Asleep: Here’s your wake-up call

The band has its roots in the album-rock era.

By GUY D’ASTOLFO

VINDICATOR ENTERTAINMENT WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Asleep’s music is like a sonic dreamscape. It shimmers, swells, dips and soars again, with the next surreal moment always just around the corner.

The Youngstown-based band with the distinctive and unmistakable sound has built a regional following over the last few years, and stands as the No. 1 contender from the local scene. The band has also gained a beachhead in cities such as Columbus and Louisville, Ky.

Now the art-rockers are getting a shot at their own dream — a recording contract.

Over the past few months, the five-man act has played before dozens of record industry executives in showcase performances in New York, Los Angeles and Nashville. Industry reps will again check out Asleep when it plays at The Cellar in Struthers on Saturday.

“They want to see us on our home field,” said Jon Dean, the band’s guitarist.

The label that signs the band will release its next album to national distribution in the spring, said Dean. A 50-city tour will follow, with Asleep on the undercard of an established act to be named later.

Asleep was awarded the coveted headliner slot at last summer’s Vexfest in downtown Youngstown, bringing the all-day rock festival to a close whle playing before a throng of thousands.

The band’s annual Christmas show is always a highlight on the Valley’s rock calendar, but this year should be a little more intense with the band on the verge of a breakout. At least a dozen record label reps will be at The Cellar gig, and those who go will also get to hear a sneak preview of the next album, said Dean.

In this era of iPods and 99-cent singles, Asleep is an unabashed throwback to the ’70s, with its experimental, if not majestic, album rock. The band intends to stick to its vision.

“We are definitely an album band,” said Dean. “We pull from an era when an album was an album, with the music flowing and fitting together.”

The band’s first release is proof of that statement. Laughing in the face of the attention-deficit cultural zeitgeist, Asleep’s freshman offering — 2006’s “All These Things We’ll Never Need” — was a DOUBLE album.

Dean admits the band occupies a niche, but it’s not a tiny one. “All These Things” sold about 10,000 units — not bad for a regional act on a startup label (Fractured Transmitter out of Cleveland).

Asleep formed three years ago, and has been playing out for two years. Dean, bassist Jeremy Hanhold and keyboardist Larry Serb were in the now-defunct band Alias X before the advent of Asleep.

The act’s towering sound is an amalgam of every member’s input.

Songs are written collectively, and each bandmate adds his own musical signature. The space-y keyboards of Serb — which provide that moving-at-warp-speed feeling — and the note-stretching vocals of Todd Kaden are layered atop the prog-rock guitars and rhythm of Dean, Hanhold and drummer Dave Ardale.

“We set out to create a sound that’s a little more serious than what’s out there now,” said Dean.