A-SET is the band name and creative outlet for songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Albert Menduno. Based in Boulder, Colorado, Menduno creates and performs under A-SET, composing, playing, singing, and producing. 

A creator of emotive sonic landscapes, he brings his unique blend of technical craft, artistic vision, and authenticity to each of his songs, spanning decades of self-evolutionary music making. 

Self-taught on all instruments, he produces intimate, lo-fi sounds using the retro format of 8-track analog tape from his Tascam 388 and post-production tech. Taking influences from his rough and pioneering post-punk past and hard-earned indie street cred, he uses layers of sound to offer a moody and honest range of songs that reflect a continued pursuit of self-expression. Collages and chords converge in multimedia artistry with an attention to detail that is intensely personal yet equally accessible.   

Musical background: 

Raised in the suburbs of San Jose, California where kids roamed free amid an ever-changing and unsupervised cultural shift unique to Gen Xers, Menduno began in an all-ages punk musical collective called The Sunnyvale Music Club. He helped form the band Mohinder, an early and important feature of the California hardcore scene, playing bass for its intensely chaotic yet enduringly influential shows and recordings. 

He switched to drums when the band morphed into Calm, mastering both drums and guitar for the group’s final incarnation, Duster, all of which can be found in playlists today. Menduno was teamed in the band, Haelah, with Kathy and Hutch, known later from Portland, Oregon-based The Thermals. 

Later, Menduno relocated to Chicago and formed A-SET. A first EP was recorded in 1998 titled, “The Science of Living Things,” which favored thick, psychedelic walls of sound with lead vocals by Menduno. In 1999, they released their first full-length album, “Songs from The Red Room,” a more solidified, alternative pop-rock version of his style at the time, touring the U.S. and under label for a time. A trove of past releases, and present, show a changing yet consistent performer and producer.