asiago
Dos Palos, California, United States | SELF
Music
Press
The first Emergenza show in the history of San Francisco went off with a huge bang. The crowd was amazing, the music was amazing, and the Red Devil Lounge proved to be the perfect 1st stop for the festival. With the help of Haight-Ashbury Music Center, Russian Hill was rockin' with unsigned sounds.
The most eclectic night of the weekend had everything from hip-hop to rock to world music... all creative, and all very exciting. ASIAGO, although named after a cheese, was everything but cheesey. They had a great vibe on stage, truly having more fun up there than any other band of the weekend. OMEYOCAN had an amazing set laden with dancing, and chanting, and a double-necked guitar... definitely a sight to see. AMAYA's lead vocal was stunning. Great musicianship, and probably the most beautiful voice of the weekend. With some songs in Spanish, and some in English, this band is definitely one to keep an eye out for. DUSTED PHONIKS will be opening for none other than Guru of Gangstarr at the Red Devil Lounge in the coming weeks. .
Thank you to the Red Devil Lounge, Haight-Ashbury Music Center, and all the artists and fans who made our first weekend an amazing one. Keep checking back for more info on the 2005-2006 season - EMERGENZA MUSIC FESTIVAL
July 2009
The Dos Palos (population 4581) quintet Asiago takes two well-known contemporary rock formulas, punk rock and alternative, and combines them into an intriguing amalgamation of genre-mashed sound. At times spunky and energetic, the 5-piece alters between full-throttle pop-punk and the melancholic tones of post-grunge alternative. Lead singer Shely Jelen’s soaring vocals carry well in both venues, and are often joined by a chamber-like backup chorus. - San Francisco's City Guide
Discography
"Backroads" EP 06'
"Your Greatest Hit" EP 08'
"For What Its Worth" EP 09'
"Anything Tonight" 7 Song EP 10'
"We All Caught The Plague" Single/Video [in production] 10'
Photos
Bio
{Bullet Points}
October 2005 -
The Band Asiago forms in Dos Palos, Ca
November 2006 -
Release first demo "Back Roads"
December 2006 -
Asiago wins first round in Emergenza Music Festival in San Francisco, Ca
May 2008 -
Release Ep "Your Greatest Hit"
June 2008 -
Single "Word For Word" picked up for regular rotation on local rock station for entire summer
July 2008 -
Asiago wins "Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands"
August 2008 -
Asiago plays "Warped Tour 2008"
May 2009 -
Release EP "For What Its Worth"
September 2009 -
Named Band of the Year on Haight St. in San Francisco
January 2010 -
Joins up with "Quote Your Pulse Records" a local Indie Label
June 2010 -
Releases 7 song Cd "Anything Tonight"
July 2010 -
Asiago hits the road on a Northwest Tour through Seattle
2010 Current -
Asiago is currently working on a feature legnth film documentary with Kanses City film maker Scott Kessler. The members of the band have been followed by cameras and interviewed in order to show what a DIY band goes through to stay alive and busy, the movie should complete production and be released in summer/fall of 2011 and will be submitted to many international film festivals. The band hopes to take part in as many big events as possble during the fliming process and is working extremely hard at constantly staying busy.
{The Long Story...}
In 2005, in the small Central California "town" of Dos Palos(two sticks) a girl named Jen had a dream that she played bass in a rock band...and the bands name was Asiago..and then... boom, pow! Dreams become reality and now its 2010 and Asiago has been going strong for the past five years and gaining momentum every step of the way.
Asiago is a very different group of people then most bands, they are all from the same town and are extremely close, like a family. They take their songs and performances very seriously and commit a lot of real raw emotion to the sound.
They are fronted vocally by a girl named Shely Jelen. Shely started pursuing singing at a very young age. Her voice is well trained and strong, and can be heard clearly over the rampaging chants of the back up singers and guitar players of asiago, Lee Shaeffer and Nathan Vega. Lee offers broad tonal range to Asiago's sound, lots of high leady parts, and dirty grungy rhythms , which blends really well with Nathans Style, whos guitar playing is very direct, he writes quick, catchy leads, and his rhythm parts are extremely percussive, lots of ska breaks and well timed punk rock triplets.
Underneath all of this, is the real backbone of the band, its bassist and founder, Jen. Her bass playing is that of a perfectionist, no matter what chaos partakes a show, Jen holds it down.
The newest member of this band is drummer Ryan Truhett, who has gone above and beyond his call of duty in terms of commitment and dedication.His hard work saved this band in a time where things got very hectic... you have 4 months worth of shows booked...you have no drummer....what do you do....WHAT DO YOU DO? ...you hit up Ryan and he saves the band, good to go. His style blends perfect with the rest of Asiago, and then some, he brings a ton of energy...very quick hands.
Over the last 4 years Asiago has gone over many obstacles, and through many changes, and along the way they have also had some really great high points as a band. In the Summer of 2008, the song "Word for Word", off of Asiago's 2nd four song EP, was put into regular rotation on local Radio stations. This was a point in time where the band started gaining a lot of recognition. That same summer, Asiago won the Ernie Ball Battle of the bands, in their area and got play the Ernie Ball stage at the Van's Warped Tour in Fresno, Ca.
Playing warped tour, meeting and talking to all the touring bands, was a springboard for Asiago in terms of traveling to shows and "spreading out". By the time their next Ep was released, the band was keeping a minimal of four shows a month, usually more. In the summer of 09' the band began breaking into the San Francisco, Bay Area scene. In 2009 they were named "Band of The Year" at a battle of the bands hosted by a popular San Francisco music venue.
2010 looks to be the busiest year yet for the band, in February they began working with Quote Your Pulse Records, a small (but growing stronger by the day!) Indie record label.
in June 2010 they released new 7 song EP on Quote Your Pulse Records. This was Asiago's biggest release to date. They sold close to 200 cd's locally on the first day.
In the summer of 2010, asiago went on a NW tour up to Seatlle and back, gaining tons of new friends in various music scenes.
As of now Asiago is one of the most populer bands in their area, they always stay involved in local events. Radio Station and Tv spots, The Roller Derby's, Music Festivels, and recently a city wide ZOMBIE WALK.
Currently Asiago has been chosen by Kanses City film make
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