Staff photographer Katie Burnett recently sat down with Family Force 5, an Atlanta-based band who is often described as, 'The Local Heroes'. They re-released their debut album through Maverick Records in March of 2006.
Family Force 5 is… (stage names in parentheses)
Solomon Olds ("Soul Glow Activator") -singer, guitar
Jacob Olds ("Crouton") –singer, drums
Joshua Olds ("Phatty") –background vocals, bass
Nathan Currin ("Nadaddy") –DJ, Keytar, Percussion
Derek Mount ("Chapstique") -guitar
Scene Point Blank: If you had to marry a male celebrity, who would it be and why?
Derek: Johnny Depp, he plays a great pirate and he's good looking... mainly because he's good looking.
Scene Point Blank: If you could go to a restaurant where the waiters were dressed as whatever you wanted, what would they be and why?
Jacob: Sorcery themed. Shoes with talons on them or something.
Derek: Dragon costumes or Wizard costumes with biking shorts on underneath and [carrying] Popeyes Chicken.
Nate: Really really long socks rolled down mid-calf, too.
Scene Point Blank: New York or Tokyo?
Nate: Tokyo! Better fashion, better prices. And Godzilla! They can outdress anybody and have so much culture!
Derek: And Voltron.
Scene Point Blank: If you had to buy a wife from a foreign country, which would it be and why?
Jacob: I have to say, if it was any foreign country, it would have to have unicorns and dragons.
Nate: I think I'd just go on ebay and pick one... but you know what? Family Force Five doesn't have to pay a cent for a bride, alright? Let's just leave it at that.
Solomon: I'd be single if I had to buy my bride.
Scene Point Blank: What was your highschool senior prank, if any?
Joshua: When our principal was in the shower, we took his clothes and his towel so he had to come out naked.
Nate: We had an old teacher who had whiskers on her chin so we rubber cemented some shaving cream and a razor to her desk. That wasn't Family Force Five's idea, though.
Derek: We're loveable people
Scene Point Blank: Myspace or purevolume?
Together: Myspace. Hands down.
Scene Point Blank: What's the craziest show you've ever played?
Solomon: Ooh. Pittsburgh?
Nate: No, dude. Atlanta.
Jacob: What isn't the craziest show we'eve ever played? We're all crazy!
Joshua: We played a show with Switchfoot up in Nashville and we were so crunk that the power supply broke up and we broke the poswer on stage. So we did 15 minutes of just drums and improv. We also brought out unicorns, dragons, and Voltron for that.
Scene Point Blank: Who is Voltron?
Derek: Only the best 80s Japanese cartoon ever. Power rangers totally ripped off Voltron.
Scene Point Blank: How has your look changed since you were younger?
Joshua: I've got longer hair and I'm able to grow whiskers on my chin.
Nate: When I was in middle school, I wore polo shirts and Lacoste and Duckhead shorts and stuff... you know. I still wear that stuff on stage... just kidding.
Jacob: My muscles were smaller.
Joshua: Basically our clothes have gotten smaller.
Jacob: I wear a lot of bling bling and shoes now. I rock sunglasses that are bigger than my face now.
Scene Point Blank: What do you think about straight-edge?
Derek: He's a great guy.
Nate: A great way to shave your face at the barber.
Scene Point Blank: What did you want to be when you were little?
Joshua: A musician.
Solomon: Amusician.
Jacob: A unicorn.
Derek: A dancer.
Nate: When I was really little, I wanted to be a fighter pilot and then I found out that I had asthma.
Scene Point Blank: What's the last movie that you saw in theaters?
Together: Cars. We all saw cars together. […] the movie was crappy, but we like Pixar. And Owen Wilson.
Scene Point Blank: What's your favourite Chinese food?
Derek: General Tao's chicken.
Solomon: I don't each much Chinese. I like Mexican.
Joshua: Beef and broccoli or good sesame chicken.
Scene Point Blank: Who goofs off the most in the band?
Together: All of us... It's kind of a competition on stage.
Scene Point Blank: What's the weirdest outfit that you've seen on tour?
Joshua: You see a lot of weird ones, but they become more and more normal because you see them so often. Hellogoodbye's got some pretty incredible outfits. The other day, one of their guys had on a really tiny hat and he was completely naked besides his 80s skin-coloured biker shorts that he had on. One of them dressed up as a hot dog once, that was pretty awesome.
Scene Point Blank: Do you remember doing anything out of the ordinary to gain a crowd when you first did shows?
Joshua: We gave our cd out everywhere when we first started in Atlanta. We had unicorns and dragons up on stage with us once... we draw on people's arms, too. We do a lot of breakdancing on cardboard outside of venues that we're playing at to grab people's attention.
Interview by Katie.
