About me:

Asperilla Mint

The working-class suburbs of Philadelphia set the scene for late night "house" jams and creativity, involving a variety of musicians. "We had about four drummers, five bass players, a couple of extra guitars, a keyboard player, back-up singers, a harmonica player, a trumpet, I mean the place was really hoppin'. When we got the opportunity to step out, you never knew who was going to be playing. Mark and I were there, but the people around us, that was another story", recalled Timothy.

This roving, improvising attitude was a great learning tool for the duet but Blacknell and Timothy eventually decided that it was time to establish a set unit, with set tunes. Enter drummer Rocco Richardson. "I remember seeing Rocco for the first time at an outdoor festival. He was in a really bad grunge band but his playing was excellent that day. I told Kevin that I was going to steal the kid. When fate inspired a chance meeting a couple of weeks later, Rocco's bad grunge days were over", said Blacknell. With the addition of conga player Scott Emuryan and bass player Mike Thompson, the unit was set and ready for action.

As a steady attraction to the Philadelphia area club scene and sentimental "house" band at Doc Watson's Pub, Asperilla Mint has gained the respect of critics and peers alike. The Asperilla Mint sound has evolved into a special blend of Rock and Roll, influenced by the simple "roll" of the assembly line and the complex issues that "rock" the people that work them. The band hasn't stayed within the confines of just playing music either. They have used their love of music to establish What It Is! Magazine (a 20,000 copy a month magazine focusing on Philadelphia's original music scene) andWhat It Is! Promotions (a company that promotes/books national, regional and local acts at several venues in the Philadelphia area). Asperilla Mint is not only "in" the scene, Asperilla Mint is creating the scene.

With all of this activity, the band nevertheless remains focused on the one thing that has always meant most to them: making music with passion and energy. With the drive to be the best and ability to expose their name, music and scene to a national audience, Asperilla Mint seems likely to freshen the breath of the music industry for a long time to come. Asperilla Mint has already brought an aire of excitement to Philadelphia, seldom witnessed in recent years. In the immortal words of legendary music promoter Bill Graham, "Its all just a matter of time now."

Basically The Best Of...

Basically the Best of... is a collection of material that I have recently converted from cassette tape. First released are 5-7 tracks that were the most complete and from the best of line-ups, plus Dave Werner's finishing touch with some incredible leads making some of our best material. Over time other I will be converting other Asperilla Mint gems with various line-ups and sit in's.

If you have any video or other recordings please let us know.