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Five Iron Frenzy

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Five Iron Frenzy

Five Iron Frenzy (also known as Five Iron or FIF) was a Christian ska band formed in Denver, Colorado in 1995 and disbanded in 2003.

The band's music was most heavily influenced by ska and punk rock, but their influences also include heavy metal. The band was signed to 5 Minute Walk in 1996, and stayed with the label for nine of its releases. Two other albums were self-released, and another was released through Asian Man Records.

The band never received any significant music industry awards, and received relatively little attention in mainstream media. Their biggest national exposure came when their song, "Oh, Canada" (which referenced William Shatner), appeared on the TV series Boston Legal (in which Shatner stars) in October 2005, almost two years after their last show.[1]

They were known for their positive lyrics and energetic live shows.[2] They often performed their concerts while wearing full costumes (mostly vocalist Reese Roper). On one tour, they told fans to bring sock puppets on stage and help sing along. The socks, and fresh-bought socks alike, were then donated to a local homeless shelter. Their fan base was diverse, ranging from the socially and religiously outcast to the parents of teenage fans. The band played shows at both churches and secular venues throughout their career.

Recurring lyrical themes included the continuing injustices done to Native Americans, the evils of consumerism, Christian hypocrisy (not practicing what one preaches), the shortcomings of the band, and the joy of finding renewal in their religious faith.

History

Five Iron Frenzy started as a side-project of Reese Roper, Keith Hoerig, Micah Ortega, and Scott Kerr's Industrial band Exhumator.[3] Beginning in May, 1995, the group began adding members, and they settled on a ska sound in June with the addition of Brad Dunham.[4][5] In August Culp and Leanor Ortega joined, completing the initial lineup.[5] The band's name began as an inside joke. Although the original intent was for the band to stay local,[6] they played over sixty shows during their first eight months.[7] Though many of these shows were played in regular venues, a great number were also played in churches and at Christian-sponsored events,[8] including the 1996 Cornerstone Festival on the Alarma Records stage.[9][10][11] They entertained several offers from major Christian record labels including Alarma, Tooth & Nail Records, and Brainstorm Artists International[12][11] before signing to Frank Tate's 5 Minute Walk Records in August.[5][13]

Their first album, Upbeats and Beatdowns was recorded in September[5] and initially released in November 1996.[3] Its national release in April, 1997 proved an early success for Five Iron, as the release peaked at 39 on Billboards "Top Contemporary Christian" chart.[14] The music video for "A Flowery Song" received a Dove Award nomination in the "short form video" category.[15] That year was largely spent on the road, and the band played 150 shows.[10] Early on, the band was active in promoting social causes. Their song "Where the Zero Meets the Fifteen", which brought attention to the cause of homelessness, received some radio airplay.[10] That October the band embarked on the "Rock Your Socks Off" tour, for which attendees were asked to bring clean socks for donation to local homeless shelters.[16] In November of 1997 the band released their second album, Our Newest Album Ever!.

Their most significant tour in 1998 was the Ska Against Racism tour, which raised awareness of and money for anti-racism causes.[10][17] Five Iron was the only openly Christian band on the tour, yet in typical style refrained from using their set as a platform to preach to the crowds.[18] Later that year, they embarked on the national SkaMania tour with The Insyderz and The OC Supertones. Five Iron found this tour was markedly different for the band in terms of interacting with both the audience and their tourmates due to the fact that both of the other participating bands were Christian bands.[18] In 1998, songwriter and lead guitarist Scott Kerr left the band on friendly terms and started his own project, Yellow Second.[19] Kerr had written or co-written most songs on the first three full-length releases. After he left, the band began to explore a wider variety of musical influences, incorporating diverse influences such as Latin and swing music. Kerr's final appearance and the introduction of replacement Sonnie Johnston (of Jeffries Fan Club) occurred at the album release party for the band's first EP, Quantity is Job 1, on November 3, 1998 at the Aztlan Theater in Denver.[citation needed]

