Georgia native Ben Asbury developed his solo music and art project Axxa/Abraxas out of an early foray into obsessive record collection and fascination with music. Drawing on influences rooted in early-'60s psychedelic pop and fuzzy proto-punk sounds, Asbury started recording on his own in college while studying psychology. While working on art and demo recordings full-time, Asbury began the RTA Collective, a label/community that mainly joined together small-scale D.I.Y. releases on cassette and CD-R to accompany his visual art and silkscreened prints. He sent a demo package to Brooklyn label Captured Tracks, which immediately signed the young independent and got him working with Woods member Jarvis Taveniere to help record and produce a proper studio debut. The self-titled debut arrived in late 2013, with limited copies accompanied by a book of art. ~ Fred Thomas