Love.45

Hard work.  Sweat equity.  Pounding the pavement.  Making connections.  So much of what goes into a band succeeding these days has nothing to do with the music they make. But there are those instances when all of the above, combined with the all-important music, leads to a moment in time when being in the right place at the right time kicks in. Call it luck, call it providence, serendipity, or, as Love.45 calls it, "something that was meant to happen."

Sure, this foursome, who hail from Denver, Colorado, have the music – the chops, the songs that sound sing-along-on-the-first-listen familiar yet they’re different from anything on the radio right now.  They’ve knuckled down more in their five years together than many bands do in twice the time, but it was their undeniable music and a chance meeting that led them to the breakthrough point they’re poised at now.

Long-time friends and collaborators Paul Trinidad, Jr. (lead guitar, vocals), and Mick Shivers (rhythm guitar, vocals) had played together in a number of bands since high school.  In searching for a drummer, they happened upon a bassist and lead singer instead in the form of Danny Elster. Drummer Jim Messina, whose former band had rehearsal space down the hall from Love.45, came on board shortly after Danny joined.  The first time the four of them played together they just knew --they experienced an immediate chemistry – and the line-up was locked in.   "We set it up to be a democracy," says Elster.  "If there are decisions to be made or parts to work out, we’ll vote."  They released three albums, toured incessantly and built a name for themselves. They sent out music to anyone and everyone they could all over the country in an effort to get signed and have national distribution.  "We knew we were in Denver, but we weren’t going to be discovered in Denver," recalls Trinidad.

A friend of Love.45’s met 3 Doors Down guitarist Chris Henderson when the band came into a shop where he worked while they were on tour.  Henderson mentioned that he was scouting talent in the hopes of producing some up-and-comers and asked if any local bands might be appropriate.  He left behind his address for submissions. And their friend passed the information on to Love.45.  The band sent a package, hardly expecting a reply.  After a local A&R person in Mississippi weeded through the hundreds of submissions Henderson received and passed Love.45’s disc to Henderson as the best of the bunch, Henderson called Trinidad at home one evening.  Trinidad remembers: "He told me he really liked our music and wanted to work with us.  I was completely tongue-tied."

"They are the hardest working band in North America," Henderson says.  "They are a self-promoting machine.  They tour the U.S. by themselves, playing anywhere and everywhere they can to try to obtain their goals.  They are a fantastic live working band who loves every minute of what they do."  The band went into London Bridge Studios in Seattle with Henderson and Geoff Ott (Nickelback, Unwritten Law, Melissa Etheridge) at the production helm and assisting with arrangements.  The resulting four-song EP, Love.45 – The Seattle Sessions was then used to shop for a record deal.

As part of their self-promotion juggernaut, the band caught the attention of local Denver radio station KTCL.  Airplay on the station’s local show got them into the Monday staff meeting.  "They thought they were hearing a major label band," Trinidad says.  The station tested the song, both locally and nationally through their research database, and the song tested on a par with bands like Incubus and other national acts.  "Don’t Ask Me" was added into heavy rotation on the station, where it charted as high as #2 and has been receiving airplay for over eight months.  Not long after KTCL started playing the song, the band signed with Rock Ridge Music, who will release and distribute their forthcoming album nationally via Sixthman/ADA.

Said album, which will be self-titled, was recorded at London Bridge Studios, with Henderson producing and Ott co-producing and engineering.  The twelve songs that comprise the record are what Elster dubs "potent rock music with a sense of space and monumental scope, along with raw power and energy."  Calling upon the band’s many influences (Kiss, The Beatles, Foo Fighters, to name a few), the music is heavy on melody and harmonies, yet kicks in plenty of guitar crunch and punch.  Sometimes soaring ("Fade," "Smile"), sometimes gritty ("Way Down", "So Loud"), the album captures a band on the brink of storming the airwaves across the county.

While hustle can make a difference, and luck can help, if the music isn’t there, the rest just doesn't matter.  Love.45 has put in the sweat, the time, the due diligence.  And they’ve had some luck along the way.  But the truth of the matter is:  their music will take them the distance.