| Family Force 5 | |
|---|---|
(From Left to Right: Fatty, Crouton, Soul Glow Activatur, Nadaddy, Chap Stique |
|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Atlanta, GA |
| Genres | Christian rock, crunk rock |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Labels | Star Song Communications, Maverick, Gotee, Tooth & Nail, Transparent Media Group, III Entertainment |
| Associated acts | Everyday Sunday |
| Website | www.familyforce5.com |
| Members | |
| Solomon Jerome Olds (Soul Glow Activatur) Jacob Olds (Crouton) Joshua Olds (Fatty) Nathan Currin (Nadaddy) Derek Mount (Chap Stique) |
|
| Past members | |
| Brad Allen (20 Cent) Steve Heimler |
|
Family Force 5 (often abbreviated FF5, formerly known as The Phamily and The Brothers) is a Christian crunk rock band from Atlanta, Georgia.[1] They consist of Solomon "Soul Glow Activatur" Olds, Jacob "Crouton" Olds, Joshua "Fatty" Olds, Nathan "Nadaddy" Currin, and Derek "Chap Stique" Mount. They have released four studio albums, Business Up Front/Party in the Back, Dance or Die, Family Force 5 Christmas Pageant, and III, as well a bonus edition album, Business Up Front/Party in the Back Diamond Edition and a remix album, Dance or Die with a Vengeance.
Contents |
Family Force 5 was formed in Atlanta, Georgia. Three of the five members, Solomon (AKA: "Soul Glow Activatur"), Joshua (AKA: Fatty), and Jacob Olds (AKA: 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.[2][3]
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."[4] Next, the three brothers added Derek Mount (AKA: Chap Stique) and Nathan "Nate" Currin (AKA: Nadaddy). 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.[3] According to Solomon Olds, "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."[2]
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. 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.[5] 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 added to the Hip Hope Hits: 2008 record.[6] 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.
In June 2008, the band released an EP entitled Dance or Die EP to debut three songs from their upcoming album Dance or Die. 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.[7]
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 U.S.[8] In December 2008, the band won the Best Christian Rock Artist, Best Crunk Rock/Rap Artist and Best Rock Album for Dance or Die at the Rock on Request Awards.[9]
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, 3OH!3, Danger Radio, Jasen Rauch of Red, Matt Thiessen of Relient K, David Crowder of David Crowder Band, Alex Suarez of Cobra Starship, and more.[8] The album debuted at No. 180 on the Billboard 200, No. 15 on the Christian Albums chart and No. 6 on the Dance/Electronic Albums chart.[10]
Around this time, Solomon Olds 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 was 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, 2 songs from Dance or Die, and two music videos.[11] Next, The band embarked 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 album titled Family Force 5 Christmas Pageant, containing ten tracks including their own version of "My Favorite Things".[12] The album debuted at No. 14 on the US Dance charts.
In mid-November 2009, the band hit the road on the Christmas Pageant Tour. On this tour was House of Heroes, Remedy Drive, and All Left Out. On the tour they performed their versions of Christmas classics as well as their very own originals. On November 30 it was announced by lead singer Soul Glow Activatur's Twitter that Joshua (Fatty) had been admitted to the ICU of a local hospital and that a kidney specialist had been called in after his condition deteriorated.[13] 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 current tour they were on, The Christmas Pageant Tour, so as not to disappoint fans, however, as Joshua's condition worsened, the band canceled a few shows, but then made a return for the rest of the tour. Joshua is now out of the hospital and back playing shows.[14][15]
In January 2010 the band toured Australia and New Zealand, playing shows for the Parachute Music Festival and its Australian offshoots.[16][17] In February 2010, they toured with Cobra Starship in the United Kingdom. In March and April 2010, they were part of the lineup of the Rock and Worship Roadshow with Mercy Me, David Crowder Band, Francesca Battistelli, Fee, Remedy Drive, and more.[18][19]
The band contributed a song to the Alice in Wonderland soundtrack (titled Almost Alice), called "Topsy Turvy". The song did not make the standard soundtrack,[20][21] but it is one of three bonus songs on the special Hot Topic edition of the soundtrack. The song premiered on their MySpace page on February 8. It was released with the Almost Alice (Deluxe Version) on iTunes June 1, 2010.
