Family Force 5
Being in Family Force 5 is kind of like doing what you always dreamed of doing as a kid.
More specifically, playing in a band that’s headlining a tour called Dance Rawr Dance 2 where you get to dress in costume for every night you play with an audience that does the same while messing around with a six-and-a-half foot tall drum machine called Family Force 5000. And even though their band name sounds a little like the Brady Bunch (and actually might be the most normal thing about them), the FF5 quintet is hardly your run-of-the-mill, ‘50s-era, dinner-on-the-table-when-you-get-home type of family. Brothers Soul Glow Activator, Crouton, and Fatty were all running sound at church in their hometown of Atlanta when—
Yeah. Soul Glow Activator, Crouton, and Fatty. Their names.
It’s just like you were when you were growing up; you had an alter-ego. A place you could go in your head to escape, to fly, to save lives, or just to jump from your bunk bed to the ground to save the world. That feeling’s never changed for Family Force 5. Their names provide them with the venue to actually be Family Force 5. It’s their goal to take you away from life for awhile, to give you your own alter-ego while you’re at their show. I spoke with guitarist Derek Mount (aka Chap Stique) and he made sure to emphasize this: When you go to their shows, they want you to escape. Transport you to another land. In fact, they’re going to go through great pains to make sure you have the best possible time you can have at one of their shows.
Chap Stique’s got a Southern pep in his voice—and yes, I’m going to refer to them as their alter-egos because, believe it or not, they also call themselves by their alter-ego names—and he sounds like he couldn’t physically yell at anything. He’s enjoying life and that feeling seems to come through in his tone of voice. And why shouldn’t he be? On the heels of releasing their sophomore album, Dance or Die, they’ve just finished up Warped Tour and by the time you read this will be out headlining their own tour. Add to that Dance or Die landed at #30 on the Billboard charts—and even #1 in Christian and #8 in Modern Rock.
It’s a real good reason to be happy.
Family Force 5 - Finish this feature by David Stagg in the new HM Magazine. Available now, Issue 134 can be found at select stores or for a reduced subscription rate.
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