Justin Stewart Cotta and his band, Memento only had 48-hours to scramble and book a venue to play. Columbia Records made it clear they were interested in the band and wanted to see them perform live. The only venue they could find with such short notice was The Dragonfly in Los Angeles during Wednesday's "Hip-Hop Night." "As you could imagine that set had plenty of inconveniences, lets just say that." Says Cotta with a laugh. "You can kinda tell during sound check when you hear the audience asking, 'who these white boyz?' we were like, 'we're cool, man' [laughs.]"

The set was indeed a rough one, but Memento played hard and did their best to impress the interested A&R's in the audience. But, out of all the B-boys and rap fans in the crowd it was one skinny white kid who would stir the pot and heckle the band the loudest in an attempt to disrupt the set. The kid kept giving the band the finger and during the mellow tunes he would yell out obscenities. "That guy was being a general dick," says the singer, "He eventually made his way onto the stage which was really the final straw for us."

Cotta, frustrated and angry, just let loose with a punch that sent the heckler flying off the stage which in turn instigated an all out slugfest. "I regret it because it was immature," the singer now admits, "Luckily we had some of our hardcore fans from Orange County who had been fans of our for about six to seven months, they helped out. My friend Brendan grabbed a microphone stand and was swinging it around and keeping people away from the band, it was crazy."

All hell had broken loose and the band were fists deep into an all out brawl. Not really the best thing that you want to happen while trying to schmooze a record deal. "I really regret that it happened at all," says Cotta about the rumble. But, in the long run it was that very quarrel that impressed Columbia Records the most. "I think Columbia just respected that in front of a small crowd, at an early time slot, on Hip-Hop night, with hecklers we still held our own and we fought really, really hard on stage."

That showcase revealed more about the band than their musical stylings, it also showed the very heart and soul of Memento, their drive and ambition to succeed as well as their ability to stand up within the toughest of situations and wail..It doesn't get anymore rock 'n roll than that. "We couldn't have choreographed it any better because it all happened during the last song," says Cotta in a joking tone. "It was perfect, I mean, it was half way through the last song, but at least we finished our set and got that last song started."

Memento, made up of three Aussies, Lats, Space and Justin Stewart Cotta along with Orange County's own Steve Clark, were signed to Columbia Records shortly after the rowdy showcase and their debut album, BEGINNINGS, was just released last month with a healthy buzz. "We put a lot of heart and soul into this record and as any band can tell you when it comes to making that first album, it's hard, man." explains the front man. "You really feel the pressure and you have your own expectations. It's not even about the expectations of the label or the public because we don't even have a public yet. But, just the pressure between us four band members to make something special was pretty huge so we were relieved when we finished it and we all liked it."

BEGINNINGS, produced by Toby Wright (Korn, Alice In Chains) and Brendan O' Brien (Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers); is a cool and melodic hard rock album that shows a lot of diversity. It includes everything form acoustical ballads to harder forceful metal numbers. With catchy choruses and tight musicianship BEGINNINGS is a well-rounded album that should catch on with rock enthusiasts everywhere. "After hearing this record I would like people to walk away feeling exhausted but strangely uplifted," Cotta said. "I want this record to give them a soul massage or something like that. You know when you get a massage that really, really hurts and then later on you're like, 'wow that actually helped my back out.' I want it to be the equivalent of that but through music."

Cotta's lyrics serve as a soul massage not only for the listener but for himself as well. Many of his songs are derived from personal experiences throughout his life. The song "Stare," for instance, is about a traumatic moment during Cotta's youth when he and his Grandfather stumbled upon a young girl who had committed suicide by hanging herself with her dog's chain from a nearby tree. It looked surreal as she dangled there in the middle of morning as her dog ran around her and playfully tugged at her limp feet. "She was only about six inches off the ground," he says, "that's so strange that she was only six short inches away from standing on the ground, but six inches was enough. I lifted her legs to take the tension off the dog chain and my Granddad unraveled it and we laid her down on the ground and we called the police. Her eyes were still open and I think that had a lot to do with the title of the song. Her eyes were open but there nothing there, you know."

The first single, "Nothing Sacred" is also a personal track in which Cotta confronts his fears within a nu metal tango that hits the listener as hard as the punch he gave to that heckler. "That song is about trying desperately to not become the thing you hate," he explains, "to not end up being something you despise. A lot of times you'll have some bad cards dealt to you by certain people and that can often lead to bitterness and impacts you in a way where you end up becoming aggressive yourself. It leaves such a bad taste in your mouth where revenge becomes part of the equation. In avenging these kinds of events you can often become that violent, senseless idiot that you hate. So, this is about letting go of those feelings and getting to the next level of basic human growth."

Memento, a band that literally fought to get to where they are today, have also taken that step to the next level and are finally beginning to feel a bit of success. BEGINNINGS has opened up plenty of opportunities for the band including tours with Papa Roach, Trust Company and CKY and they just landed a coveted spot on the Ozzfest 2003 line-up. "Ozzfest is gonna be great, man. I'm really looking forward to it," Gleams Cotta, "it should be a really fun summer for us."

www.mementoband.com

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