During this time, the band also released their music to the UK market for the first time.[18]
On 2 March 2010, Family Force 5 were confirmed to be playing the UK leg of the traveling festival, Sonisphere. This was the band's first UK festival appearance. The band also announced six UK and Ireland headline dates to coincide with their Sonisphere appearance.[22][23]
The band has confirmed a third studio album, which was tentatively slated for release in mid-2010, but was pushed back to early 2011.[24] Solomon "Soul Glow" has since stated that it should be released in the summer.
As of May 2010, the band is no longer with Tooth & Nail Records.
"Radiator" has been released on the Rock Band Network (for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 only). According to the Rock Band official website, "Love Addict" was to be released in the Rock Band Store. It was finally released on August, 3.
The band has confirmed that the third album will have more crunk-rock and "rock-and-roll" elements similar to Business Up Front/Party in the Back.
The band also appeared on the album Punk Goes Pop 3 with their cover version of La Roux's "Bulletproof". The album was released on November 2, 2010.
In December 2010 the band did their second annual Christmas Pageant Tour in the United States, with main support from Forever The Sickest Kids. The tour also had a one-off date for a London show, however this was later cancelled due to weather.
The band's song "Kountry Gentleman" was used in the advertisements for the movie "The Warrior's Way".
On December 8, 2010, Rock Sound gave out a free CD with their magazine containing a new version of "Love Addict" and a demo of their new song "Every Night Of The Week". Also in promotion of their new album a clip of "Dang Girl" was posted on their YouTube channel.
On February 23, 2011 they started releasing dates for there upcoming tour, Tourantula, which begins April 15, 2011 in Atlanta, GA and ends May 15, 2011 in Kansas City, MO.[25] Family Force 5 is the headliner. Tourantula will feature the bands Stereo Skyline, Swimming With Dolphins, and Since Forever.
Family Force 5 played on the "Warped Tour 2011" from July 26 through August 14.
The band released a three-song preview EP, entitled III, on April 15, 2011. In an interview with JesusFreakHideout.com, guitarist Chap Stique explained that the new album is tentatively titled III as well. He also mentioned that some of the tracks that may appear on the album are called "Paycheck", "Can You Feel It", "Get On Outta Here", "Not Alone", and "Tank Top", and that the album itself would contain more spiritual themes than the EP.[26] In another interview with Alt Press, Soul Glow Activatur also confirmed that the album will be called III and revealed a new track title, "Crash Down", and claimed that the CD "runs the gamut" from "straight-up electro" to "a little bit of redneckness". Tooth & Nail Records announced that they would be publishing III, and revealed the cover and track list on August 9.[27] The album was released on October 18, 2011. The album has received mixed reviews. Critics have praised the album's musical diversity, while criticizing the quality of the lyrics.
Family Force 5 has been cited as a crunk rock band,[1] mixing a diverse set of music styles including punk, rap, post-hardcore, r&b, funk, dance, electronica, and rap metal[28][29][30][31] with positive, party lyrics.
When asked about their "Love Addict" video and its relation to their Christian image, Solomon Olds 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."
| Year | Title | Label | Peak chart positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | NZ[32] | US Christ | US Dance | US Mod. Rock | US Heat | |||
| 2006 | Business Up Front/Party in the Back | Maverick Records/Gotee Records | — | — | 17 | — | — | 12 |
| 2008 | Dance or Die | Tooth & Nail Records | 30 | 12 | 1 | — | 8 | — |
| 2009 | Dance or Die with a Vengeance | Transparent Media Group | 180 | 27 | 15 | 6 | — | — |
| Family Force 5 Christmas Pageant | Tooth & Nail Records/ Transparent Media Group |
— | — | 24 | 11 | — | — | |
| 2011 | III | Tooth & Nail Records/ Transparent Media Group |
61 | — | — | — | — | — |
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