BETWEEN THE SUN AND SKYROCKET LOVE

Wake up, sing/belch/screech a song out, go to bed, and wake up famous the next day? Nowadays, the media makes it seem that being an overnight top-forty pop sensation is as easy as child's play, but HELLO. Wake up and smell the coffee and the over polluted air! If things were that easy, it wouldn't be called life. For everything else, there's Mastercard — no, hard work and determination. Meet Skyrocket Love, a six-piece rock band hailing from California that pretty much puts determination and hard work to use. These guys are about to release their EP sometime soon — oh, but did I mention that on top of making music they still have to market, book, and do everything else because they have no manager?

"It's not easy that's for sure… the problem is [that] a lot of managers that we come across really don't want to do any work… you need to find one that actually wants to work with you… and not just take credit," says the band. But that doesn't stop them.

"We've definitely done eighty-percent more than most indie bands have done in the amount of time we've been together, and that's because we have the drive and the determination to go for it, and we spend twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week doing it…"That drive and determination to make music hasn't been dampened one bit despite California's stumbling economy either.

"In LA, it's tricky because parking is hard to come by, people have to pay ten dollars to park and stuff... it's a big deal to get people to come out." Everything from parking, cover charges, and drinks cost money, but that only leaves the band to find more creative ways to have fans come to their shows — which are, in fact, filled with tons of energy and fun that is reflective of each of the band member's personalities as well.

"We have had some [body surfing and moshing] where people have even gotten hurt... but it was worth it for the fun they had. A couple of football players got in, started moshing, [and] broke a few things, broke a few people — it was a good time." When asked about their favorite venue, Skyrocket Love definitely throws in a bit of humor into the mix as well.

"We like playing on the beach… 'cuz you can get free fish," the band adds with a laugh. "No, we love every place in LA. It's just a big happy family."

As for the music, the band puts in three-part harmonies and Freddie Mercury-esque falsettos into their songs while blending in musical influences such as Radiohead and U2 and adding bells and whistles to each song. Take "Novacaine" as an example. The beginning of the song opens with a haunting music box melody.

"This producer we were working with on that song — his girlfriend had a music box that was an antique from her grandmother or her great grandmother, and he played it and we recorded it, and then we're like that'd be a cool intro for a song and we ended up using it for 'Novacaine'."

As for the lyrics — they tell a story whether it be angst or love as heard in "Life Support" or "Safe in My Dreams".

"Sometimes, it's something personal, sometimes it's basing it on something we've seen in life… every song is a little different, but it all comes together in the end." It all comes together at the end is right.

For Skyrocket Love, they had to sort through god-knows-how-many yes men that don't deliver and they still pull through.

"It's just that there's a lot of people who don't do what they say they will do… there's a lot of laziness… we gotta do a lot of work on our own which is tough, but we're seeing the results."

It's that same philosophy that everyone could apply in life — hard work and determination really pay off. Perhaps the overnight top forty artists should listen to that tidbit of advice — we would be getting better music saturating the airwaves for sure. Get up-coming show info and free downloads, or watch some music videos and learn more about the members of Skyrocket Love — Jeremy, Merritt, Jeff, Curtis, Andrew and Russ — at skyrocketlove.com.