Family Force 5's Profile

Solomon 'Soul Glow Activatur' Olds was on a mission. The frontman for Atlanta, Georgia, groove-masters Family Force 5 was sated by the response to his band's last album, Dance Or Die, released on their independent Transparent Media Group imprint last year. That disc embodied everything the band is about; techno-pop dance-floor fillers, unrepentant emo anthems and rocky grooves that wouldn't be out of place at an aerobics class for pole-dancers. But before beginning work on the follow-up, he had another idea fermenting in his head. The plan: Make Christmas funky.

Soli and his band-brothers Jacob (aka 'Crouton,' drums) and Joshua (aka 'Phatty,' bass), guitarist Derek 'Chap Stique' Mount and percussionist/hype-man Nathen 'Nadaddy' Currin - set out to redress the balance of the dearth of dance-rock soundtracks for the holidays. Now people have a real choice to get their groove on this winter. Give Trans-Siberian Orchestra a bag of warm chestnuts and a smile, then push them into the snow: Family Force 5 are getting the party started.

When Soli says' it's been Christmas all year' in the FF5 universe, he's not kidding: Christmas Pageant was written, recorded, mixed and mastered in various locales across the planet. Work began in March, during their stint on the second annual Alternative Press Tour, where the band wrote and recorded tracks on a portable rig set up in the rear lounge of their touring coach. Other tracks were worked on in backstage areas from the U.S. to Europe to at least one university library, after-hours. But don't believe for a moment that Christmas Pageant wasn't something the band knocked off to get into the marketplace: They approached the project with the focus and craft put into the multi-genre non-stop party that was Dance Or Die. The disc is teeming with moments of inspiration. One of the new songs, 'The Baby,' features a loop of Sol's infant son beat-boxing behind the band's re-imaging of the classic holiday Nativity story.'That track originally developed from trying to do a version of 'We Three Kings,' Sol divulges. 'We thought why not do it our way and make the kings gangstas from ATL, bringing silver and gold and have them talking about it in their Cadillac.'

The Brothers Olds have been doing things their way since the band's inception nearly 10 years ago. In the late-'90s, they had formed Ground Noise, a unit that aligned itself with the twin legacies of Southern rock and insurgent 'y'all-ternative-country, despite their personal tastes being immersed in hip-hop, electronics-based dance music and the funkier end of alternative rock, a la Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rage Against The Machine. In 2001, they re-christened themselves the Phamily, discovered the ground-quaking grooves they had inside them and began the arduous crusade of ruling the Atlanta club scene (which they did, four years later). Thanks to the enormous hipshaking buzz they had created with their big beats, guitar firepower and Sol's impressive MC-ing, word about the band was spreading. It wasn't long until attorneys for Prince issued a cease-and-desist order about their name. (The Family was the ad hoc outfit the Purple One out together to record 'Nothing Compares 2 U.') Undaunted, the quintet carried on under the banner of Family Force 5, tearing up crowds that grew numb to n-metal's Cookie Monster-sounding excess. It wasn't long before the band signed with the Maverick label, issuing their debut album, Business Up Front, Party In The Back in 2006.

At their best, FF5's dealings with the major-label machine were tenuous. Crowds culled from assorted music subcultures (rock, punk,metal, alt-rock, hip hop) were taken by the band's show, but the label didn't know what to do with the band. Inevitably, they got dropped in 2007: They celebrated the occasion by going out on several weeks of dates on that year's Vans Warped Tour, rejuvenating both the crowds and themselves. Coming off the high they got from the Warped dates, the band decided to create their own label (Transparent Media Group), and release their next album, Dance Or Die, themselves. Infectious in its enthusiasm, Dance was a near-perfect amalgam of dense grooves ('Radiator'), synthesizer-driven funk (the title track), techno-pop nostalgia ('How In The World') and inspired emo 'The First Time') that seemingly erased the lines of demarcation between dirty rock clubs and cosmopolitan dancefloors.

The band's knowledge of their fanbase and close connection to the kids that bought over 350,000 digital singles and over 150,000 copies of their debut album created a strong brand that didn't need a major label behind it to succeed. After a busy 2009 - which included compiling a remix album (Dance Or Die With A Vengeance), teaming up with Skelanimals for an exclusive EP release for Target, touring extensively and unveiling Christmas Pageant - the band are writing new material for their third album, tentatively slated for release later in 2010. Anyone familiar to their mythology knows, when Family Force 5 activate their collective booty-movin' powers, there's not a single rock club, dance floor or house party they cannot vanquish. This holiday season, Family Force 5 are with us one and all. Now giddy up, giddy up, giddy up, let's go: show the party what you know'

Myspace  |