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Flobots ready to 'fight with tools’

By Joe Vaccarelli
jvaccare@mscd.edu

Denver is home to many bands trying to make it on the national scene, but none are like the Flobots. With their fusion of hip-hop and funk, the Flobots captivate audiences with their high energy and positive message.

But what sets the Flobots apart even more than any other band is what they want to accomplish off the stage.

The Flobots want to use their music as a catalyst to reach out to the community. They have already done workshops at Littleton and Northglenn high schools as well as the University of Denver, teaching music theory, guitar and lyric composition.

“We want to have a more community-central theme and use our music as a tool for that,” bass player Jesse Walker said.

Musically, the band provides a fresh sound, from the classically trained Mackenzie Roberts on viola and Joe Ferrone on trumpet, to Jonny 5 and Brer Rabbit, the two rapping emcees who have been working together since 1996.

“Everyone in the group wants to push musical boundaries,” Walker said.

The band has worked up to three times a week recently at The Denver Children’s Home, and they also did a benefit t concert in January 2007 for Molly Bloom, a Denver teenager who lost her leg in a limousine accident at her prom.

This, however, only scratches the surface of what the Flobots hope to achieve in the future. They’d like to build street teams in various cities to involve their fans in issues such as voter registration, rape crisis and conflict resolution.

“We want to get the attention of a young audience that is apathetic and disconnected and engage these people specifically,” Walker said.

One of their other goals is to create a nonprofit t organization to assist them with their community outreach. This project was the brainchild of emcee Jonny 5, who has experience working in a nonprofit t organization in Rhode Island and is a natural activist.

“We want people to come to shows and get inspired,” Jonny 5 said. “We hope we’ll be able to train people in different places to be a fully equipped citizen so they can run these projects when we leave town.

” This is something that every member of the band is on board with and wouldn’t have any other way.

“Everyone is dedicated to more than just being in a band and touring,” said Andy Guerrero, guitarist for the Flobots. “We want to build a street team in every city and put the power in their hands, and we’ll be musicians. We’ll come to town and help out.”

Their first full-length album, Fight With Tools, is a representation of their different musical styles and the band’s common goal.

“We are a collective of different styles with the same message,” Roberts said. “We all have the same desire to work with the community and to be a resource to the people in the community.”

The term “fight with tools” comes from a World War II propaganda picture where blue-collar workers were asked to use their skills in the war effort, Walker said. “We ask, ‘What are the tools within ourselves?’ All of the songs followed that theme or variation.”

“It’s a statement for people to find the tools within themselves and use them to make a better world,” Brer Rabbit said.

The band worked very hard on the album, paying out-of-pocket to produce the record and recording 20 tracks during their eight-month recording process, keeping only 12 for the album.

“I really don’t care what people think of it because I know it’s right,” Walker said. “The production is how it’s supposed to sound. It really solidified us as a band.”

The album has enjoyed success thus far, even without the support of a record label. They’ve sold about 3,000 copies of the album, and it sold out at Twist and Shout in Denver the first week it was there.

Denver’s venues have also taken notice of their success.

“Their CD release party sold out the Gothic,” said Jessica Peistrup, booking manager at the Gothic Theatre and for Nobody In Particular Presents. “Not to mention, their benefit t concert for Molly Bloom was right after New Year’s and they still brought a few hundred people.”

The band has worked hard to get to this point, according to Peistrup.

“What I like most about the Flobots is they are one of the hardest working bands in Denver,” she said. “They effectively utilize street promotions and online marketing to find and reach out to their fans and target audience.”

This hard work, the band hopes, will carry them beyond Denver and into the national scene. One thing that can help them is that they can play with almost anybody.

“One of things that I’m really proud of is that we’re able to play with a wide range of bands,” Walker said. “We’ve played with indie bands, hip-hop groups and jam bands, and we’ve always been able to connect with the crowd.”

Armed with a solid local fan base and their song “Handlebars” with a spot in 93.3 KTCK’s regular rotation, the Flobots are ready to fight for a new sound in hip-hop and a better world they can help shape. Their next show in Denver is at the Gothic Theatre on Feb. 16. For information, check out their website at www.flobots.com.

“If we start fighting with these new tools, reinterpreting the world, we can do anything,” Brer Rabbit said.