LOOK MA, NO HANDS
Handlebars and the rise of the Flobots
Written By D. Painter
I’m up early at 9:30, not the time but the club, Washington DC’s premier and historic show venue. It is a revered stop for established and up & coming artists on the verge of stadium success and also for stadium stars in search of an intimate setting with their fans. Among a handful of other venues in the U.S., headlining the 9:30 Club is a sign that you have arrived. In this case, the sign is for a 6 man (or rather 5 man, 1 girl) band from Denver.
Fast Forward: 11:38pm that night
A sold out crowd screams emphatically at the end of the song they all came to hear.
“Everybody has been talking about HOPE & CHANGE lately,” the man on stage states while the band takes a much needed set break, “but that’s only part of the equation. You guys called the stations and made them play our single and because of that we’re here. You all invited us here, and thanks to you all using your voice we are now sharing this magical night. Just imagine if you did the same thing to change the world.”
Back Track: 1 year earlier
It’s the type of story most musicians dream of: band releases independent CD, begins to sell out local 1,000 capacity venues, earns heavy rotation on local commercial rock station, major label comes with a contract, nationally releases a single, song gets played as a feature on the weekly “new music” show on rock radio station, listener demand grows thus moving the single to heavy rotation…repeat for every major city in the country. The release of the infectious single “Handlebars” has launched the band Flobots from Denver, Colorado hopefuls to superstar contenders in just a few months, and they are hoping it doesn’t stop here.
Present Time
It’s a few hours before show time and I walk into the venue while an opening act performs his sound check. A young man in an unassuming outfit walks straight up to me and says, “I’m Johnny 5 from the Flobots, thank you for doing this.” I think, “man, he’s the lead rapper and front man of the group”, shocked by his humble expression of gratitude I reply, “No, thank you for your time. Where should we do this?”, “Do What?”, “The Interview.”, “What interview?” Oh great…what a way to start. How does he not know I’m here to question him. Even more, who the hell did he think I was when he first walked up to me? A few seconds of awkward silence later and the tour manager signals us to follow her to the green room where I’m greeted by 3 other member of the sextet, Jesse Walker (bassist), Mackenzie Roberts (viola, vocals), and Brer Rabbit (poet, rapper/vocals). The other two members of the band, Kenny O (drums) and Andy Guerrero (guitar) are still on the tour bus doing whatever rock stars do before a big show.
I sit, ready my recording device, and trigger my mic but before I can open my mouth to drop a question I’m confronted with one myself. “Would you like a Nutter Butter,” asks Johnny 5, “They’re my favorite.” What? Is this a trick? How did he know they are my favorite too! “No I shouldn’t,” I reply trying to stay focused, “you should take one” he answers back, “well OK.” So I grab a cookie and before I can swallow the first bite I look up to see Johnny and Rabbit walking out the room. My eyes bug-out as if to say, “What the FUCK! Where the hell do you think you’re going!” Every reporter expects to interview the voice of the group and there goes not 1, but 2 front men out the door. Similar to some mythological story, I was presented with 2 options: to get the interview I came for, or, instantly gratify myself with a tasty treat. My dumb ass chose door number 2. If I had known that this was a trick I would have grabbed those damn cookies and thrown them back at him yelling, “HA! You obviously don’t know who the hell you’re messin’ with!” With a bruised ego and open mouth expressing dumbfounded-ness I turn to see both Jesse and Mackenzie waiting to answer whatever I have to throw their way. Quickly, I fix my face so as not to offend them and their effort to talk with me. Little did I know at the time, the Flobots are actually a “band” in the truest sense and I would not be disappointed with my designated representatives.
