Under the production prowess of underground guitar legend Dave Beegle, the CD showed there were definite skills unearthed and writing instrumentals might be a natural turn for the guitarist. The original plan for LSR was to showcase Lynch/Satriani-type melodies over full-fledged thrash rhythms, but in the end, songs like "Submarine Limosine," "The Leaper," and "Post Hypnotic S" were the only songs that carried a hint of that foundation. The rest of the album carried over the same writing style that Eve's Drop had excelled at, which yielded an expansive set featuring the hard rock of "El Cid", the Mexican flavored "Baja Lopez", Van Halen-turned-country "Bumpus Hound Delight", and the dark/mysterious "Dead Orleans". LSR got outstanding reviews and expansive distribution through Hapi Skratch Records. The time had come to put a gigging team together to support the material live. Derek Maness had been best friends with Mike for well over 20 years. Where Mike started playing guitar in 1988, Derek followed exactly a year later.

Over a couple of beers at an Old Chicago's, Derek was asked to help out with the rhythm live. Nate Scofield left Mandrake somewhere in the midst of it all and he was game to take it live as well. LSR shows also featured a mix of Nate's cousin Jeremy Sherin (bass) as well as studio stud Mike Olson (bass). Shows were always well recieved and after a few months of writing together, the team of Lopez, Maness, and Scofield decided it was time to enter the studio and record a proper GasHead record, a disc with a band dynamic and the thrashing rhythms that Mike had envisioned. GasHead "the band" was born.

Fast forward to late Feb/early March of 2005 and the impact of the new full-length GasHead CD slams into the eardrums of Colorado's unsuspecting public. "Knuckles Avec Sombreros" never lets up in it's shredding and thrashing intensity. Where some instrumental bands get caught up in self-indulgence (to the material's detriment), "Knuckles" songs hit and hit hard, in 3-4 minute workouts that leave you wanting more, not less. Mike's playing is naturally aggressive and Derek lays down perfect melodic leads -- a tandem that truly functions as one. Underlying all this is a torrid, non-stop thunder of Bay-area speed metal drumming from Nate. Great things are imagined and planned for the band (like finally getting a permanent bass player...anyone?) and the story seemes poised to write many chapters from here.