At a glance
See Asherel live at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Masquerade in Atlanta. Tickets are $6 in advance. Check out Asherel online at www.asherel.com or at www.facebook.com/asherel.
Trey Rosenkampff recalled finishing a song with his rock band in a big warehouse and hearing just one man’s clapping echo while others sat silently, watching.
“It was so awkward,” said Rosenkampff, a Lambert High School senior. “But they loved us.”
That performance for the small group included a representative for the Columbia record label, which recently signed Asherel.
The group had only been playing together for a few months when the company took notice.
“Considering it was Columbia, and it was kind of the first record label we’d gotten any attention from, we were kind of taken aback,” said Rosenkampff, the band’s lead singer.
The group has since recorded six songs for Columbia and will travel to Seattle at the end of December to work with producer Adam Kasper, who’s collaborated with bands like Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and the Foo Fighters.
Asherel has yet to put out a full-length album, and hopes this session will work toward something coming out next year.
Before leaving for Seattle, the group will play its last 2011 show Friday at the Masquerade in Atlanta.
The rock group is familiar with the venue, where it’s had several performances since forming officially as Asherel in spring 2009.
The band derived its name from a book Rosenkampff was reading at the time, “My Name is Asher Lev.”
Before that, the group played under a number of names, which drummer Christian Ebetino said he didn’t want to remember.
The three members have become a “cohesive” unit in the past couple years, said Rosenkampff, who writes the lyrics for their songs.
Guitarist Graham Elder said it’s been “really cool” to watch his now 17-year-old bandmates develop a unique style.
Elder, a 21-year-old Georgia Tech student, said he and Rosenkampff met through church.
The bassist at the time introduced the two to Ebetino, a student at Chattahoochee High School, and the grouped quickly meshed.
The band’s been through a few bassists since, and continues to look for a permanent fourth.
All of Asherel’s current members have been involved in playing music since a young age.
Rosenkampff said he picked up the guitar at 7, inspired by his dad’s love of classic rock.
Elder has several family members who play instruments, and he took piano lessons as a child.
“Then, I thought guitar was a lot cooler, because it is,” Elder said.
He and Rosenkampff shared the same guitar teacher, Derek Ferwerda, whom they said brought them to the level they’re at today.
Both said they felt Ebetino had the most talent in the group.
Ebetino became a drummer by accident in elementary school.
When asked what he’d like to play in the school’s band, he said guitar, which wasn’t an option.
Someone signed him up for drums, and he’s been behind the set ever since.
Playing at various Atlanta venues, the three have started to build a following.
At their last show, some people they’d never seen before introduced themselves as fans.
“It was really weird,” Rosenkampff said.