Tonight I saw a interview on Dutch television about 'Vrienden van Amstel Live', another television show with live music which seems to be ten years old at the moment. I haven't seen this show often because I'm always afraid that they start singing "Sailin' Home" by Piet Veerman. But I am a lover of sessions or an unrehearsed live performance of musicians who usually don't play together. I think it's wonderful to feel the chemistry between musicians.
I don't know how the first meeting between Tim Hussman and Bryan Ellis went, but you can read about it in the long and very fantasized biografy of Aster which you can read on MySpace. I read that Revel, the former band of Bryan had put an ad for an keyboard player in the paper. Tim read this advertisement and met the band in their rehearsel room. They started playing together and it was obvious that their was a rapport between Tim and Bryan. However the rest of the original band left one by one. The new duo Aster was what was left.
So Aster is formed by Bryan (vocals and guitar), Tim (keyboards and drums) with the aid of ProTools. I love bands with small a line-up and dit twosome from Austin, Texas made a good first impression on me. Their debut album "Some Things Seldom Heard Of" was self-released in the US today and it contains some beautiful popsongs. According to the band they are influenced by Grandaddy and Flaming Lips but on some moments I can hear Smoosh and this is something completely different. But start by listening to the first song below. It's a beauty!
>mp3: Attempting to Multiply
>mp3: Some Things Seldom Heard Of