About

Radium Wild is a Chicago-based rock and pop band with members out of St. Louis, Missouri, and Ottawa, Illinois. For more than a year, this group of eight (seven guys, one lady) has been performing in living rooms, on front porches and in dive bars across Chicago. The strength of Radium Wild comes from its versatility, with band members dedicated to constant exploration of a wide range of sounds and instruments on and off the stage (or porch).

The group was formed in 2011 by Ashkon Farmand, a songwriter since his teenage years. Ashkon enlisted childhood friend Lindsey Aufricht to add soulful lead vocals and roommate Corey May to play rhythm guitar. Ashkon and Corey’s Chicago apartment on Sheffield Avenue quickly became the group’s unofficial headquarters and a common ground for friends to gather and play music. As the group’s songs began to develop, it recruited Joe Gondolfi, Ashkon’s college friend, and Joe’s brother Sam Gondolfi to further enhance Radium Wild’s musical repertoire with piano and drums. Ryan Fairman, another childhood friend of Ashkon, moved in to the band’s house and joined the group to play lead rhythm and blues guitar. As the group began recording their self-titled debut EP, brothers Kevin and Daniel Sagendorph, college friends of Joe and Ashkon, joined to round out Radium Wild’s catchy sound with trombone and trumpet.

Radium Wild is highly diverse group with members whose varied musical preferences and backgrounds blend to form an intricate and evolving body of work, one that continues to grow with its popularity.