Five Iron Frenzy
Five Iron Frenzy is an American band which formed in Denver, Colorado, in 1995. Best known for playing ska punk music characterized by an offbeat sense of humor and prominent Christian themes, Five Iron Frenzy was one of the pioneering figures of the Christian ska movement which emerged with ska's mainstream revival in the 1990s. Since 2000, the band's music has shifted away from straight ska to include and embrace stronger alternative rock and pop punk influences, though it continues to create ska music and feature Christian lyrical themes despite several members' changes in religious beliefs.
Five Iron Frenzy experienced their greatest commercial success during the late 1990s as part of the American ska revival, touring prolifically within both Christian and secular markets, where the band gained a cult following for their energetic live shows typified by humorous stage antics which often drew attention to various social causes and charities. By the early 2000s, Five Iron Frenzy had independently sold a total of almost one million albums, though a number of factors eventually contributed to their break-up in 2003. After an eight-year hiatus, the band reunited in 2011 to resume intermittent touring, launching a coincident Kickstarter campaign to finance a new album which raised a then record-breaking $207,980. The resultant album, Engine of a Million Plots, was released in November 2013.
Five Iron Frenzy is often noted for the broad tonal range of their lyricism, covering subject matter both spiritual and secular in manners both serious and satirical. Many of the band's songs are firmly rooted in Social Gospel convictions, often exploring themes of Christian hypocrisy and fundamentalism, manifest destiny and the injustices done to Native Americans, and faith-based criticisms of capitalism, consumerism, nationalism, xenophobia, racism, homophobia and even the Christian music industry, as well as more traditional and uplifting songs of praise and worship. The band is also known for their comic songs which rely on droll self-deprecating and self-referential humor, absurdist non-sequiturs and frequent references to pop culture and geek culture.
History
Formation and early years (1993–1996)
The origins of Five Iron Frenzy were with the band Exhumator, a Denver-based Christian industrial thrash metal project which featured future Five Iron Frenzy vocalist Reese Roper, guitarists Micah Ortega and Scott Kerr, bassist Keith Hoerig and drummer Andrew Verdecchio. As punk rock and ska had begun making a popular resurgence in alternative music in the early 1990s, the members of Exhumator soon began shifting their attention away from metal, and, largely influenced by bands such as Skankin' Pickle and NOFX, formed Five Iron Frenzy as a ska/pop punk side project in early 1995. The name "Five Iron Frenzy" was a band in-joke, conceived during an occasion when the members' "paranoid" roommate brandished a golf club in self-defense out of an unfounded fear of being mugged.Five Iron Frenzy's first show, hosted at a church coffeehouse in April 1995, was as an opening act for Exhumator. According to Reese Roper's recollection of the event, the audience responded to Five Iron Frenzy's music better than they had ever responded to Exhumator's, and realizing that everyone had more fun playing ska punk than metal, made the decision to dissolve Exhumator in favor of Five Iron Frenzy that very night. Over their next few shows, the band gradually recruited a horn section consisting of trumpeter Nathaniel "Brad" Dunham, trombonist Dennis Culp and Micah Ortega's cousin, saxophonist Leanor Ortega.
Almost instantly, Five Iron Frenzy became a prominent presence in the Denver music scene. The band opened for Tooth & Nail Records artists MxPx for their third show and played over sixty shows during their first eight months, soon becoming a staple of every major ska show in the Denver area, opening for such nationally successful touring bands as The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Less Than Jake. Although Five Iron Frenzy's initial intent was to stay local and help develop their own scene, in June 1995, the band traveled to the Cornerstone Festival in Bushnell, Illinois, to play an impromptu set before several prominent Christian alternative bands and record labels, including Ghoti Hook, Crashdog and Alex Parker of Flying Tart Records. The band has since partially attributed their early success to this stunt, as they would return to Cornerstone the following year sponsored by a record label.
As their local popularity grew, Five Iron Frenzy solidified a "mission statement" that they would play half regular venues and half Christian venues to reach both secular and Christian audiences. By the summer of 1996, the band had released their first recorded material—a 7" single entitled Its Funny, But Not Very Creative, which featured two original songs and a tongue-in-cheek punk rock cover of Amy Grants 1985 hit "Everywhere I Go"—and were entertaining offers from several major Christian record labels including Tooth & Nail, Alarma and Brainstorm Artists International before ultimately signing with 5 Minute Walk Records. In September, Five Iron Frenzy recorded their first studio album Upbeats and Beatdowns, which was released later that November.
