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Aperture

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Intricate, driving, modern, hard rock.

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Hometown	Austin, TX
Genres	Modern Rock, Hard Rock
Band Members	Nathan Alvarado - Vocals; Mike Proctor - Guitars; Jared... » more
Achievements	» more
Upcoming Shows	None

Contact Information:	Artist / Band Member Michael Proctor aperturesounds@gmail.com 512-963-3666
# Live Perfomances Past Six-months:	15
Market Draw:	San Antonio: 101-150; Austin: 76-100
Venue History:	JACK'S BAR - San Antonio, TX Emo's - Austin, TX The White Rabbit - San Antonio, TX The Parish - Austin, TX Click's Live - San Antonio, TX The Dorm - San Antonio, TX Click's - Tyler, TX The Falls - San Antonio, TX Trees - Dallas, TX The Red Eyed Fly - Austin, TX Scout Bar - Houston, TX
Opener Experience:	Apocalyptica; Fair to Midland
Similar Artists:	A Perfect Circle; Incubus; Karnivool; Chevelle; Tool
Discography:	Now That You're Awake EP—2011

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About the Artist

Aperture Bio:

Even before the band named itself “Aperture” it’s three founding members, John Thevenot (bass), Jared Mears (guitar), and Justin Frary (drums) worked tirelessly in the practice room for over 2 years writing the musical framework of what...

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Music

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Achievements

Alternative Winner, October 2011

Modern Rock Winner, July 2011

Top 10 in Alternative, July 2012

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Press Coverage

In through the out Aperture by Chris Parker - San Antonio Current
IN THROUGH THE OUT APERTURE: CRAIGSLIST FATHERS A PROG-METAL BROMANCE AND A NEW EP Straddling the line between chunky, breakdown-laden post-grunge and atmospheric, post-metal art rock, Aperture embraces melody with textured swirls of guitar while retaining a churning bottom-end balancing malevolence and beauty. Given the billowing prog-metal arrangements, it’s not surprising to discover they’re fans of Dredg and Karnivool, or that Alvarado fronted a Tool cover band (Third Eye) before taking the plunge into original music several years ago. “I was a late bloomer. I was in my 30s and people kept telling me I should try writing original music,” says Alvarado, recounting his cover band exploits with Papa Wood, Light Grenades, and Piranha. When the latter packed it in, he started looking for a new project. Meanwhile, unable to find a singer in Austin, the musical core of Aperture took an ad out in San Antonio, where Alvarado discovered it. “It was pretty much exactly the sound I was hoping to kind of grow into. I felt like I was taking a step up from my previous work. I feel like it’s modern, it sounds contemporary.” Aperture’s core trio of drummer Justin Frary, bassist John Thevenot, and guitarist Jared Mears had already been playing together for a couple years when, in October, they found Alvarado. By their second practice together, Alvarado was asked to join and it’s been a commuting life for him ever since. After being tapped, Alvarado quickly got to work fashioning lyrics and vocal melodies for the wealth of material the band had been amassing. In February they pooled their money, selected their best six songs, and booked a long weekend in an Austin studio to cut Now That You’re Awake. As soon as they got it back in the beginning of April (SXSW pushed mixing back a couple weeks), they posted it as free download from their website, aperturesounds.com. “Even then, with so many great bands out there it’s hard to get people to actually click on it,” laments Alvarado. But it’s worth investigating. Alvarado possesses a rafter-rattling voice, and guitarists Mears and Michael Proctor follow him into the stratosphere with some intricate guitar runs before sinking back into the viscous earthy throb. Alvarado’s lyrics are as expansive as the music, touching on themes of isolation, self-doubt, and spiritual searching. These coalesce in “Reign in Me,” which rides a gritty riff reminiscent of Alice In Chains as Alvarado questions religious dogmatism. “I think we’re all born inherently with this inner voice that knows what’s good and what’s bad or what we can do to help others,” he says. “We don’t need a particular book or someone talking down to us telling us what we should or shouldn’t do.” This is only the band’s sixth show, so they’re obviously just getting started, but the EP suggests plenty of promise. With a backlog of material, it’s full-steam ahead at this point. “We’re already thinking about the next album. They have a lot of stuff already down, and it’s all very interesting. So I have to get working on my vocal parts.”

Review of Aperture's Now That You're Awake (EP) by Chris Parker
In love with the illusion/Far from serenity," sings Nathan Alvarado on the signature cut, "Of the Sun," off this band's debut EP. If you're sensing a little philosophical angst here, you're not far off. The album's six tracks are connected by issues of self-doubt, spiritual searching, and the questioning of religious dogma: strangely appropriate territory for the kind of epic prog-metal Aperture makes. Alvarado certainly has the voice to pull it off with a soaring muscularity reminiscent of Chris Cornell. Indeed, a strong grunge thread runs through their music. Its grimy, bottom-end bristle balances the intricate skywriting, prog-guitar excursions, and slower power-ballad aspects. It's not an easy combination of elements to pull off, but this San Antonio/Austin quintet produce a remarkably seamless sound that blends drama and guitar theatrics without losing the driving, hard-rock pulse. Engineered and mixed by Kevin Butler in one four-day session at Test Tube Audio in Austin, the album is defined by its general infectiousness and the breakdown-laden, religion-questioning throbber "Reign in Me," which is not only the album's shortest track but its most focused and hardest-hitting. This is a very well crafted first effort. (Available as a free download from aperturesounds.com.)

Night After Night by June 16, 2011
Pay attention to Aperture, a band with dual Austin/San Antonio citizenship. Fronted by San Antonio-bred singer Nathan Alvarado, the quintet plays the kind of prog-meets-classic rock that rules in S.A.... the debut EP, “Now That You’re Awake,” shows the group is mature, and accomplished, far beyond its gig count. The songs are smart and tight, the arrangements are clever, the musicianship is superb and Alvarado’s voice soars.

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