Family Force 5 (often
abbreviated FF5, formerly known as The
Phamily and The Brothers) is a Christian crunkcore band
from Atlanta,
Georgia
.
History
Early History and The Family (1993-2003)
Family
Force 5 was formed in Atlanta, Georgia. The three leading members of the band, Soul
Glow Activatur, Fatty, and Crouton, are sons of
Jerome Olds, a Christian artist popular in the
late 1980s. Prior to the formation of Family Force 5, the brothers
were members of a "boy band" known as The Brothers, releasing
Fact and Reality (1994) and
RPM (1995). Both albums were released on
Star Song Records, and produced by their
father.
Between The Brothers and Family Force 5, the brothers had a band
called Ground Noise, which they classified as "a really bad version
of
Third Day." Before the band chose the
name Family Force 5, they used the name "The Phamily" but were
forced to change it later due to copyright issues with
Prince's band,
The Family.
A decade later, the band signed with
Maverick Records for distribution to the
mainstream market before signing to
Gotee
Records for the Christian market. Under the name "The Phamily",
the band sought a dual recording deal to better distribute their
music to both the mainstream and Christian markets. According to
Soul Glow Activatur, "To me, and pretty much anybody that's under
my age, most Christian music is a turnoff. I don't want to be
affiliated with that. I want to be affiliated with something that
is great music. I feel that Maverick and Gotee together can pull
that off."
Family Force 5 and Mainstream Success (2004-2007)
On March 21, 2006 the band released their first full length Album
Business Up
Front/Party in the Back which was an instant hit in both the
Christian and mainstream markets spawning several hit singles such
as "Love Addict" and "Earthquake." Both of these songs, like many
others on the album, are heavily focused around the guitar. Their
debut album has been both disparaged and praised by Christian and
non-Christian critics respectively for not containing overtly
Christian content in any of its tracks (with the exception of
"Peachy", which was apparently written to
convert a friend to Christianity
and calls
God by name). In March
2007, their debut album was re-released as
Business Up Front,
Party In The Back: Diamond Edition, which contains three
previously unreleased songs.During this time, Family Force 5
contributed the song "Mind's Eye" for the compilation album
Freaked! A Gotee Tribute to dc
Talk's "Jesus Freak".
For Christmas, Family Force 5 released a few Christmas-themed audio
blogs. They also recorded "Grandma", a cover of
Grandma Got Run Over By a
Reindeer. Also a new unreleased song entitled "Whatcha Gonna Do
With It" was made available for download exclusively at the
Wal-Mart music download store. Another previously unreleased song,
"Master of Disguise", was posted on Youtube. However due to mixed
fan reaction to the song it was not slated for release at the time
and was later released on a subsequent CD.
The band also toured extensively during this time building their
fan base as well their reputation for putting on a wild, energetic
live show. This helped thrust them into headlining shows throughout
the US.
Dance or Die (2008)
In June 2008 ,the band released an EP entitled
The Dance or Die
- EP to debut three songs from their upcoming album
Dance or Die the songs
were; "Dance or Die", "Fever", and "Wake the Dead". On August 19,
2008, the full-length album was released taking on a more club
oriented, electronic dance sound than
Business Up Front/Party in
the Back with less guitar. The full-length album,
Dance or
Die, received a favorable review in
World Magazine.
Blake Soloman of AbsolutePunk.net had the following to say about
the album; "Even though Family Force 5 may be the musical
equivalent of mixing Mentos and Coke-–lots of build up for
something that only ever happens one way-–I find myself oddly
pleased with Dance or Die."
Dance Or Die sold 17,000 copies in its first week and debuted at 30
on the
Billboard 200. By the end of
January, the album had sold over 50,000 units and during early 2009
the band embarked on the AP tour from March to May promoting the
album and headlining concerts throughout the US.
Dance Or Die with a Vengeance and Christmas Album (2009)
In May 2009, the band debuted their remix album of
Dance or Die;
Dance or Die With A Vengeance.
It featured remixes by
The Secret
Handshake, Sean Foreman of
3OH!3,
Danger Radio, Jasen Rauch of
Red, Matt Thiessen of
Relient K, David Crowder of
David Crowder Band and Alex Suarez of
Cobra Starship. The first single,
"The First Time" (Matt Thiessen from Relient K Remix), was released
on the band's MySpace page on April 13, 2009. The second single,
Get Your Back Off the Wall (Sean from 3OH!3 remix), was released on
Altpress. The band also expressed interest in recording with rapper
Sid Hyet, who performed live with 3OH!3 before.
The Album debuted at #180 on the Billboard top 200, #15 on the
Christian Albums chart and #6 on the Dance/Electronic Albums
chart.
Around this time, Soul Glow Activatur created a remix of the song
"Best Night of Our Lives" by Everyday Sunday.
On September 5, the band unveiled a new song called "Keep The Party
Alive" which is featured on an EP, titled "
Keep the Party Alive EP". The EP was
released exclusively at Target to promote the Halloween themed
Skelanimals on September 15. Other tracks on the EP include 3 songs
from "Dance Or Die With A Vengeance" and 2 songs from "Dance Or
Die".
