“A symphony of stereophonic fire and fury,” reads the bio of Athens’ fluid seven-member party ensemble The Asymptomatics. Creating an infectiously fun atmosphere to get the crowd moving all night, the group draws elements from funk, indie rock and psychedelic folk rock. It accomplishes this with a rotating cast of musicians complimenting the core seven with brass and horns, percussion and a quartet of backup vocalists.
After touring regionally and playing sold-out shows at venues like the Georgia Theatre, The Asymptomatics are releasing their debut album, Celestial Events and Other Songs About Looking Up, on Saturday, Apr. 26. Well known for its rambunctious and communal live shows, this album presented an opportunity for the band to present a different side of itself.
“We’ve been known as this wild, chaotic live act, and while we really do have a good time doing that, we wanted to create a colorful pallet of music in a serious way for the sake of listening on this first release. We’ve always been interested in the duality of music when it comes to different experiences both live and recorded. Our logo and album art, designed by our great co-manager Hollis Midkiff, is the sun and the moon, and is a visualization of that duality that you’ll hear, see and feel when you come to our show and listen in your headphones,” says Maxwell Mahieu, vocalist and keys for The Asymptomatics.
Already the group has been working on other music for a follow-up album that reflects the party side of the band, but for The Asymptomatics’ first official album, the listening experience of Celestial Events feels like a more proper introduction to the identity of the band’s sound. The single “Radio Mourning” leans heavily into the modern guitar-driven psychedelic genre and plays with a symphony of sonic textures and masterful production tricks that really does require headphones to fully appreciate.
“Regardless of the medium, though, we want anyone and everyone to feel warmly invited to that experience, be it in headphones, in the car or in a rock club. In this first album we really focused on the listening experience. The songs were all home recorded and brought to Jason NeSmith at Chase Park Transduction Studios here in Athens for mixing and mastering. Jason was fantastic in bringing out the feel, color and emotion of all the tracks,” says Mahieu.
The songs chosen for Celestial Events all have serious and personal meaning to the band members, and Mahieu says that the different emotions are expressed through the flow of the album. “Weeds” was one of the first tracks recorded, and despite being “thrown together,” it has received a lot of attention.
“Ironically, ‘Weeds’ is probably most unlike how we are perceived in the live setting. All the while former Athens resident Brian Burton, aka Danger Mouse, deemed it worthy enough for his Spotify Jukebox playlist. From ‘Weeds’ on, you can hear the directions things have gone with more instruments, noises and experimentation. From the three-part suite ‘Train to Spain’ to the more straight up rock and roll ‘Pedantic’ or the light-hearted drum machine bonus track ‘Kevin The Dog,’ we wanted to give each track a different flavor as we would do for our live performance,” says Mahieu.
The core members—Mahieu, Sebastian Betancur (bass), Chris Natale (guitar), Justin Janawitz (guitar), Zach Negin (guitar and bass), Nick Bonell (drums), Deb Wall (percussion), Nikki Shotz (vocals) and Grant Chernau (synth, back-up vocals, dancing)—bring a medley of musical inspirations to the band’s sound. Mahieu explains that half the band has worked at Wuxtry Records downtown, and the album is a product of being surrounded by so much different music across decades. Although having such a large band comes with its own challenges at times, The Asymptomatics embrace the opportunities it affords.
“I like to say we have a revolving cast of musicians and performers that bring a wide diversity in taste and approach to the music—it’s helped us to develop a unique sound. We are also all great friends, and our goal with the band was always to build more of a collective and community. Some of us play every show, some of us don’t. Having different lineups I think makes each live performance a little different and new,” says Mahieu.
The album release coincides with The Asymptomatics’ performance at the third annual Normaltown Music Festival held at Athentic Brewing Co. Benefitting Nuçi’s Space and the Boys & Girls Club of Athens, the festival aims to showcase a fusion of musical genres—which is right at home for The Asymptomatics.
Friday, Apr. 25 the DJ power trio Booty Boyz will headline with support from Libbaloops and Bryant Perez, Cardynal, Sxvxnt, DJ Reindeer Games, DJ Banjo, DJ Break Rabbi and Dekadance. Saturday, Apr. 26 the former Athenians Hotel Fiction will headline with support from The Asymptomatics, Neat Freak, David Barbe, Women in STEM, Hunlo, The Reverend Connor Tribble, Organically Programmed, Vicious Devil, Erik Olson Trio, Quentin Love and Sleeper Cell.
For more information about ticketing and the festival’s beneficiaries, visit athenticbrewing.com.
WHO: Normaltown Music Festival
WHEN: Apr. 25, 5–11 p.m. & Apr. 26, 2–11 p.m.
WHERE: Athentic Brewing Co.
HOW MUCH: $10–85
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