Radio Free LA: The Fort Knox 5 Prepare To Set The New Gold Standard (Again)
Listen to an exclusive Sinning in LA Fort Knox Five mix here:
At Sinning In LA we strive to keep you in the loop about what’s currently setting off speakers in Los Angeles and the world over. Lately we just can’t seem to stop playing the funktacular sounds of the Fort Knox 5 (FK5). There’s actually only four members in the group and they bring the party like no other. Their label, Fort Knox Recordings, released their latest label compilation, The New Gold Standard Vol. II, and the stage is now set for a worldwide takeover.
While two of the four members were spreading the FK5 DJ sound in British Columbia, we caught up with the other founding members, Rob Myers and Sid Barcelona, who had just put the finishing touches on a new track for The New Gold Standard Vol. II, with none other than the mighty Rootz, of legendary reggae outfit, See-I.
“Rootz actually has the lead track, he’s on a FK5 feature called, “What Made You Dance,” Rob told us. “It’s ridiculous because it’s this banging dancehall beat, but over a Cab Calloway vocal meets discord punk rock. It’s just this crazy mass of things and it’s really fun.”
Fun is exactly the name of the game when it comes to the FK5 sound. Born out of working with Thievery Corporation and their ESL Records label, Rob, Sid, Steve Raskin and Jon Horvath pulled their musical minds together and started their own musical endeavor, which culminated with the creation of Fort Knox recordings in the early part of the decade.
“We’re not just interested in one particular sound,” Sid explained.
It’s electronic music, but we all come from a live music background, so we want to play the guitar, basses and drums and infuse that sound with the electronic sound. Everything is kind of based on breakbeats and just fun, party, funky, groovy music that we’re excited to make and hope people are excited to dance to.
Much like their fellow partners-in-crime, Thievery Corporation, everything that comes out from Fort Knox Recordings is completely different from what preceded it, but always maintains the same high musical quality the band has become known for.
“We try really hard to strive for that and as long as we’re happy with it, then we feel the people out there listening will be too,” Sid said.
On the recently released remix album of their debut long-player, Radio Free DC, the band had to pull from more than thirty remixes to cull an album of sixteen.
“We went a little crazy on the remixes, but when we played it for our friends, everyone was real excited to try and take a stab at their version of the songs,” Sid shared. “We were just completely blown away by the caliber and all the different styles and genres - with the way people reinterpreted these songs. There were just way too many to choose from and we just wanted to touch a wide range of all the different styles that people submitted back to us.”
One of my standout tracks is a remix by Rodney Hunter, of Tosca’s Vienna-based label, G-Stone, who turned out a stellar rendition of “Uptown Tricks.”
“That’s one of the most amazing remixes,” Sid gushed. “He just kind of did his 70’s disco/funk take on “Uptown Tricks.” It was phenomenal how he took this deep soulful song and just sorta found the soul/funk elements and brought them out and really made it something for the dancefloors.”
When we caught the band coming out of the studio with Rootz, Rob explained how their next release, the second installment in their The New Gold Standard label series, was going to be their best work yet.
This next album is packed, we’re really excited for it. We’ve surpassed Volume One and we’re gonna crush it!
It comes crammed with four fresh FK5 cuts, another Rodney Hunter remix, this time of a new See-I track entitled, “How Could You?” and even a few new International Velvet tracks (one of Rob’s ample side projects). The first volume has become an underground classic and Volume Two should see similar status, as it appears that much like Thievery Corporation, they won’t put out anything subpar.
“With the four of us it’s kind of a natural process,” Rob explained. “It’s like, why waste time on a bad track?”
When we spoke with Rootz, despite just emerging from the studio, he wasn’t at a loss for words when describing his long-standing relationship with the Fort Knox family.
“I refuse to write before I come over here,” he explained. “I let their music dictate to me, their vibe dictate to me, the energy, and it dictates and transforms me. I’m almost fifty years old and it transforms me from fifty to twenty-five."
It’s music that’s supposed to rejuvenate your senses and transform you man, because it’s good music.
Transformation is certainly the right word to describe the feeling you get when taking in the FK5 sound. We’ve been shaking our rumps all year long to their grooves and that doesn’t figure to change anytime soon, not with the stream of such stellar releases and remixes continuing to come out. For further proof, just take one listen to the exceptional mix they’ve provided! We’ve got no doubt you’ll immediately find yourself dancing no matter where you are.
Photos By: Smash LeFunk