The band will embark on their third Dance Rawr Dance Tour, along
with
Breathe Carolina,
Cash Cash, Queens Club, and i-Rival.
On October 6, the band released a Christmas Remix album titled
Family Force 5
Christmas Pageant, containing ten tracks including a remix of
"
My Favorite Things" The band
announced on August 29 that they finished recording the album. On
September 30, they released a few of their Christmas songs via
MySpace. The Album Debuted #14 on the US Dance charts.
It is rumored that a new album with brand new content could be
expected in the next six months, however, there have been no
reports to confirm this from the band.
The band has confirmed, however, that Soul Glow Activatur has begun
work on a side-project.
On November 30th it was announced by the FF5 StreetFORCE that Fatty
had been admitted to the ICU of a local hospital and that a Kidney
specialist had been called in after his condition deteriorated.
Later it was confirmed that he was suffering from kidney failure
and that he was undergoing dialysis treatment. The band at first
vowed to continue the Tour so as not to disappoint fans, however,
as Fatty's condition worsened, the band canceled their first
show.
Musical style
Family Force 5 uses elements of
rap,
post-hardcore,
alternative rock,
punk
rock, and club oriented
crunk,
electropunk,
electronica and
nu metal
with positive, party lyrics in their music..
When asked about their "Love Addict" video and its relation to
their Christian image, Soul Glow Activatur stated "They want
Sandi Patty all over again. They want
Amy Grant. And most times, its people that
don't understand new art, new videos... We want to make music that
is for God, but at the same time, we want to make music that people
enjoy and that they're not turned off by."
Band members
Current members
- Solomon Olds a.k.a Soul Glow Activatur (2001-present) -
Vocals/Rhythm
Guitar/Bass
- Derek Mount a.k.a. ChapStique (2005-present) - Lead
Guitar/Bass/Vocals
- Jacob Olds a.k.a Crouton (2001-present) - Drums/Vocals
- Joshua Olds a.k.a Fatty/Phatty (2001-present) - Bass/Vocals
- Nathan Currin a.k.a Nadaddy (2001-present) - Keytar/Vocals/Family Force
5000/Percussion
Former members
- Brad Allen a.k.a. 20 Cent (2004-2005) - Guitar
- Steve Heimler (2001-2003) - Guitar
Discography
Albums
EP's
Other Releases
- Blingin' Blogs, Vol. 1 (2008)
- "The Really Real Show: Season 1"
Non-Album Tracks
Non-Album Compilations
- Hip Hope Hits 2008, 2007 ....
"Whatcha Gonna Do With It" [Gotee]
- Freaked! A Gotee Tribute to dcTalk's
"Jesus Freak", 2006 .... "Mind's Eye" [Gotee]
Notes
- Family Force 5 Artist Profile | Biography And
Discography | NewReleaseTuesday.com
- Farias, Andree (2006-05-15). Break Dancing … With Jesus? Christianity
Today. Retrieved 2007-02-05
- Farias, Andre (2006-03). Business Up Front/Party in the Back.
ChristianityToday.com. Retrieved 2007-02-05.
- JfH Interview 2006
- Tobymac Rolls Out New Project with "Portable
Sounds" Tour. BreatheCast.com. Retrieved 2007-02-05.
- http://musicdownloads.walmart.com/catalog/servlet/AlbumServlet?id=230576
- "Dance force" World Magazine, David Sessions July 12,
2008
-
http://jesusfreakhideout.com/news/2009/01/28.FAMILY%20FORCE%205%20HAS%20SIGHTS%20ON%20ROCK%20AND%20ROLL%20CONQUEST.asp
-
http://www.billboard.com/#/album/family-force-5/dance-or-die-with-a-vengeance/1255661
-
http://www.indievisionmusic.com/2009/09/11/family-force-5-to-release-exclusive-target-ep/#comment-161467
-
http://www.indievisionmusic.com/2009/02/24/family-force-5-christmas-album/
-
http://www.newreleasetuesday.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=5697
- http://twitter.com/SoulGlowActivtr
-
http://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/news/2009/12/01.FAMILY%20FORCE%205%20BASSIST%20JOSHUA%20FATTY%20OLDS%20HOSPITALIZED.asp
- Family Force 5 Biography on Yahoo! Music
- Family Force 5 Biography - AOL Music
- Family Force 5 | View the Music Artists Biography Online |
VH1.com
- Business Up Front/Party In The Back -
Wal-Mart
- family force 5 : Alternative Rock : Music : Target
Search Results
- Family Force 5, 05/15 - Interviews - Christian
Music Today
-
http://www.biggie.co.nz/editorial/news/weeks_music_chart.html
-
http://www.indievisionmusic.com/2009/09/11/family-force-5-to-release-exclusive-target-ep/#comment-161453
- http://insiderevolution.net/?p=2512
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