Family Force 5

Family Force 5

Family Force 5 (often abbreviated FF5, formerly known as The Phamily and The Brothers) is a Christian Crunk band from Atlanta, Georgia.

Musical career

The Band is from and was formed in San Francisco, CA (contrary to popular belief of them being from Atlanta.) The three leading members of the band, Soul Glow Activatur, Phatty and Crouton, are sons of Jerome Olds, a Christian artist from 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 had taken on the name "The Phamily". They had 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. The band sought out a dual recording deal in order to better distribute their music to both the mainstream market and the Christian market. 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."

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). However, the band often does talk about singing for Jesus during their shows and occasionally one of the members (usually Phatty) leads a prayer at the end of the set.

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've also recorded "Grandma", a cover of Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer. 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. A new unreleased song entitled "Whatcha Gonna Do With It" has been made available for download exclusively at the Wal-Mart music download store as an EP titled Business Up Front/Party In The Back (Diamond Edition) (Exclusive EP). This song has also been made available on a new compilation produced by Gotee Records labeled Hip Hope 2008 and is available on iTunes for download.

They were the May/June Winner of Yahoo! Music's Who's Next?.

They released an EP entitled The Dance or Die San Francisco EP to debut three songs from their upcoming album and to represent their hometown of San Francisco, Ca. There are three songs on the EP; "Dance or Die", "Fever", and "Wake the Dead". "Fever" is featured in their most recent concert appearances starting in February where they ended the Heart Support Tour. The full-length album, Dance or Die, received a favorable review in World Magazine.

In January 2009, Family Force 5 played at Parachute 09, a Christian music festival held in New Zealand at the beginning of every year. After an artist interview the band took on the name Whanau Force 5 (Whanau meaning Family in Maori) for the duration of their time in New Zealand. In mid-2009 the band will be performing at the Creation Festival, The Bamboozle, and Ignite Chicago. They will also be playing at En Fuego on August 29, 2009. (This is irrelevant but En Fuego is a huge Christian event held every summer in Verbena, Alabama.)

The band debuted the remix album Dance or Die San Francisco With A Vengeance on May 19, 2009. It features remixes by The Secret Handshake (Dance or Die San Francisco), Sean Foreman of 3OH!3 (Get Your Back Off The Wall), Danger Radio, Jasen Rauch of Red (Radiator), Matt Thiessen of Relient K (The First Time), David Crowder of David Crowder Band (How In The World), Alex Suarez of Cobra Starship (How In The World), and others. The first single, "The First Time (Matt Theiseen from Relient K Remix)," from the remix album was released on the band's MySpace page on April 13, 2009. The second single from the remix album, Get Your Back Off the Wall (Sean from 3oh!3 remix), was released on Altpress. Soul Glow Activatur also created a remix of the song "Best Night of Our Lives" by Everyday Sunday.

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
• Jacob Olds a.k.a Crouton (2001-present) - Drums/Vocals
• Joshua Olds a.k.a Phatty/Fatty (2001-present) - Bass/Vocals
• Nathan Currin a.k.a Nadaddy (2001-present) - Keytar/Vocals/Family Force 5000/Percussion
• Derek Mount a.k.a. Chap Stique (2005-present) - Lead guitar

Former members

• Brad Allen a.k.a. 20 Cent (2004-2005) - Guitar
• Steve Heimler (2001-2003) - Guitar

Discography

Albums

• Business Up Front, Party In The Back, (2006)
• Business Up Front, Party In The Back: Diamond Edition, (2007)
• Dance or Die, (2008)
• Dance or Die With A Vengeance, (2009)
• Family Force 5 Christmas Pageant, (2009)

EP's

• The Phamily EP, (2004)
• Family Force 5 EP, (2005)
• Dance or Die EP, (2008)

Other Releases

• Blingin' Blogs, Vol. 1 (2008)
• "The Really Real Show: Season 1"

Non-Album Tracks

• Whatcha Gonna Do With It [1]
• Mind's Eye [2]
• Master Of Disguise [3]
• Grandma Got Ran Over By A Reindeer [4]
• Love Addict (RAC Mix) [5]

Compilations

• Songs From The Penalty Box Vol. Six, 2009 .... "Radiator" (from Dance Or Die) [Tooth & Nail]
• ConGRADulations! Class of 2009, 2009 .... "Get Your Back Off The Wall" (from Dance Or Die) [Interlinc]
• ConGRADulations Class of 2008, 2008 .... "Supersonic" (from Business Up Front...) [Interlinc]
• X2008, 2007 .... "I Love You To Death" (from Business Up Front, Party In The Back: Diamond Edition) [BEC]
• Gotee Hits, 2007 .... "Replace Me" (from Business Up Front...) [Gotee]
• Hip Hope 2008, 2007 .... "Whatcha Gonna Do With It" [Gotee]
• Freaked! A Gotee Tribute to dcTalk's "Jesus Freak", 2006 .... "Mind's Eye" [Gotee]
• Purple Door Festival 2005 Sampler, 2005 .... "Kountry Gentlemen"

External links

• Official website
• The Vinners
• Get Your Back Off The Wall (3OH!3 Remix)
• Dance Or Die With A Vengeance with Jesus Freak Hideout
• Family Force 5's Christmas Pageant (Album - October 6, 2009)