Biography

Formed in 2005 in Los Angeles, CA, +44 was a band from two blink-182 members Mark Hoppus (Bass Guitar/Vocals) and Travis Barker (Drums/Keyboards), who has also played in a variety of musical projects including The Aquabats, Box Car Racer, and Transplants. +44 also featured Shane Gallagher (Lead Guitar), from The Nervous Return, and Craig Fairbaugh (Rhythm Guitar/Backing Vocals), from Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards, The Forgotten, and Mercy Killers.

It also once featured Carol Heller (Guitar/Backing Vocals), formerly of Get the Girl, but she later left the band to start a family. She is heard as backup vocalist in 3 of the tracks on the first album. The name +44 is a reference to the international dialing code for the United Kingdom, where Hoppus and Barker first discussed the new project.

On December 13th, 2005 (Tom Delonge’s birthday), the band released a demo of the song “No It Isn’t”. Hoppus insists that, while it was directed towards Delonge’s breaking up of blink-182, the release date was just coincidental. On September 1st 2006, they added a song called “Lycanthrope” to their official website, http://www.plusfortyfour.com. Also on September 7th, the +44 Song “When Your Heart Stops Beating” was played on KROQ radio. On September 18th, an unedited version of the song was posted on the band’s MySpace profile.

Their debut album “When Your Heart Stops Beating” was released on November 14, 2006.

Hoppus has stated that the songs “Little Death” and “No, It Isn’t” are about the break-up of blink-182. In both songs lines such as “Your cry for inspiration won’t be heard on distant stars” or “you swore you wouldn’t lose then lost your brain, you make a sound that feels like pain” can be seen to be related to Angels and Airwaves, DeLonges new project.

In several interviews Hoppus has claimed Tom quit the band through his agent and didn’t even bother to call Hoppus or Barker.

While shooting the video for the first Single “When your Heart stops beating” Travis Barker broke his arm. Not noticing it was broken he played an entire European tour with the arm broken.

In an interview with Blunt Magazine in March 2009, Hoppus was asked if +44 will continue again, where he stated “I think so, yes. I love Shane [Gallagher] and Craig [Fairbaugh]. They are great guitarists and good friends and I’d love to do another record with them. I know that Tom [DeLonge] plans to continue doing Angels & Airwaves in some capacity but right now all of our efforts are on Blink.”