Eleven 54

Eleven 54 is a rock band based out of Baltimore, Maryland.

Eleven 54, in all of it's incarnations, has been touring and producing music since 1999. The band has released 5 compilations of music, with most of them coming within the last 3 years. The members of the band have toured multiple states up and down the East Coast and played with many notables, including Bowling For Soup, [...] Cat Dolls, Jimmie's Chicken Shack, Fefe Dobson, SR-71 and Dirty Vegas. Eleven 54 gets regular radio play in Charleston, South Carolina on 95SX and in Baltimore, Maryland on 98 Rock, HOT 104.9 in Tallahasee, Florida, 96 Rock in Ocean City, Maryland and DC 101 in Washington, D.C. Awards include 98 Rock's Band of the Month February 2003.

Biography

Eleven 54 has its earliest roots dating back to November 9th, 1999, originally formed by Ron Weber Jr., guitarist Rob Long and bassist Nick Martin. In January of 2000, drummer Paul Mignini was added to complete the line up. In March of 2000, the band played its first 3 live shows on Open Mic night at the 8x10 Club in the Federal Hill section of Baltimore. On April 26, 2000, Eleven 54 played its first self-booked show at the Brass Monkey Saloon, featuring an hour-long set of original music that Ron and Rob had written over the past 6 months.

By June of 2000, the band obtained studio time at Secret Sound Studio in Baltimore, Maryland to record a demo. The recordings took place on June 19th and June 22nd from 12pm-5pm each day. All music was recorded live, with overdubbed vocals, harmonies, and lead guitar tracks. The finished product was a 3-track EP featuring the songs "Fool for You", "One Wish", and "Beca". This demo allowed the band to obtain booking at other Baltimore locations over the next 9 months, such as the Recher Theatre, the Ottobar, the Stone Cellar, Loyola College, the Highlandtown Battle of the Bands (placed 2nd), Towson University, and the Bayou Blues Cafe.

In January of 2001, Nick left the band to pursue an Economics degree full-time. Eleven 54 found replacement bassist Matt Bay in March of 2001 and quickly integrated him into the lineup. On April 28, 2001, the band played their first show with Matt at Palomas in Baltimore, MD, opening for local favorites The All-Mighty Senetors.

Soon after, Paul made the decision to move to Denver, Colorodo, leaving the band without a drummer. During the down time this event created, Rob and Ron decided to start playing acoustically at local bars to promote and build a following. Ron, through a close friend, was put in contact with drummer Greg Moxey to arrange a jam session in May of 2001. During this jam session, Greg agreed to become The New drummer of Eleven 54.

The band took a few months to practice and refine their show with the two new members. On August 21st, 2001, the new band debuted at the Stone Cellar in an opening slot for a popular local band Fidel. During this time, attempts to find weekly shows became the focus of the band's attention. Ron and Rob began attending open mic NiGHTS a few days a week. After repeat shows at the Stone Cellar and the landing of the band's first weekly job at Mount Pleasant Ice Arena, it was time to get back into the studio.

This time, the band contracted Wrightway Studio to complete Eleven 54's second EP. Working with Mike McAree, who previously had worked with Jimmie's Chicken Shack, SR-71, and Laughing Colors, the band recorded 4 tracks of new material written by Ron and Rob. Recording took place November 30th, 2001 to December 2nd, 2001. To pay for the new recording, Ron and Rob began playing set schedules at a place called the E-Bar in Columbia, Maryland. Soon after, the band took a weekly show job at Dinosaurs in Laurel, Maryland. Mixing and mastering of the EP was completed in late April of 2002.

The new EP enabled the band to book a multitude of new shows from April 2002 to February 2003, including a return to the 8x10 Club, Nathan Henrys opening for Funny Money (made up of members of the popular 80's band Kix), University of Maryland College Park, the Hard Rock Cafe in Baltimore, Maryland, and a few returns to the Recher Theatre in Towson, Maryland. On February 15th, 2003, the band showcased in the Millenium Music Conference held in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Over the next 5 months, Eleven 54 joined the short-lived Last Ride Records group, performed in Hard Rock Cafe's Battle of the Bands competitions to win the chance to perform with Sammy Hagar in Cabo Wabo, Mexico, and the Rolling Rock Town Fair battle for a chance to play the Rolling Rock Town Fair in Pennsylvania that year. On June 14th, 2003, the band played in a 98 Rock show at Rash Field in Baltimore, Maryland called Thrash at the Rash, which brought together many of Skateboarding's best, including Bucky Lasek.

In June of 2003, both Matt Bay and Greg Moxey parted ways with the band. Rob and Ron began scouting for a replacement bass guitar and drummer. In July 2003, they found singer/guitar player Shawn Callendar, formerly a member of another local band named Ego vs. ID. In late July of 2003, Rob Long left the band. At that point, Ron and Shawn took a small break from playing shows to find a replacement drummer and guitarist to finalize the band's new lineup.

One of the replacements that Ron and Shawn found in September of 2003 was Drew Bowie. With the addition of Drew, the band booked shows using drummer Jerome Maffeo of Jimmie's Chicken Shack. Jerome was also featured on a few new tracks, including "This Time" and later "Drive Away", in which Maffeo also acted as Producer. On January 18th, Eleven 54 was featured on 98 Rock's Noise in the Basement show with Matt Davis. They debuted the track "The Devil" acoustically on-air and the pre-mastered version of "This Time". These tracks were eventually released on the EP titled "We Haven't Heard Of You Either", featuring "The Devil", "Honeybee", and "This Time". By the end of 2003, the band had finally settled on a new drummer named Jason Booze.

With the band's lineup complete, Eleven 54 began making great strides in getting their name out in the mid-atlantic area. In 2004, Eleven 54 developed a professional relationship with the Harris Nussbaum, who eventually became the band manager. In March of 2004, Nussbaum arranged for the band to head into Fusion 5 Studios in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, with audio engineers Jordan Herschaft and Jeff Leonard at the mixing boards. The result of this effort produced the album "Now This Is Happening", featuring 6 songs including "Amateur" and their new hit "Something More".

With EME booking agency behind them, Eleven 54 began booking shows up and down the east coast. Over the past 3 years and countless accomplishments, the band continues to thrive not only in Baltimore, Maryland, but also Charleston, South Carolina, where the band is regularly featured on the radio station 95SX. They recently finished up their first full 12-track album named "Are We There Yet?", featuring "One Night", "Something More", "Last Minute", "Pieces", and "Rebound Girl".

Inspired By

  • Foo Fighters
  • The Used
  • Weezer
  • Green Day

Members

Current

  • Jason Booze - drums
  • Drew Bowie - lead guitar / vocals
  • Shawn Callendar - vocals / bass guitar
  • Ron Weber, Jr. - vocals / guitar

Previous

  • Matt Bay - bass guitar (2001-2003)
  • Rob Long - guitar (1999-2003)
  • Nick Martin - bass guitar (1999-2001)
  • Paul Mignini - drums (1999-2001)
  • Greg Moxey - drums (2001-2003)

Discography