Asha Vida formed when friends Craig Badynee (vocal, guitar, bass guitar, keyboards), Eric Pieti (guitar, keyboards), and Jesse Rafferty (drums) recorded a demo and passed it on to fellow dreamstersWindy Carl. This led to Asha Vida's first release, the Eskimo Summer Ep which received widespread approval from the indie press. Shortly after, Asha Vida became known for their unique live shows, and landed gigs with Swervedriver, Blonde Redhead, and the Pale Saints. Another single, Pinion, was released, again to critical raves.
1997's CD release, As One of One saw the band break free from the repetitive limitations of space-rock; free-form exploration and gloomy prog-rock now dominated their sound. In 1998, Asha Vida played a few scattered shows including a CMJ showcase at New York's Knitting Factory. On their 1998 Burnt Hair records release, Nature's Clumsy Hand the trio totally abandons traditional song structure, instead creating a sonic feast of live improvs and art-noise bliss. ~ Dale Nicholls, Rovi