TIARA is a four-piece band from Columbus, Ohio that began in 1995. The band formed in order to play the songs that Eric Rottmayer (vocals/guitar) had been recording on his four-track cassette recorder. This original line-up included Brian Moore (drums), Eric Rottmayer (vocals/guitar), Brian Freshour (guitar), and his older brother, Craig Freshour (bass). Tiara spent the next several years playing locally, releasing a handful of 7″s, and opening for such national acts as Modest Mouse and 764-HERO.
During these musically “adolescent” years, Tiara began recording with local engineer Jon Chinn on what would become their first album, “Calling the Whales. While the band was preparing for this release they picked up a fifth member, Matt Leaver, who was a close friend of the bands. With Matt playing both guitar and keyboards the band’s sound grew to a more dynamic, sonic level. Once Matt was broken in, the band found a small micro-indie label, Hub City Records, out of Maryland to release “Calling the Whales”. Unfortunately, shortly after the release of CTW, Brian’s older brother, Craig, had to leave the band to maintain his successful career as an accountant. At this time Brian decided it was time to fill his older brother’s shoes and switch to the bass since they had more than enough guitars in the band.
For the next couple of years, Matt became an integral part of the band – not only playing guitar, but also splitting songwriting duties with Eric. With a more diverse, guitar driven sound, the band began to record once again with Jon Chinn at his new Workbook studio. After spending a few months with Jon, the band completed its second full length record, “Again Cast In”, which was released on Columbus, Ohio’s Anyway Records label in 2000. At this time, the band also became good friends with Silver Scooter from Austin, TX, and the two combined forces to set out on a 3 week tour that would take them from Texas, through California, up to Washington state and back.
Upon their homecoming, Tiara was contacted by Osamu Nakai, who had seen them play the Austin Pop Rodeo in Texas. Osamu offered to license Tiara’s first two records on the Japanese label, Nooo. As well as providing the band with enough money to buy some of its own recording gear, this deal also took the band to Tokyo to play its first shows out of the country. This trip obviously offered them much inspiration and they finished their third record, Titletron, after they came back. Titletron was the first record Tiara was able to record by themselves with their newly acquired gear. Released in 2002 on Grand Theft Autumn (Parasol Records) out of Champaign, ILL, this album allowed them the chance to tour the East Coast and southern states during the spring. Titletron was positively reviewed in the CMJ trade journal, and a song was included on the CMJ monthly compilation CD.

In the fall of 2002, unfortunately, Tiara lost yet another member when Matt Leaver left the band in order to move to New York City. Before his departure, they would enter Diamond Mine Studios to record 6 new songs with Engineer Jason White. Now back to a three piece, Brian Moore, Eric, and Brian Freshour spent the winter months recording more songs in Eric’s basement. Staying close to their previous formula, Tiara invited another close friend over to play. Erik Kang immediately started writing and recording new guitar lines for these songs. With the addition of Erik, Tiara collectively decided to combine both their work at Diamond Mine and these new “basement” sessions into what has become their fourth record, “The Summer of the Lion, The Summer of the Lamb”. This new record will be released in the United States on the newly formed Columbus collective label, We Want Action, and In Japan on Noon Records (formerly Nooo) this Fall.
Tiara:

Eric Rottmayer-vocals/guitar

Brian Moore-drums

Erik Kang-guitar/vocals

Brian Freshour-bass