Asterstrand Taserna
Asterstrand Tasterna | |
|---|---|
| Origin | The Absolute Royal Federation, Imeriata proper |
| Genres | M-pop |
| Years active |
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| Labels | Sandersja Publishing House |
| Members | |
Asterstrand Taserna (literally "The lasses from Eastshore") is a Federal idol group formed in 2020 by at the time 16-18 year old friends Frida, Rosenild-branne-bortauf-di-onda-makterna, the Maling sisters Hilda, Ulrika, and Sigfrid, as well as the recently ennobled elf Sofia. While all six were quite interested in music growing up did they take an interest in M-pop quite quickly and decided to form a band dedicated to this genre and they have listed bands like Eclipse as great sources of inspiration. Baring a short period of a late break in 2022 when the sisters Hilda, Ulrika, and Sigrfid along with their two sisters, Greta, and Ulffrid were in maling tradition married to a single husband has the band been active continuously since it foundation.
While clearly the main inspiration is M-pop have the band also allowed some Imerian influences sneak into their music, the use of more traditional Imerian instruments from their background dancers and a lot of music is sung in Imerian.
Foundation
The band as founded in 2020 when the girls still attended school, the group was fortunate that they were already known as good singers at their school and they also were friends with Hilda auf Sandersja, the daughter of the wealthy and influential Sandersja family, using those connections were the five singers able to get their music published by the the Sandersja family. The girls were already rather infamous on their school years as big fan of foreign music, this is especially noteworthy for the Handelsgrand sisters that claim descent from the original Maling Paragon-lord Goran auf Malhalla that is still seen as the spiritual father of all malings even if they only can trace their descent through their maternal lines.
With the backing of the Sandersja household, especially that of their friend Hilda auf Sandersja as the daughter of the patriarch of the Sandersja household were the band able to start relatively successfully in the very niche Malgravean appreciative Imerian noble women but they got some notification and were able to at least partially spread into mainstream view and the band has been able to serve as entertainment in some relatively up scale balls, even rumoured to have preformed to members of the Stjänrkhrone household.
2020 - 2022 - Debut & Hiatus
The largest federal successes was originally for the band just attending private and personal gatherings and balls hosted by daughters of rich aristocrats however their albums were also selling a lot quicker than their very foreign influenced musical style would suggest. However they still saw some spread amongst most young girls in the federation, regardless of social stature. This was especially true after the engagement between the auf Handelsgrand sisters and their husband Hilde that was very much liked by most fans leading up to the wedding.
2023 - Present - Return
Following a few months of a break due to the wedding of Hilda, Ulrika, and Sigfrid (as well as two more sisters) to Hilde auf Sjafront, a son of an influential family in Malhalla did the band finally announce it's return and the girls again were out on tours. This period also saw them turning more and more to help out during the Grogarite war and they were quick to hold fundraising campaigns to help out Malgravean colonial holdings in rebuilding, but also to give aid for Malgravean and Kouralian refugees. Similarly did they also raise money to refugees fleeing from the tower Crisis next door in Rohane Alista.
They were also spotted doing a tour amongst federal forces actively engaged in military action in the Magravean colonial holdings, something said to have been arranged due to some regimental commanders having daughters that were well known fans. However despite the rather unorthodox music has this been rumoured but not confirmed to be met with some appreciation. While Federal news have been very quick to either downplay, or not even mention this have a lot of Maltube videos circled about Imerians playing their music either on marches or riding sleds past people filming them. However their most recent and most popular venture was them preforming in the Grand Federal Opera in Sydvinland where a lot of daughters from famous and influential household attended but one could also see a lot of local girls also attend seeming to confirm a spreading of the groups popularity.
As part of their reunion tour did they also attend the Global Music Showcase in 2023 where they met with moderate success, a combination of their music generally being seen as good and the novelty of an Imerian band gave them rather favourable reviews, something the band was quite pleased with according to interviews they held and with some publicly published letters they sent to their fans after the event.
Controversies
The band has described itself as unpolitical and aligned with the high king's arch reactionary programs of restoring rights to previously oppressed minorities and help further integrate linguistic minorities into the federal political structure as well as further integrate the commonry into the same political advisory roles held by other estates and religious orders. However despite that have they also been clearly more reactionary than the high king himself on other topics, having previously spoken out in support of the idea of lifting the ban on Malings and Malgraveans from visiting Björnland. They have also been quite outspoken about preferring a more laxer assimilation of non Scanderan cultures into the high culture and widening the conditions for what is considered members of Scanderaniansed societies or not.
These stances and others like them have gotten them facing both political and economic pressure from the guild and the crown however in most cases have they been able to avoid serious drawbacks by officially apologise for any controversial statements and having powerful backers. Similarly have some eyebrows been raised by most Malings about rumours that the marriage between Hilde and his auf Handelsgrand sister-wives mighty clearly favour one of the sisters as Greta and Hilde knew one another prior to the wedding and she has already produced two heirs but none of the other sisters have even produced one. This is also something that some commenters have claimed that at least Ulrika has alluded to in interviews and public writing by the band but it has never been confirmed however the rumours are still abound in Malhalla. Similarly was it said that Frida's engagement was broken off due to her membership of the band, something that was ultimately confirmed by Frida herself.
Fandom
While mostly popular with younger female nobles have the band been able to secure some fame and recognition within the wider federation and their music have been popularly associated with Imerian military forces serving in the Malgravean colonial holdings however it remains uncertain if this is actually true or not as Federal propaganda tends to downplay foreign influences amongst it's warriors and institutions whenever possible or just be very tightlipped about any such instances. However despite that is it very common for younger Imerian noblewomen that are already somewhat viewing foreigners positively to be very enamoured with the band. Jokingly called "our lasses" or "vadera taser" by the band members themselves.
These somewhat influential fans have also been able to shield the band from the worst backlash by more conservative federal groups, especially the ability to show the Sandersja dynastic patronage have served them more than once in guild debates about if the guild should sanction them as very few merchant men are willing to go against the owners of the large arms manufacturer and all their guild aligned ventures.