Tia Carrera

Many bands improvise their music, but in the case of the Austin, TX-based Tia Carrera, it's their entire career that seems to have happened that way — spontaneously and without an ounce of planning. Not to be confused with the actress and occasional singer Tia Carrere, the band was first established (if you could call it that) in 2003 by guitarist Jason Morales and drummer Erik Conn, who were soon joined by bassist Andrew Duplantis, but no full-time singer. After all, the trio's live in-studio jams on the raw materials of hard rock, stoner rock, space rock, psychedelic rock, and heavy metal (among other things) were hardly Top 40 material anyway, so singing was an afterthought, and it didn't stop a healthy cult from developing around the trio's sporadic performances and releases, including 2004's November Sessions, 2006's Tia Carrera, and 2007's Heaven/Hell EP. All of these were released by Australia's Cattle God Records, but Tia Carrera would link up with Detroit's Small Stone for their next full-length, 2009's sardonically named The Quintessential.