Motor Gun Hotel bio

Living on the edge is a way of life in the rock n’ roll world - ask Motor Gun Hotel frontman and guitarist Jimmy Craig about this and his life is displayed within his lyrics. In fact, the band name came from a moment in his life which ironically is also one of his song titles.

After shuffling around various bands over the , he began writing a collection of songs on his own and auditioning different musicians. He found bassist Phil Luth and drummer Wendy Rose, both who were instantly sold on Motor Gun Hotel’s bluesy yet high energy rock n’roll sound.

" ‘Motor Gun Hotel’ became the name of our band because of a song I wrote in 2004 of the same title. The song is about growing up fast around a lot of bikers and living in and out of hotels throughout my childhood. Once I wrote the song, the title stuck out to me. Ironically, at that time, I was looking to form another band. I had been searching for a good band name that explained where I came from and where I was going. I thought ‘Motor Gun Hotel’ explained it all, and would be a perfect name for this new band I had envisioned,” explained Jimmy.

The trio began playing shows throughout Southern California and instantly built a dedicated fan base, opening for such bands as Death By Stereo, Green Jello, and Vanilla Ice. Their hard work helped them get selected to perform on the 2009 Sunset Strip Music Festival at the Cat Club.

In 2005, Motor Gun Hotel recorded their first CD with producer Dave Waterbury (former Spirit bassist) at Waterbury Productions. From those sessions, filmmakers Arie and Mark Van Schyndel included the song ‘Soul Pilot’ in their film, “Two Wheel Terrors.”

In 2006, the band recorded their second CD at The Sound Kitchen in Nashville, Tennessee with engineer JR McNeely (Paramore, Underoath). Songs such as ‘Lift Off’ and ‘How’s It Going’ gained airplay in Southern California on Kat Corbett’s ‘Locals Only’ show on KROQ 106.7 FM, as well as being featured on the station’s 2008 Compilation CD as well as playing several station sponsored events at the Slide Bar in Fullerton, CA. Other regionally syndicated radio shows such as the Frosty Heidi & Frank Show on KLSX FM 97.1 featured them on their ‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go’ segment, as well as the Mark & Brian show on 95.5 KLOS FM. A buzz about Motor Gun Hotel helped attract FUSE TV to feature them in a biography about upcoming rock bands called ‘Rock Bottom’ in 2008. They were featured in publications such as the OC Weekly, the Orange County Register, and Live OC Magazine, which further spread the band’s name.

In 2009, the band recorded a third CD with Waterbury at Waterbury Productions once again. Motor Gun Hotel was selected as the only unsigned nominated act for the 2009 Orange County Music Awards’ Best Metal Band of the Year category, amongst a list of nominees such as Avenged Sevenfold, Bleeding Through and Atreyu. They also were nominated in 2010’s Los Angeles Music Awards’ Best Hard Rock Band.