Heading North is a five-piece pop punk band formed in Pittsburgh, PA in 2023. Composed of frontman Asha, guitarists Hannah and Aeden, bassist Cee, and drummer Mario, Aeden is credited with forming the band.
“I had a lot of songs that I was just writing that I just really didn't have a use for, and I really, really wanted to play them,” says Aedan.
“Granted, I've known Cee for a really long time. We used to be in a band together [Yaro and the Static]. I've known Hannah for a long time, too, and Asha and I went to high school together. Asha actually did art for the previous band. I had kind of been talking to Hannah and Cee about getting something going, and I remember putting out a post on my Instagram story.
"I was like, 'Hey, who wants to sing in a pop punk band?' and Asha swiped up. Asha sent me a video singing ignorance by Paramore, and I was like, cool, that's perfect. [It was a] consistent lineup from the get-go, and then Mario over here joined us early last year.”
Heading North encapsulates everything there is to love about the Pittsburgh music scene. Staying true to DIY, singer Asha creates all of the art and merchandise for the band, and their base of recording operations is located in Aeden’s basement.
“We all crowd in my little music room, and it's just nice having everybody there, and we're not in a time crunch. We don't have to pack up when we're done and we can just kind of just pick up where we left off every time we go back to work on it more...I feel like it embodies the DIY kind of energy, you know. We're just, we're all sitting in a room together doing it ourselves...it's really awesome,”
says Aedan.
A majority of the city’s DIY music scene relies heavily on the ever-iconic Pittsburgh basement. From recording studios to live music venues, the basement is a quintessential part of the thriving Pittsburgh music underground.
As an attendee of many Heading North shows, I can attest to the genuinely welcoming atmosphere created by the band. All members of Heading North typically engage in banter with the crowd, either by cracking jokes, picking on fellow bandmates, or stopping the show to tell a shark fact (Did you know that sharks are older than trees?). Even while actively performing, Heading North engages its audience at every opportunity, from spirit fingers during guitar solos to turning the microphone to an audience member to finish the lyric. There is never a dull moment when Heading North is on stage. The shows are funny, uplifting, and cathartic. During the song Two Steps Away, Asha always takes a moment to emphasize the need for community, uplifting others, and uplifting yourself. This message is priceless in today’s world, where community is rare and yet more important than ever.
“When someone comes up to me and tells me that Two Steps Away is their favorite song, or the song they've been listening to all the time, or I see someone singing the lyrics back to me, that is like one of the most emotional experiences that I can have,” Asha says.
“That song is so personal to me, and it brings me so much optimism. When I'm doing really bad, I sing the bridge to myself. Knowing it can do that for other people -- It's a really beautiful and also kind of terrifying thing, and I really hope that most of our music is there just to have people have fun. I hope no one's crying to The Mon,but I would say, for a lot of the more difficult stuff, it feels really scary to put out. I think the reward is so big: of just, like, having that catharsis and that feeling of like I'm not alone.”
Each band member traces their musical interest back to early adolescence. Aeden first picked up guitar when he was gifted one for Christmas. After shutting himself in his room for months on end, pouring into his guitar, he switched his major at CAPA, a Pittsburgh high school, from art to instrumental. Bassist Cee also started their music career early in elementary school, first picking up the guitar but quickly deciding it wasn’t for them. They later picked up the bass.
“I think the thing that really got me started taking playing music seriously was in high school, in the punk scene with the Polish Hill shows and Roboto shows a lot. It was just an experience that really showed me ‘Oh, anyone can do this.’ It isn't something catered off to the superstars. If you’ve got an instrument and a couple of your friends have an instrument, you can be doing that. You can be making that kind of music, too,” says Cee.
Drummer Mario attributes his early music inspiration to his brother:
“I started on piano when I was probably about five, and then I just kind of became obsessed with music like my brother. We grew up on Guitar Hero and Rock Band and The Beatles Rock Band… got super into The Beatles. I learned how to play drums on Rock Band because, if you play on expert, it's pretty much just the part.”
