When you’re an artist yourself, you tend to meet other artists easily, but usually at music events. I met the guitar player of Aspen Gems in one of the most unexpected places. I was working for the government, a city hall, for a brief moment and he was part of the online web management team too.
It’s like I have a bit of a radar for spotting creative people. Some people just have artistry written all over them, so even in daily attire, I knew there was something different to him from other employees. When I heard about his alternative rock band, I wasn’t at all surprised.
The Aspen Gems have turned out to be a lovely surprise to me musically, too. They are almost Keane-like in the music they make, which works fine for me. You know, while the original Keane is still on their hiatus, of course…
Even so, from the Aspen Gems, you can expect some catchy rock jams with a slight influence from new wave and post punk.
The band members name Editors (very good choice), Snow Patrol and War On Drugs as their main musical influences. However, they also have a rougher side that has reminded people of Sonic Youth and The Cure in the past.
The Aspen Gems are formed by 5 members, all from the region of Zwolle, in The Netherlands. The band have been playing in the current line-up since 2010.
Let me just say, they are completely unknown. They’ve had no hit records, so far, but have started to receive radio airplay. Currently, they are mainly known for playing the region’s festivals and have built up a good reputation as a live act, even winning talent shows and supporting bigger acts. The ground work is there for bigger things to come.
So, this is your chance to discover something new and upcoming, as they’ve just released a new video for their new single “Lightning”.
According to their own words, the single “Lightning” is a new sound to their usual work. As I said, it’s a bit more commercial than their previous work. The song leads an upcoming EP, which will be released this year, and should contain more tracks exploring this sound. It’s their second EP. Their first, “All That Glitters”, was released in 2012.
