As they sat down with some drinks at the Wild Boar Cafe, the members of Aspen Hourglass talked about the show they played the night before in front of a warehouse on a very tiny stage in front of thousands of people.

This local band has been busy since the Collegian last spoke with them.

The band, made up of CSU alumni, was started when guitarist Grayson Erhard and drummer Sean Hanson met through their old bassist, who played in pep band with Hanson.

“I remember (Hanson) sitting down and he did a roll and went right into it and it was just solid,” said Erhard, who graduated from CSU in 2013 with a degree in computer information systems.

Since then, the band has gained a classically trained keyboard player, Elvin Holderfield. Holderfield is the owner of Hourglass Music School, where Erhard teaches guitar. The trio said they decided to play together one day, and it just stuck.

“We just set a play date jam session,” said Holderfield, who graduated in 2011 with a degree in piano performance. “I heard (Grayson) play and I decided, ‘This is where I want to be. I want to be in this band.'”

The inclusion of styled piano and keyboard, along with Erhard’s own unique guitar-playing style, is what defines the band’s sound, the members said. They spent the last year with more freedom to develop a sound all their own, Aspen Hourglass said. The band also released their first four-song EP, “Navigate,” earlier this year.

The group has been touring both locally and nationally, including shows at South by Southwest and Taste of Fort Collins. Aspen Hourglass is now headlining their biggest show to date July 10 at the Gothic Theatre in Denver, which the band said was a dream of theirs a year ago. They also have tours and shows planned throughout the rest of the year. However, the group said their goal is not so much quantity these days as it is quality.

“We really want to improve the quality of our product,” said Hanson, who graduated in 2014 with a degree in mechanical engineering. “We’ve kinda fallen into a rut lately just because we’ve played so many shows.”

Aside from cleaning up their style and appearance, the band’s plans for the future including producing a full-length album.

“It’s the best way for us to explore ourselves,” said Holderfield. “We haven’t had the chance to really delve into it, and making a killer album is our next goal.”

Collegian Reporter Chapman Croskell can be reached at entertainment@collegian.com and on Twitter @Nescwick.