''Upbeats and Beatdowns'', national recognition and ''Our Newest Album Ever!'' (1997–1999)
In April 1997, Upbeats and Beatdowns was given a national re-release on 5 Minute Walk's newly founded sub-label SaraBellum Records, which was in distribution partnership with the Warner Music Group. Released during the peak of ska punk's mainstream reign, Upbeats and Beatdowns proved to be a modest but significant success for the band, selling over 50,000 units in 1997 and peaking at number 39 on Billboards Top Contemporary Christian chart, while a music video for the single "A Flowery Song" earned a Dove Award nomination for Short Form Music Video of the Year. Five Iron Frenzy retrospectively described their initial success as completely unexpected, though the band ultimately credited their sudden surge of independent fame less to the quality of their music and more to the effect of ska punk's mainstream popularity and the "niche market" of Christian music. In a 1997 interview, primary composer Scott Kerr lamented "he unfortunate reality is that good songs and good live performances have far less to do with our so-called success than our being a part of the 'flavor-of-the-month'."Following the success of Upbeats and Beatdowns, the members of Five Iron Frenzy were able to quit their day jobs and devote themselves to the band full-time. The group spent the remainder of 1997 touring nationally, playing over 150 shows across the country. Many of these shows and tours were held in promotion of various social causes and charities; during the band's "Rock Your Socks Off Tour" in October 1997, fans were asked to bring clean socks for donation. Many of these charitable endeavors were supported or organized by 5 Minute Walk. In a 2012 interview, Reese Roper praised the label for " their money where their mouth was. For being underground and for what they were, they really did want to help people". This would ultimately influence the band's decision to remain independent under 5 Minute Walk, despite having the opportunities to sign with larger labels.
Five Iron Frenzy's second album, Our Newest Album Ever!, was released in November 1997 and experienced a similarly modest commercial success like that of Upbeats and Beatdowns, debuting at number 8 on Billboards Top Heatseekers and peaking at number 176 on the Billboard 200. In wake of the album's release, Five Iron Frenzy participated in two high-profile national tours. In Spring 1998, the band performed on the Ska Against Racism tour, a ska punk tour orchestrated by Mike Park of Asian Man Records, which raised money for anti-racism organizations. As the only openly Christian band on the tour, Ska Against Racism helped further strengthen Five Iron Frenzy's reputation among secular audiences: Reese Roper recalled the band making many new fans from attendees who were initially worried the band would attempt to "shove religion down their throats", as well as forming lasting friendships with most of the secular bands on the roster. Following the end of Ska Against Racism, Five Iron Frenzy quickly wrote and recorded a new album in preparation for their next national tour, resulting in the 40-minute 17-track "EP" Quantity Is Job 1, which was reportedly written in only two weeks.
In late 1998, Five Iron Frenzy took part in SkaMania, a national tour which paired them with the other two most commercially successful bands in the Christian ska market, The O.C. Supertones and The Insyderz. The tour was a resounding success within the Christian alternative scene, drawing around 3,000 attendees a night and helping boost sales of Quantity Is Job 1 into the top fifteen of both Billboards Contemporary Christian chart and Top Heatseekers. At this time, Scott Kerr announced his decision to depart Five Iron Frenzy following the end of the SkaMania tour. Kerr cited several reasons for choosing to leave the band, including wanting to spend more time with his wife and desiring to explore other musical projects away from ska and punk, though would later explain that his primary reason was having gradually lost his faith in Christianity. Upon leaving Five Iron Frenzy, Kerr would form the Denver-based power pop band Yellow Second, in which he served as lead singer, songwriter and guitarist. Sonnie Johnson, former guitarist for California ska punk band Jeffries Fan Club, replaced Kerr in Five Iron Frenzy's line-up.
Five Iron Frenzy released their first live album, Proof That the Youth Are Revolting, in November 1999, containing recordings of several live shows across 1998 and 1999, including the 1999 Cornerstone Festival. During the recording of these shows, Five Iron Frenzy offered forms at their merchandise booth where fans could provide their names and therefore be credited as "backup singers" for the album. Over 7,000 names were eventually printed in the CD's liner notes. Proof That the Youth Are Revolting cracked the top ten of both Billboards Top Heatseekers and Contemporary Christian charts, peaking at number 190 on the Billboard 200.