Music
Amador rockers set a mission for success
 | | Luis and Lee Hurtado of Hero's Last Mission play at the Boardwalk in Orangeville. | | Photo by: Ledger Dispatch photo by Gwen Johnson |
It's 11 p.m. on a Thursday night. The Hurtado twins have already put in a full day's work at Pokerville Market, but they are still able to join their bandmates and finish a flawless, high-energy set of melodic, hard-hitting rock music on the stage of the Boardwalk in Orangevale.
"Let me know am I on your mind, cuz you've been on mine," the crowd sings over and over as the guys lead them in a round of "I Don't Know Why," one of the songs on their current "Road to Recovery" album.
The band is called Hero's Last Mission, known to their fans as HLM. Amador High School alumni Lee and Luis Hurtado, class of 2004, formed the band during their junior year after performing in the school's Revue. One of their dreams at the time was to play at the Boardwalk, a night-spot known for hosting some of California's most-promising up-and-coming talent. Their first chance came in 2006. Since then, the Hurtados have been on that stage more times than they can remember, most recently Aug. 13 when they headlined a show with Lost Freedom, Wayward and From Jupiter as the opening acts.
"Playing with those guys is always such a pleasure," said Chris Stanton, vocalist and guitarist for Wayward. "(They're) fantastic musicians and genuine, kind dudes. We're always honored to share the stage with HLM."
Their catchy tunes, two-, three- and four-part harmonies, pensive lyrics, and tight musicianship helped this young rock band win the West Coast Songwriters Sacramento Regional Competition in March. They took the playoffs Aug. 21 and the finals a few weeks later.
West Coast Songwriters holds more than 15 events per month throughout California, Oregon and Washington. One of the association's success stories is Sara Bareilles whose hit single "Love Song" reached the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Pop 100 chart and won Grammy awards for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Song of the Year in 2009.
HLM have made it their mission to achieve a similar level of fame, strategically planning their every move.
Lee and Luis grew up singing along to Disney tunes. In fifth grade, they realized that singing for the school band meant a free ticket out of class, so both brothers took up the trumpet and ended up learning other instruments to fill in where needed.
Luis started playing acoustic guitar at age 14, but didn't feel the urge to actively pursue the instrument until he was 15 when he heard Stevie Ray Vaughn for the first time. "I decided I wanted to play like that; I wanted a guitar that looks like that," he said.
Today, Luis plays a cherry-red Gibson Les Paul Classic, an instrument right on par with Vaughn's famous Fender Stratocaster. His brother Lee is a multi-instrumentalist, but is currently taking the role of lead vocalist for the band.
"At first, I started playing guitar too just to do the twin thing," Lee reminisced. "But then I decided I didn't want to play guitar just because Luis did, so I picked up the bass."
Lee soon discovered he loved to sing and write music. Luis shied away from singing and made every excuse he could think of to make Lee take the microphone.
"I'd say, 'I have six strings and you only have four,'" Luis noted, admitting that some of his excuses were really far-fetched. "I just didn't wanna sing."
The Hurtados found another friend to play bass so Lee could be the front man.
During their sophomore year of high school, the twins found themselves enrolled in Mr. Dalton's study hall. When the class discovered they shared a mutual love of music, the students found an empty building where they could set up their instruments and play as a group. They called their project Rock and Roll Study Hall and it became part of their class schedule every semester through the Hurtados' senior year.
"That's where we learned how to play with other musicians," Lee said.
When Lee and Luis graduated, a band called Nuclear Blast played their Sober Grad party. Two of the members from Nuclear Blast, drummer Julian Mendoza and guitarist Art Padilla, are now playing in HLM.
"They (Nuclear Blast) were the band we looked up to," Luis said.
"It's crazy how it came full circle," Lee added.
The moniker "Hero's Last Mission" came about when the guys were brainstorming over ideas to name the band. At first, Luis tossed out "Marvin's Mission" inspired by the Looney Tunes character Marvin the Martian. The name eventually morphed into Hero's Last Mission. To them, the name represents "living every day to its fullest," Lee said. "We're always into it 100 percent. Every show might be the last show we play."
The other three members of HLM - Mendoza, Padilla and bassist Quentin Garcia - live in Sacramento. The Hurtados drive across the county line every day to practice.
HLM has six songs available for individual download on iTunes. In 2005, they put out a CD titled "You're Better Off to Know," and in 2007, they recorded the five-song EP "Road to Recovery." The band will be headed back to the studio to record a new CD this fall, with a release party/costume contest planned for 7 p.m. on Oct. 24 at Club Retro in Sacramento. Cover charge is $10. All ages are invited, which is what the Hurtados prefer.
"Only playing 21-and-over gigs really limits your audience," Lee said. "We like to think of ourselves as a band that can play to everybody."
HLM just wrapped up their "We'll Do It Live Tour," playing gigs throughout California, Oregon, Washington and Utah.
"We try to take on a do-it-yourself mentality," Lee said. "We did all our own bookings for the latest tour. We're not waiting for someone to come along and help us."
To learn more about Hero's Last Mission, visit www.myspace.com/heroslastmission. The site includes uploaded songs, videos, a calendar of upcoming shows, and contact information.
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