Created and led by Guillermo Morales Vitola, a drummer first and an artist always, ÄSTRA is not a calculated project. It’s a compulsion. A lifeline. For Guillermo, music isn’t something to strategize—it’s something he can’t turnoff. "I make music because my life asks me to do it," he says. "If I don’t go into the studio, if I don’t make sound, I start to feel like something is missing."
Born in Colombia and based in Los Angeles, Guillermo has spent years helping other artists navigate the music industry, shaping careers while working behind the scenes. But with that came expectations—metrics, algorithms, strategies. ÄSTRA was his way out. "I felt the need to express something that was missing," he explains. "This is a different kind of offering—an invitation to feeling."
That feeling pulses through ÄSTRA’s sound—an urgent blend of raw guitars, vintage synth textures, and pounding drums. It’s music that thrives on tension: melody and grit, warmth and darkness, past and future colliding. For Guillermo, it’s deeply personal. "That sound sends me right to my childhood," he shares. "It’s like a warm embrace in the middle of a sea full of different kinds of fish." Bands like The Cure, Depeche Mode, and Led Zeppelin left their mark—not through imitation but through their commitment to creating sonic worlds, something ÄSTRA embraces with both arms.
Guillermo has returned to a heavier sound with ÄSTRA—a natural fit, he says, for where he is now: "Curious, older, and not afraid to say what I want to say." And while he understands the industry better than most, he doesn’t let it shape the music. "I just write music that I would listen to," he states. "Numbers and streams aren’t irrelevant—but they’re secondary. I want to make something timeless." To him, chasing relevance is where music loses its soul. "There’s this urgency to fit into a demographic or festival lineup. But the important thing is to write music you’d gladly listen to yourself."
ÄSTRA isn’t about mass appeal—it’s about truth. And that truth hits hardest on stage. The band has already left its mark at festivals like Vive Latino 2023, collaborating with icons like Enrique Bunbury (De La Piel Para Adentro) and Alfonso André (Navaja). But Guillermo isn’t interested in chasing stadiums or viral moments. "I hope to be recognized as a good musician," he says. "Play shows at not-so-big venues, enjoy the experience—for me and for the audience." Because when the band takes the stage, something clicks. "If you throw us into a festival with a decent soundcheck, it’s going to be ridiculous," he grins. "The band live is an animal."
ÄSTRA is music that doesn’t just play—it lingers. It hits you in the chest, stays with you long after the last note fades.
This isn’t music designed to go viral.
It’s music designed to last.
