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+44 (band)

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+44
File:(+44).jpg
Background information
Years active2005–present
MembersMark Hoppus
Travis Barker
Shane Gallagher
Craig Fairbaugh
Past membersCarol Heller
WebsiteOfficial Website

(+44) (pronounced "Plus Forty Four") are an alternative rock supergroup formed by former blink-182 members Mark Hoppus (bass and vocals) and Travis Barker (drums and keyboards). Also playing in the band are former Transplants touring guitarist Craig Fairbaugh and the lead guitarist of The Nervous Return, Shane Gallagher. The band's debut album, When Your Heart Stops Beating, is set for release November 14, 2006. [1].

History

The history of (+44) starts in February of 2005, when Hoppus' and Barker's band blink-182 went on an indefinite hiatus, due to fellow member Tom Delonge's departure of the band. Both Hoppus and Barker wanted to keep working on music, and started writing and recording new songs together in Barker's basement and Hoppus' dining room and living room. The name (+44) is a reference to the international dialing code for the United Kingdom, where Hoppus and Barker first discussed the new project. Originally, the two were using electronic drums, keyboards, samples and direct computer recording.

While working on demos, the two invited punk rock vocalist Carol Heller to sing a song. Satisfied with her performance, the three kept working on other songs also. On spring of 2005, guitarist Shane Gallagher joined to play guitar. Back then, Gallagher and Hoppus were both playing guitar.

In October of 2005, Barker and Hoppus purchased a studio. According to Hoppus, this move marked a "turning point for (+44)", as the band started working in that studio exclusively, and was finally able to play live drums and loud guitars and vocals. The electronic element of the band became less prominent, but still a key element of the band's sound. By that time Heller found she did not fit well with the band's new direction, and coupled with her desire to start her family, Heller left the band. Hoppus also insists that there are no hard feelings between (+44) and Heller, and that they (the band) are in full support of her decision.

The band kept working on their first record, and at a certain point ("About 3/4 of the way through the record" according to Hoppus), Craig Fairbaugh joined to play second guitar and backup vocals.

In the April edition of the Alternative Press magazine, Hoppus revealed that the group will release their debut album on Interscope Records.

File:P44logo.jpg
The (+44) logo

Interviews

When asked about the development of (+44)'s sound in an interview on November 14, 2005, Hoppus stated that "the sound of (+44) is still developing right now. Right now to me it sounds like punk rock meets '80s synth rock, meets... all different kinds of influences are in there. I mean, there are songs where it's like a hip hop beat with electric guitar over it or like a really trance-y beat with keyboards on top of that, and some are just straight forward rock songs. We have like three or four songs now that are pretty much done and a lot more songs that are just ideas and even more to write. So we're really just getting started on the recording process and we'll see what ends up like at the end. Right now it's really diverse, really all over the place and schizophrenic, which is a good thing."

In March 2006, when hosted by Fuse with band Motion City Soundtrack, Hoppus stated that "There's a lot of keyboard stuff in (+44). There's a lot of electronic elements, and everything from keyboards, to samples, to Travis recording a lot of the drums on v-drums, electronic drums. But it's still very guitar based and very rock at the same time."

Mark Speaks Out

On August 14th, 2006, blink-182 fan-site B182.com posted a thorough interview with Hoppus, where he talked about the development of (+44)'s sound, the band's history and other topics regarding blink-182 and Tom Delonge. When asked about the album, Hoppus stated that "the (+44) album is by far the most lyrically personal music I have ever written. The words are everything I have inside me put on a CD. This is the most personal album any of us have ever written. You want to know who we are, what we think, or how we feel? Listen to the (+44) CD."[2]

In another interview with Hoppus and Barker, they stated that the album will be released on November 14th on Interscope Records and that the band's first released song "No It Isn't" is most definitely about the blink hiatus. The interview can be seen here [1]

Released songs

On December 13th 2005, the band released a demo of the song No It Isn't. On September 1st 2006, they added a song called "Lycanthrope" to their official website. A slightly better quality version than the one posted on there website can be download from 44Disasters. [2]

Website taglines

Date
Phrase
2005 "Musical masterpiece in progress. Please be patient."
2005 "No It Isn't"
2006 "The past is only the future with the lights on."
2006 "She's a pretty girl. She's always falling down."
2006 "Fall asleep with the windows open."
2006 "Our bare feet were framed on the horizon"
2006 "Burn down something beautiful"
2006 "I only want to make you smile"
2006 "Little Death"
2006 "Dear you, tonight let's get ahead of ourselves"

Band members

Current lineup:

Former members:

Discography

________________________________________________________________________________________________


Non-Album songs

The following (+44) songs are not on their album.

BrokenHearts

Crappy love ballad

Everything's alright

She'll still cry tonight

Trivia

  • (+44)'s first announced show will take place in the same town as Angels and Airwaves' first show, Pomona, California.
  • (+44) released their first song "No It Isn't" on Tom Delonge's birthday, December 13th. This was when Angels And Airwaves were supposed to release their first single, but this didn't happen.
  • (+44) have announced that their first ever UK live show will be at the London Astoria on September 19th.

See also

References

  1. ^ Montgomery, James. "Plus-44 Address Blink Breakup On LP, Want Fans To 'Hear The Truth'". MTV News. Retrieved 23 August. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ "Mark Tells All!". Retrieved 2006-08-14.
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