Asha states frankly,
“If you've ever talked to me, you know, this is true - I love the sound of my own voice… I have been singing since I was like itty bitty teeny tiny.”
Asha has always dreamed of being in a band. However, they grew up with their parents solely playing Radio Disney and didn’t have a music taste until being introduced to My Chemical Romance by a classmate shortly after moving to Pittsburgh from California. Hannah started their guitar journey in middle school, also dabbling in other instruments like violin and bass, later teaching themselves how to play cello their senior year of high school.
When asked about the biggest influences on Heading North’s sound, each member had a unique response. Each musician focuses on a different aspect of song writing; therefore, multiple sources of influence helped foster Heading North’s uniquely distinct sound and lyricism. Asha attributes their main sources of influence to Gerard Way and Hayley Williams.
“I'm probably the biggest My Chemical Romance fan people will meet casually. There are people who are much crazier about it than me, but you don't normally meet them. I don't think they go outside much. I don't think that we sound anything like My Chemical Romance, but I use Gerard Way's lyricism as a sort of benchmark of what I think is peak lyricism--peak storytelling--that I can imagine in a song… We never beat the Paramore allegations. Sometimes we will write a song and it's like, ‘Damn, this really sounds like Paramore.’ I honestly use Hayley Williams’ songwriting also as a sort of benchmark. Her last album, Ego Death at the Bachelorette Party– as we've been writing this album, if I'm doubting myself about something, I'll listen to that and I'm like ‘No, Hayley Williams would do that too.’ A lot of my other musical influence is more like indie music, like locally. I love Merce Lemon,” says Asha.
When describing his early music career Mario states early influences the Beatles, but when first introduced to the pop punk genre he became influenced by Green Day and later became inspired by metal bands including Loathe and Periphery. Mario states when he was asked by Aeden to join Heading North he was excited to “dust off the pop punk chops”.
Cee channels classic punk bands while writing for Heading North.
“We're certainly not like a punk band, but the way I write my stuff was always inspired by a lot of classic punk like The Clash or some newer stuff like Dollhouse… I will say especially with some of the stuff we've been writing recently and even some of the more recent releases, the one thing we've taken a lot from Paramore is that we try to make the instrumentals alone interesting enough, even before the vocals come down. We want an interesting base layer to the song,” they say.
Hannah acknowledges being influenced by the band Pool Kids, stating that their ability to create tangible feelings within their lyrics is inspirational.
Aeden declares,
“Thrice is one of my favorite bands of all time. I love how melodic their guitars are, and so I really try and kind of take from that because I love dense chords… I definitely take a shitload of influence from a lot of like the 2009 to 2013 metal synthesizers and stuff like Asking Alexandria's first two records, Devil Wears Prada, Bring Me the Horizon.” Aeden also cites his favorite genres of hip-hop and R&B, including artists Anderson Paak and Mac Miller, as having an indirect influence on his musicality.
With their newest album gearing up for release, Heading North gave Deja Magazine exclusive insight on the new sound they’re creating.
“I think this album is definitely going in a lot of different directions. I think it's really cool because we're kind of like experimenting with some new sounds that we haven't really done before, and we're just maturing musically. I think the songs are a lot more purposeful. They feel a lot more planned out, everything feels more developed. There is some heavy stuff,” says Aeden.
Unavoidable aspects of daily Pittsburgh life are also a major influence for the band. With this honesty inspired by unavoidable life events, Heading North brings uncensored, raw emotion and unapologetic lyricism, steeped in honesty and relatability. From Two Steps Away’s brutal pleas for self-love to Toss/Turn’s gut-punchingly raw lyrics, one can’t help but become immersed. While detailing their songwriting process, Asha states they funnel their pure, raw emotions (often rage) felt while driving into their lyrics.
