On October 7, in celebration of Canadian Autism Awareness Month, Jake’s House, a charity that supports people on the autism spectrum, is launching a very important initiative. Recognizing the universal power of music, the charity has created a band called ASD (standing for Autism Spectrum Disorder) made-up of five very talented Canadian performers who are each on the spectrum. ASD is in the process of recording cover versions of classic pop songs, including “Stitches” by Shawn Mendes, and will be releasing their playlist on all major audio streaming platforms in October, with proceeds going to the charity.
Readers can help by purchasing merchandise from the band, as all proceeds will go back to Jake’s House, as well as to stream and share the band’s music. All of this information and more can be found at on Jake’s House’s website, and merch can be purchased here!
We were able to speak to the band and ask them some questions!
Who are some of your favourite bands?
Spenser: Lagwagon, Blink 182, Frank Turner (and of course, my own band, Lime Rickey)
Roberto: I love musical theatre, specifically Grease and Saturday Night Fever but I also love Queen, David Bowie and Stevie Wonder
Rawan: I love musicals, like the Descendants 1, 2, and 3 and Avenue Q. And my favourite artists are Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Swift, Shawn Mendes and the Jonas Brothers.
Ron: Classical composers, Yiruma and Yun Dili
Jackson: Elvis, The Beatles and The Alan Parsons Project
What has been the best part about making the band?
Spenser: Having the opportunity to record with such great musicians and producers and being on a big stage.
Roberto: Being at the recording session and watching all our work come together in our video.
Rawan: That our talents are seen by the masses and that we’ve created a sense of camaraderie among the band and it works well.
Ron: Sharing the music and performing live
Jackson: It’s always a great opportunity to play with other musicians and record in a professional studio like this one, especially when it’s for a good cause.
The logo on ASD’s merch was co-created by graphic designer, Adam Barkworth.
What do you like most about designing/drawing?
I like most about designing that I can relax and do it in my spare time and create ideas that come to mind for people to then go ahead and use, my motivation for this is seeing them in use and being out there.
What was your inspiration for this awesome logo?
For the ASD logo I just had a bunch of ideas come to mind on how to relate it to the band and being autistic myself I think the main inspiration was that the band is for autistic people, in the end the final design was very simple but it looks so good! I love how it turned out and how effective and eye catching it is.
