A Summer High

Bio

American pop-rock band, A Summer High, is emerging quickly from the passions of four young musicians, connecting dreams that began even before their teenage years. Luke Oxendale and Mason Levi met in the spring of 2016, after developing separately in local high school rock bands in the small towns of Western Pennsylvania.

As their high school years concluded, they began making music together, and formed the idea that was A Summer High.  They shared the idea online and a small band of followers urged them on and it grew. Luke and James Anthony, a guitar player from just outside Minnesota’s Twin Cities, discovered they had musical ideas that matched up. At the beginning of June, James jumped a flight to Pittsburgh. By the time Luke, James, and Mason got to Luke’s studio from the airport, their first song was forming. In the next five days, they wrote and recorded two songs, and made four covers of bands they all respected and liked.

James returned to Minnesota, but the three communicated non-stop, swapping their ideas and visions for what A Summer High could be. Their followers were growing and the boys dubbed them ASHers. These kids were watching online to every step of a dream becoming real. With school finally behind them, the three piled into Mason’s maroon Hyundai Sonata. They hatched a plan to busk in the parking lots of the 5 Seconds of Summer tour throughout July. Buffalo, Harrisburg, NYC, Philly, Charlotte, Jacksonville, Nashville, Chicago, and other cities in between. A Summer High was on the road!

They kept the ASHers in the loop, and the ASHers showed up… and they grew. The boys played acoustically to hundreds of kids every night. Some nights, security gave them a tough time. Some nights, security gave them ticket to come into the arenas. 5sos took a golf cart out to see what was happening in the parking lot, and Tweeted about the “legends” that were A Summer High. The boys came to New York, and found their way to meetings with Spotify and Warner Brothers. Music execs in Nashville came to the parking lot to see them busk with a hand-made sign.

After a month on the road, the trio headed to Minneapolis. They moved Luke’s entire home studio there from Pennsylvania, and woodshedded through August and September. They emerged with a six new songs and a cover song/video of Jon Bellion’s “All Time Low.” The ASHers grew. They were from Manila and Mexico City, and the UK. They were from the busking markets and from everywhere.

Now, the boy’s determined to expand their vision for the band. Luke, James, and Mason would continue to blend their vocal harmonies and share the lead. Luke, a multi-instrumentalist, would anchor the band on guitar. Mason, a drummer since he was eight years-old, had evolved to playing bass guitar, and James would bring the strength of his band experiences on guitar. And just as they had planned for many months, they brought Luke’s younger brother, 17 year-old Noah Oxendale, officially on-board on the drums.

Yes, it is happening fast for A Summer High and for their ASHers. Laser vision pierces time. They launched their first original song, “I Need You Here” with a video in December of 2016.

Then, they met Rishi Bahl in December of 2016, who caught their first-ever live show at The Smiling Moose in Pittsburgh, PA. Bahl is the front man of punk roots band, Eternal Boy. He also founded Pittsburgh’s own punk/pop annual event, the Four Chord Festival, and he had a vision to expand that commitment to the genre with the start-up of an indie label.

This was an opportunity for A Summer High to grow in the indie scene. They focused on their writing, and by May of 2017, they were in producer Chris Bademi’s New Jersey studio, making their debut original song EP, “Pretty Little Liar.” With the release of the EP on July 28, and the beginning of more touring, A Summer High continues the work of being a band.

Luke, James, Mason, and Noah are A Summer High. Punk/pop, heavy on vocal harmony. Now they are adding the seasoning.

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