“Most of my lyrics driving around Pittsburgh sitting in my car. Like, it's normally -- I'm just playing the demos through my speakers and just coming up with melodies and then lyrics and I also think that I pull from the environment around me a lot like i'll see a sign for something and if it has strange verbiage i'll jot it down on my phone… Driving in Pittsburgh is like the worst thing ever. Our next song is called live, babe most of that I wrote while driving and I think that comes out a lot because it's a really spiteful and angry song…” says Asha.
As any seasoned Pittsburgh driver would know, driving in Pittsburgh can be a harbinger of many different emotions, often including cathartic releases of internal rage. But Heading North’s lyrics are inspired by more than just road rage:
“In ‘Polarity,’ like ‘sitting on the bus’, and ‘windows rattle on my hand,’ so many of my lyrics... are made up bullshit, of just like concepts I think are cool. But I also think that, inherently, my experiences are part of it. A lot of it is just from living in Pittsburgh and growing up in Pittsburgh after moving across the country…” says Asha.
Heading North has also become a source of inspiration for many including local Pittsburgh band Dolltrap. Rhythm guitarist Hannah reminisces on a 2024 conversation over instagram messages from Christina of Dolltrap, stating,
“She had messaged me and been like, I've really been wanting to play guitar, but I've really had a lot of doubts about it I feel like I can't do it but I was just at your show and I watched you guys and I just have to say like you seem like you have small hands and I do too. That's like genuinely really like one of the sweetest things anyone's ever said to me. And she did go on to start a band – They're called Dolltrap. They're from Pittsburgh. They're really cool. But I think that is what it's all about – you want people to come and see you and be like this is a good time and that looks fun and I want to get my friends together and do it too.”
The Pittsburgh DIY scene is a quintessential part of what makes Heading North thrive. Aeden says,
“I think it's really changed a lot in the last couple years, especially for the better. There's a lot of really really awesome up-and-coming bands coming out right now, a lot of which are our friends.”
Hannah piggybacks off this sentiment.
“I would say, in terms of infrastructure, there's been sort of a weird turnaround. House venues have closed... The landscape of the city socially and ‘population-y’ has shifted, but I think that the venues that are still running and the newer ones--shout out HAVEN--really sort of embody that DIY spirit... working together to create this space.”
Cee attributes the lifeblood of the DIY scene to house venues.
“I definitely wanted to shout out just the sheer amount of people running house venues from, like, their basements in Oakland. Just building such a community and really good infrastructure for people starting out.”
From bands to booking coordinators, photographers, sound and lighting technicians, security, and venue staff, the music scene in Pittsburgh is composed of countless individuals who help each other keep venues running, making the scene come together as a cohesive ecosystem. Throughout our interview with Heading North, the band shouted out many people who are cornerstones of the Pittsburgh DIY scene, including Plank Fan (“I love Plank Fan he is (the) boots-on-the-ground journalism that we deserve,”), Brett from Don’t Let the Scene Go Down on Me, Nick Linder, Tilt Controls, Frog Legs, King Blue Heron, Pitter-Patter, Keystone Artist Connect, Eli Alfieri, Crash Nebula, Main Street Detour, and Maddie Lafferty.
Heading North’s favorite venues and shows include their My Chemical Romance’s Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge cover show at Bottlerocket Social Hall, Mr. Smalls, the Roxian, the Mr. Roboto Project, HAVEN, and Bloomfield Pride. When asked about the future of the band and the possibility of an “end goal,” guitarist Aeden states,
“I don't know if there's necessarily an end goal. I hope you guys feel the same way. I want – I hope we can take this as far as we can and, you know, wherever that may be I'm happy with it, because I really do think we have something special here. You know, this is a really fucking awesome group of people and regardless of where we may end up like 15-20 years from now like I'm gonna be happy regardless.”
Cee agrees with this sentiment,
“I've played in a few bands before. We weren't able to build a big following or much momentum, but I've already done things with this band that I never thought I'd be able to do, and just things that I thought would be impossible starting out on. And so I kind of have no idea where the band is going. I've already been proven wrong a bunch.”
The band may not have a set direction, but they’re optimistic for the future and one thing’s for sure: they’re Heading North!