Lovehammers

Lovehammers band members Marty Casey, Bobby Kourelis, and his younger brother Dino Kourelis became friends in 1982 when the three were on the same Little League T-Ball team in their hometown of Hickory Hills, Illinois. As young teens they formed a cover band with neighborhood friends Ben Kelly on guitar and John Murdoch as lead vocalist. They called themselves "Swinging Lovehammers." After entering college, John Murdoch left the band and Marty Casey took over as vocalist.[1]

In 1994, they discovered Billy Sawilchik, who was playing lead guitar for a band called 9 Arms. In May 1994 they officially recruited him to become a member of Swinging Lovehammers. With this line-up in place the band began writing original material.[1]

In 1997, Swinging Lovehammers released their first full-length album, Ultrasound. It featured an early incarnation of the band's, now signature, genre melding "un-pretentious rock" sound.[2]

In 1999, the band released Demolition, a four-song EP recorded at DV Productions in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Demolition features the songs "Real Man," "Give It Up," "Counterfeit," and "Confusion." These songs were later re-released on the Lovehammers second LP L'Strange. The song "Rain on the Brain" was awarded a place in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest that same year.[1]

By the year 2000, Swinging Lovehammers began to acquire a larger fanbase throughout the Midwest, winning various Battle of the Bands competitions and booking gigs at notable venues and festivals such as House of Blues, Summerfest and Lincoln's Fest. They also began receiving local radio play.[1]

Around 2000, Swinging Lovehammers' fanbase swelled and their devotees became known as 'Hammerheads.' On 30 September 2000, Swinging Lovehammers released the original version of their second album, "L'strange". By October, Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx reviews the band favorably, calling them "another new band to keep your eyes open for."[3] On 24 March 2001, Swinging Lovehammers released their second EP "How We Live." It was produced by legendary Indie rock impresario Steve Albini, known for his work with Nirvana, PJ Harvey and Pixies.[1] On 8 August 2001, the band officially changed its name from Swinging Lovehammers to the simpler Lovehammers. Bass-player Dino Kourelis explained the change on the band's official website: "You can call us whatever you want. Most people call us Lovehammers anyway. We will keep all names to make everyone happy. We made a little change for marketing reasons, as well as ‘change is good.’" On 6 November 2001, Lovehammers re-released L'Strange complete with new cover art which reflects the name change.[1]

In late 2003, Ben Kelly officially left the band. Marty Casey explained the departure in an informal message posted to the website: "He [Ben] was a part of this band for a long time. I can't honestly sit here and say I do not miss him.... There are only 24 hours in a day and Ben was operating on a 48 hour schedule. We wanted to put every single moment of energy into our next CD. This is what I have been building up to for my entire life. I wanted to put every moment of my life into creating the best Lovehammer CD anyone has ever heard. This requires singular focus from every person involved in the record."[4] Billy Sawilchik became and remains the band's only lead guitarist.

On July 27, 2003, Lovehammers released their third full-length album entitled Murder on My Mind. The album featured a number of songs written by Marty Casey during his stay in New York City, including "Wait For No One,"' "Better Off (Walk Away)," and "Eyes Can't See," which form a thematic trilogy.[5]

In 2005, Lovehammers were opening for Cake and Gomez on the 21 city Virgin College Mega Tour. At that time, Marty Casey was participating in ongoing auditions for the reality television show Rockstar: INXS (which aired on CBS and VH1.[6] The show's premise was a televised singing competition between 15 contestants competing to become the lead vocalist for the Australian rock band INXS. Casey made it onto the show and quickly became a fan favorite.[7] Despite the remaining band-members' initial apprehension, they supported Casey and could occasionally be seen in the crowd cheering him on during his performances. On September 6, 2005, Marty Casey debuted a different version of the pop-heavy Lovehammers song "Trees," which had been previously available for download on the Lovehammers website. It became an instant hit with the audience and debuted on MSN.com as a #1 download.[8] When Marty was announced runner up, losing to Canadian singer J.D. Fortune, the Lovehammers were immediately offered a contract with Epic records and a spot as the opening band on INXS's Switched On tour.

During mid-2006, Lovehammers headlined the 'Get Live' tour. Most of the dates were quickly sold out, and the reviews were overwhelmingly favorable.[9]

On January 24, 2006, Lovehammers released their major label debut entitled Marty Casey & Lovehammers, composed mostly of retooled versions of previously released and recorded Lovehammers tracks. The album was generally very well received by critics and fans alike.[10][11][12]