The current inception of Flobots formed in 2005 as a collaboration of rappers, spoken word artists, and diverse musicians looking to, as Jesse states, “push musical boundaries.” Bringing Rock music, Hip-Hop vocals, and a political edge together the band sonically lies somewhere between 311 and Rage Against The Machine. Music fans in every city in the country that support their local scene know of at least two bands trying to combine rap, rock and funk. Typically they are not successful. So what makes this group different? I’d love to detail a critical analysis of the group’s complexity, but it’s actually a simple explanation. Flat out, they are amazing musicians. After only hearing the intro song at the live show you already know you are watching some veteran-like seasoned performers. Listening to their CD, Fight With Tools, the rich layering of sounds prove far superior to the demos you regretfully bought from those other local rap/rock/funkers. To top it off you are treated to the unique addition of a classically trained violinist who takes the soundscapes and live show to another level. Did I mention she’s HOT too…
…anyway. One listen to “Handlebars” and you’ll think that these guys are pretty silly, rapping about teaching me to Dosey-Do, their crew being platypus, and reassembling electronics. But what’s with all these allusions to prison, war, and world destruction? “Johnny 5 has been really politically involved his whole life, it’s really important to him,” Mackenzie tells me, “I think the rest of us in the band have a little of that in us as well…a desire for change. Having that all in common was really helpful in terms of writing songs as a band.” So where does the CD title come from? "Brer Rabbit had found this old WWII propaganda poster that said ‘Fight With Tools’ on it. It was a call to action for all workers to lend their efforts to the war. We started thinking about what is the war that we are really fighting right now, and we believe it’s the intellectual war for your mind. And so, we sort of transformed the ‘fight with tools’ propaganda imagery into the idea for the record.”
Why stack the odds against you by being lyrically political and musically eclectic. I wondered if that was on purpose. Mackenzie tells me, “Musically, [creating our sound] was a little more haphazard I guess. I started playing sort of beat poetry-esque stuff with Johnny 5 where I would play viola and he would rap. Then we gathered members from a different local band called Bop-Schism which featured our guitarist Andy and he had a trumpet player in that band. Musically and message wise we all just blended really well. It wasn’t something we considered, we didn’t sit down and [say] ‘we’re gonna have a band that features viola and trumpet’, it was more like ‘this is the instrument I play, and this is the music I wanna do. Let’s make it happen.’”
When asked if they’d rather join a tour with 311 & Incubus or The Roots & Kanye West, Jesse quickly answered, “Without question we would tour with The Roots & Kanye. I think musically we identify with those artists much more than the rock side of things.” “We all are influenced by different things, I’m a classically trained musician so I grew up listening to classical and jazz,” Mackenzie adds, “I think we tend to identify ourselves more as Hip-Hop than rock but there is definitely a rock influence there. We all grew up listening to Chili Peppers, Incubus, and TOOL and so we embrace everything.” So it seems the rock sound may simply be their Trojan horse that slips them through the gates to commercial stardom so they can further practice their love for Hip-Hop. Who can blame them when Hip-Hop, although loved by the world over, is still a magnet for negative press on both sides of the tracks. Question is would a music fan immersed in Hip-Hop culture accept them as much as the Rock scene has? In a world of Superman cranking and over emphasized “swagger” they wouldn’t survive a day with their suburban flows and electric riffs. This truth shouldn’t bother them though. They are set to have Bonaroo-like festival bookings lined up for years to come. Even if CD sales prove to be modest over the next year, being a tour band on their level can prove to be a great way to make a living.
Speaking of tours did I mention there are 10 of them rolling deep in one tour van for the next few months. With all the political thoughts taking residence on their disk, what type of deep questions are being asked in such tight quarters? “Who left these stinky socks near my bunk?” Mackenzie says in a joking but serious tone. “I think people have this impression that we all sit around reading philosophy and having intellectual discussion, and we do, but, we’re a fun group too.” If you’re so fun then tell me what I’ll find on the van? PBR cans crushed and littered everywhere, last night’s groupie’s panties still in the bunk, a trace of white powder sticking to the communal table? “We’re a big fan of Naked Juice,” Jesse innocently answers, “gotta have plenty of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, a television with lots of movies like Almost Famous. We just watched Mean Girls.” Wait…Mean Girls??? “I think the bus driver brought that.” Well, let’s keep in mind that they are just now tasting success and all the VH1 Behind The Music drug fueled drama may be a long ways away. On that note, they were off to the van to rest for the show.
Fast Forward: 11:50pm end of the show
Not to sound political, but after the 80 minute high energy and socially conscious performance, I can’t help it. With the face of the country changing from black, white, and brown to more random and complex hues (I guess Crayola needs to change the name of that Flesh Tone crayon) it only makes sense that we would prefer our music to be a hybrid, just like us. The Flobots have a real chance to “lead a nation with a microphone” while controlling their own path with no handlebars. For now, I need to get out this hot ass club and get home…maybe on the way there I’ll try to drive my car with no steering wheel.
FLOBOTS Fight With Tools on sale now!
watch the “Handlebars” video