-Sides were an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 ...

band from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. They formed in 2002 and consisted of Jon Barthmus (

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

), Charlie Cottone (guitars/vocals), Christopher Doyle (

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

/guitar/

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

), Mike "Flem" Fleming (

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

/vocals), and Patrick "Party Todd" Marsceill (

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

s/vocals). Jonathon Fitzgerald was once considered as a replacement for "Flem".

History

Barthmus, Fleming, and Cosentino lived together while students at

Drexel University Drexel University is a private research university with its main campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Drexel's undergraduate school was founded in 1891 by Anthony J. Drexel, a financier and philanthropist. Founded as Drexel Institute of Art, S ...

circa 2000. At the time, Barthmus and Fleming were also members of a

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

rock band called Go Time. By 2001, Barthmus' interest in hardcore had waned. His burgeoning interest lay in composing decidedly more melodic,

Beatlesque "Beatlesque" () or "Beatles-esque" describes a musical resemblance to the English rock band the Beatles. The term is loosely defined and has been applied inconsistently to a wide variety of disparate artists. Definitions To better explain what t ...

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

. In late 2001, Barthmus enlisted Fleming and Cosentino for a new project intended to make music in this mold. The informal trio spent the better part of a year jamming with various drummers until settling on then-incoming Drexel sophomore Marsceill in August 2002. Marsceill's induction into the fold marked the official founding of The A-Sides. The quartet recorded a demo in Marsceill's basement and began to play shows in the Philadelphia and

Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them: * Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California * Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County * Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in T ...

area. At a show in Allentown, Prison Jazz Records founder Chuck Keller offered the A-Sides the opportunity to record a 7-inch single for the fledgling label. Prison Jazz released "Seeing Suzy"/"Going Gone" in November 2003. The A-Sides entered Miner Street Studios in Manayunk, Philadelphia in August 2004 to record their debut album with producer/engineer Brian McTear. Prison Jazz released ''Hello, Hello'' in February 2005 to generally positive reviews. Songs for their second album were recorded with McTear in May 2006 at the relocated Miner Street Studios. The band (and new manager Dryw Scully) spent the remainder of 2006 and early 2007 negotiating with labels in order to secure a release for the album. On May 15, 2007, The A-Sides signed to

Vagrant Records Vagrant Records is an American record label based in California. It was founded in 1995 by Rich Egan and Jon Cohen. The label focuses on rock, but features artists in a variety of other genres including folk, soul, electronic, and pop. It is home ...

. The A-Sides' second album, ''Silver Storms'', was released by Vagrant on September 18, 2007. They toured in support of the album in the autumn of 2007. On October 6, 2008, the band posted a blog on their MySpace telling their fans of their disbanding. In the blog, links were given to a new music project that Barthmus and Marsceill are working together on called

Sun Airway Sun Airway is an American music duo consisting of Jon Barthmus and Patrick Marsceill, formerly of The A-Sides. The duo plays a style of alternative dance, indietronica, dream pop, alternative rock, indie pop, indie rock, and pop rock music. Sun A ...

. In honor of the band,

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

director Yanni Osmond licensed music from the band to use in his upcoming cartoon, Living Evil.

Discography

Albums

*''Hello, Hello'' ( Prison Jazz, 2005) *''Silver Storms'' (

Vagrant Vagrancy is the condition of homelessness without regular employment or income. Vagrants (also known as bums, vagabonds, rogues, tramps or drifters) usually live in poverty and support themselves by begging, scavenging, petty theft, temporar ...

, 2007)

Singles

*"Seeing Suzy"/"Going Gone" ( Prison Jazz, 2003)

References

External links

The A-Sides - Official WebsiteThe A-Sides' MySpaceThe A-Sides , Vagrant RecordsThe A-Sides mentioned
on

WXPN WXPN (88.5 FM) is a non-commercial, public radio station licensed to The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that broadcasts an adult album alternative (AAA) radio format, along with many other format shows ...

's website
Spin.com: The A-Sides
* Allmusic - The A-Sides {{DEFAULTSORT:A Sides, The Alternative rock groups from Pennsylvania Musical groups established in 2002 Indie pop groups from Pennsylvania Indie rock musical groups from Pennsylvania 2002 establishments in Pennsylvania Musical groups from Philadelphia