As young teens they formed a cover band with neighborhood friends Ben Kelly on guitar and John Murdoch as lead vocalist.
[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.
It was produced by legendary indie rock impresario Steve Albini, known for his work with Nirvana, PJ Harvey and Pixies.
Bass player Dino Kourelis explained the change on the band's official website: "You can call us whatever you want.
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.
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.
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.
Fortune, the Lovehammers were immediately offered a contract with Epic records and a spot as the opening band on INXS's Switched On tour.
Lovehammers continued to play select festivals including Summerfest, as well as the band-created Hammerfest and Hammer Cruise.
In June 2009, they played a free concert at the Taste of Chicago with Wallflowers and select support slots such as KISS, Thin Lizzy, and Slash.
Without the normal rush or cost of studio time, the Lovehammers were able to write and record at their own pace, allowing the creation of more music as songs evolved organically.
The finished material was given to mixer Anthony Focx from Nashville (Aerosmith, Steven Tyler, Metallica, Sick Puppies, Mötley Crüe, etc.)
Having built and engineered their own studio to avoid outside pressures and timelines, "Set Fire" is the hardest hitting album the Lovehammers have ever delivered.
No lyric toned down, no guitar solo removed due to radio time constraints…together band members worked incessantly for 18 months to create a collection of songs that would blow their own minds.
Lovehammers went back into the studio with legendary rock producer Johnny K to re-record guitars, some vocals, and to re-mix "Price I Pay" for radio.