TEAM RNS PRESENTS

RIPPER: Team RNS

192kbps - Hard Rock
0hr 42min total- 60.9mb

RELEASE DATE: 2003-09-30
RIP DATE: 2003-09-22

Pete Murray: Vocals
Neil Godfrey: Guitar
Tommy Stewart: Drums
Pete Ricci: Guitar
John Fahnestock: Bass

Lo-Pro's self-titled debut conjures

The melodic and memorable guitar work
and subtle atmospherics draw your
mind's eye to a distant horizon line.
The powerful drums cut up that distance
with an easy grace. And Pete Murray's
rich vocals achieve lift-off on the
chorus of every song. You would never
guess it all started in tiny rooms.

Remembering those spaces now, Lo-Pro's
five members shake their heads and
laugh. There was Murray's closet of a
bedroom where he and guitarist Neil
Godfrey first demoed the album. There was
the 7-foot-square rehearsal compartment
where the duo auditioned their future
bandmates in Santa Barbara.

And there was the Boston-area hotel room
where the band polished arrangements with
Staind's Aaron Lewis, their 413
Records/Geffen label boss. Soon after,
they entered the relatively spacious
tracking booths and control rooms of
L.A.'s NRG studio to record 413's
premiere release with producer Don
Gilmore (Linkin Park).

Of course, it almost never happened at

Throughout the late-'90s, Murray and
Godfrey dedicated their lives to
Ultraspank. The industrial-tinged
aggro-rock act toured relentlessly
behind two well-received albums, but
were ultimately left demoralized by
label politics. Following the band's
final tour, they both took day jobs and
Murray gave up on the idea of ever
playing in a band again.

Then Godfrey turned up at his door one
day with a batch of new tunes.

"I'd had enough," admits the singer.
"But that didn't last long. The minute
Neil showed up with these new songs...
it was weird, things started to happen
differently. We didn't set any goals; we
were just making music to have fun.
That's where the name came from--we
wanted to keep the hype to a minimum and
let the music speak for itself."

Lo-Pro's demos eventually reached
Lewis, who was launching 413 with
Geffen President Jordan Schur.

"I was really picky about what I brought
to the table as my first band, and I
found exactly what I wanted with
Lo-Pro," says Lewis, who runs 413 with
help from Staind guitarist Mike Mushok. "I
was handed a demo that Pete and Neil
made in Pete's bedroom on a
computer--and it sounded better than
most of the finished product being
played on the radio."

Lewis's advice to the band? Surround
yourself with the right people.

Enter former Godsmack drummer Tommy
Stewart, former Snot and Amen bassist
Jon Fahnestock and guitarist Pete
Ricci. Having endured similar industry
experiences, the new members brought a
shared empathy to anthemic songs like
"Reach," "Sunday" and "Fuel," as well as
moodier numbers like the album-closing

Murray's lyrics may sound relentlessly
downcast on paper ("Why's it always feel
like Sunday?" he sings on "Sunday"),
but the melodies and arrangements
always supply a hopeful, uplifting
quality to the songs.

"Coming out of the situations we were
all in, it would have been really easy
to write an angry album," allows Murray.
"But we really tried to rise above that."

"We just tried to make these
mood-altering songs sound the best
they possibly could," says Godfrey.

"Simplicity--the best songs are just the
simplest thing in the world," says

"And there's not one swear word on the
album--now that's something I've never
been involved with before," adds

The occasional use of expletives aside,
the band members' personalities are
reflected in the music, according to
producer Don Gilmore.

"They had to pick themselves up by their
bootstraps and start from scratch," he
says. "A lot of people can't do that;
they don't persevere. These guys are
survivors and they've shown that they
won't stop until they've had their day."

For Lo-Pro, however, there was really no

"When you start playing music at a young
age, it's all you ever want to do your
entire life," says Stewart. "It's
almost like you don't have a choice. I
don't think any of us chose to do this.
I think it chose us."