- April 24, 2024
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Hard rock band Aunt Stella’s Ashes has been trying to ‘make it’ since 2009, and they aren’t planning to stop.
The difference between bands that make it and bands that don’t, according to rock group Aunt Stella’s Ashes’ frontman Tim Schichtel, is tunnel vision.
“It takes more than just talent,” he said. Bands that succeed have to dedicate themselves to the idea and the lifestyle of succeeding, he said, of playing music exclusively for a living. No low-wage side-jobs. No distractions.
They have to be willing to suffer for it.
Established in Palm Coast in 2009, Aunt Stella’s Ashes is a five-man outfit that Schichtel classifies as on the “edge of metal.” So far, they’ve been running in circles, he says. But now they’re focused.
With weekly shows in surrounding cities — Sickboys, in Daytona Beach, and Café 57 West, in Orlando, to name two — Schitchel pushes his brand through websites, a logo, merchandise and two concert DVDs scheduled for release in September. It’s the epitome of the “go big or go home” theory.
“You can’t give up on it,” he said. “You have to be more persistent than the naysayers. You have to be prepared to do it for nothing for the rest of your life.”
He rejects most garage acts’ lack of business drive.
“The lightning’s not going to strike you; you’ve got to go to where the thunderstorm is,” he said.
Once Aunt Stella’s secures a following, the band plans to rent a venue in Flagler to host a show independently. The event would give smaller acts a voice, Schichtel said, without the wash-out distortion of the bar cover-song model.
“If you want to make it big, you can’t (think) like an amateur,” he said. “You’ve got to be professional.”
To hear the band, visit www.reverb nation.com/auntstellasashes.
