It started with Keith and Mark. They were in Chicago pop rock band, Butter Side Down together for a number of years. As a band BSD recorded four albums, played a lot of shows together, toured the region a bit, and had a ton of fun playing to Chicago area crowds. With all this time spent together, a tight musical bond between the two was formed. When it was decided that Butter Side Down was going to disband in summer of '02, it was sad for them, but fortunately enough, that's when the idea for 53 Minutes was started… The pair had always liked and listened to hard rock, especially bands like the Foo Fighters, Stone Temple Pilots, Live, Alice-in-Chains, Rush, Soundgarden, and even more obscure bands like Presidents of the United States, Triumph, Dream Theatre, and Brand New Immortals. It was decided, really without any debate, that the new band would take this harder direction. So, with the "show biz" knowledge gained from the previous band, and having a clear musical path in mind, Keith and Mark searched for the right players to complete the new project. This started in the early Fall of 2002, and was exciting and nerve wrecking at the same time for them. They weren't exactly sure who they were looking for, but both had the strong feeling that when the right people came along, they would know it. And so it happened. John and Justin came along to audition, and were a natural fit for the direction the band was to take. Both of them have had strong experience in hard rock, heavy metal, and modern rock, and were looking for a serious band to start things up. They also presented considerable song writing talent and ability. This proved to be crucial in the development of the band. The foursome started jamming together as a full band in January, 2003. After a few lengthy song writing sessions and a lot of recording together, 53 Minutes played their first show at the Cubby Bear, May 16th. They're still learning a lot about each other, and all hope that'll continue for quite some time.