Family Force 5
Family Force 5, having just finished up their first headlining tour, Dance Rawr Dance Tour, settles in on their bus to talk with Aubrey Gillespie about the new chapters of their lives and music. With having sold out over 14 shows, the tour was a colossal step in their career as a band. The two opening bands on the tour were Jonezetta and The Secret Handshake, which lead singer, Soul Glow Activator was enthused about, “It’s awesome having bands open for you that you truly do like.” Even though the two other bands were well liked, Chap Stique told me, “I think the best part of this tour is that we get to bring out all of our speaker cabinets. We have eight guitar speaker cabinets, and we get to bring all of them out as opposed to two. It’s so loud. That is rock and roll.” And Natedaddy added in his two cents about the tour: “If we want to do a high kick or the can-can, we can. That’s how I feel.”
Along with the sold out shows, the blessings for Family Force 5 have grown in only a few short years. They now have a touring bus instead of a small white van. They have an entire posse of people working with them instead of delegating a million tasks to each member of the band solely. “A lot of people want to work with [us], but we always use those who are the most creative and who we know are going to do their job and about 90 other jobs in an amazing way. Like, there are plenty of video guys but not a whole lot who would have brought out the track suits and danced around stage the way Tub-O does,” said Chap Stique. The creative ones are not the only members of the growing gang; there’s always family.
At the end of the Warped Tour, Family Force 5 was reduced to Family Force 4 for about seven shows; Soul Glow Activator and his wife had their first baby, Cash Olds. As soon as the Dance Rawr Dance Tour began, Cash’s new home was the tour bus for the entirety of the tour, that’s a whole six weeks of bus riding heaven! Of course, Lalipop, Soul Glow Activator’s wife joined the crew. She’s seen in the Really Real Show, those infamous episodes on the bands’ Myspace from the lives of the band, where they enter Cash into a cutest baby contest. Most of the episodes are hilarious and bizarre, but that’s what the Family is.
Fans of Family Force 5 know that these guys are extreme - just watch their Really Real Shows. The question I’ve always wondered is, “Are they really real?” Their answers to this one were just as crazy as their personalities. Chap Stique was adamant about its reality, but did let on that they “live their lives out of proportion. When you look at our lives normally, it’s like looking through a kaleidoscope when you’re not moving it. But when watching the ‘Really Real Show’ it’s like looking through a kaleidoscope and moving it,” said Chap Stique. “With both hands,” added drummer, Crouton.
No matter how crazy and goofy the guys seem, they really are down to earth and genuine people. On the bus, they try their hardest to fit in that alone time with God and find it very important to any sort of spiritual growth, especially when encountering all types of people from all walks of life on a tour. “It’s a personal thing and there are days that I don’t get my quiet time, but then there are those days that I get to pray with my kid and for him,” said Soul Glow Activator. “I get to talk to God while my kid’s lying in my arms; it’s an awesome experience.” It differs for each member though, obviously, and although this was a serious topic, Chap Stique gave me a, for lack of a better term, unique answer. “Evan Almighty…we watch it.” Not only do they watch Evan Almighty on their bus, but they also write new music and are constantly coming up with new catchy lyrics.
“It’s going to be a very sweaty album,” said Soul Glow Activator about the new record the Family is currently working. “This last one was about partying and all that, but this one is definitely going to be very grooving…I think you might see one or two slow songs from Family Force 5.” This is a scary thought, but perhaps genius. Could it be like a power ballad every 80s hair metal band is renowned for? “Well, as they say, ‘Every bad boy has his soft side,’” Chap Stique reminded me. But I wouldn’t expect anything less from Family Force 5 than a “sweaty, grooving, and sonically nasty,” album as they like to describe it. I also asked them about what they see in the future and with a little misinterpretation of the question they came up with this: a reunion tour. A future reminiscent, Soul Glow Activator said, “We break up to make up.” “Oooh, write that line down for the new album, I like it,” pondered Crouton. As I said before, they are constantly coming up with new catchy lyrics, and that’s something to look forward to.
©2008 HM Magazine - All Rights Reserved
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Comments
ooohh i can't wait for their album to come out!!!!
Ya... a new album .. I saw them live a few days ago and it was amazing... they sounded exactly the same as on there cd ...
Man, can't wait! Sounds pretty sweet!
ahh! sweeet a new album! i cant wait. and i really cant wait to see them in concert may 10th! so excited!