They reached the peak of their popularity around 2000, with the release of All The Hype That Money Can Buy.[7] With the release of Hype, the band continued to diversify their sound, incorporating calypso, salsa, and reggae.[11] In the summer of 2000 the band toured in South Africa.[11]

Culp's musical direction became prominent, although the composition duties were spread somewhat amongst band members. Production and engineering for every album was led by Masaki "Saki" Liu at his One Way Studio. After the release of Five Iron Frenzy 2: Electric Boogaloo, FIF's sound leaned more towards horn-tinged hard rock than ska, although all of the original horns were still intact.[20][21]

In early 2003 Five Iron announced their impending breakup via their web site.[22] They dedicated their final year to their fans, playing at many major Christian music festivals and releasing Cheeses...(of Nazareth), a collection of joke songs and B-sides, and their final studio album, The End Is Near. After clarifying that instead of "breaking up" they were "quitting," they embarked on a national tour entitled the "Winners Never Quit Tour" with Bleach, Holland, and Cameron Jaymes. They played their final show on November 22, 2003 at the Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, Colorado.[20] This show had an attendance of over 3,600 people[23] and was released in 2004 as the double disk set The End Is Here, alongside The End Is Near.

Reunion

Although there was a rumor that an act billed as "Reese Roper and his 5 Iron Friends" was scheduled to play at SoulFest 2007 in Gilford, NH,[24] this rumor was later dispelled by Leanor (the saxist) in a blog on her myspace page.[25], but Reese Roper is scheduled to do and has confirmed that he will be playing an acoustic set at SoulFest 2008.

Origin of the band's name

An excerpt from an interview between Jesus Freak Hideout and Keith Hoerig appear below:

Jesus freak Hideout: What's the story behind the name "Five Iron Frenzy"?

Keith Hoerig: We got the name Five Iron Frenzy from a roommate of most of ours. He was kind of paranoid, and afraid that if he went outside on this particular night he was going to get jumped by some people. He had a golf club to defend himself and he said something to the effect of it being like "putter mayhem". Scott looked at the golf club he was holding, and noting that it was a five iron said, "No, more like a Five Iron Frenzy." The name stuck.[26]

Discography

Albums

  1. It's Funny, but Not Very Creative - (July 1996) - 7" vinyl
  2. Upbeats and Beatdowns - (November 1996)
  3. Our Newest Album Ever! - (November 11, 1997)
  4. Miniature Golf Courses of America presents Five Iron Frenzy - (1998) - 7" vinyl
  5. Brad Is Dead - (1998) - 7" vinyl
  6. Quantity Is Job 1 - (November 3, 1998) - Extended Play
  7. Five Iron Frenzy LIVE: Proof That the Youth Are Revolting - (November 1999) - live album
  8. The Phantom Mullet - (2000) - Five Iron Frenzy/Philmore split 7" vinyl, Philmore(Our Finest Hour)
  9. All the Hype That Money Can Buy - (April 25, 2000)
  10. Five Iron Frenzy 2: Electric Boogaloo - (November 20, 2001)
  11. Cheeses...(of Nazareth) - (April 22, 2003) - B-sides and Joke songs
  12. The End Is Near - (June 18, 2003)
  13. The End Is Here - (April 20, 2004) - Studio (with bonus track)/Live album (final show) Double Disc

Charts

Billboard (North America) [14]

Year Album US Hot 200 US Heatseekers Top Contemporary Christian
1997 Upbeats & Beatdowns - - 39
1997 Our Newest Album Ever! 176 8 9
1998 Quantity Is Job 1 [EP] - 14 12
1999 Proof That the Youth Are Revolting 190 6 9
2000 All the Hype That Money Can Buy 146 5 8
2001 Five Iron Frenzy 2: Electric Boogaloo - 14 19
2003 Cheeses - 17 22
2004 The End Is Here - 13 10

List of tours

Lineup

Former member

  • Exhumator - a garage-metal band made up of Reese Roper, Keith Hoerig, Micah Ortega, and Scott Kerr. Five Iron Frenzy originally started as a side project of Exhumator. They released the song "Spam Jam" on the compilation Green Manna (Fifty280 Records).
  • Brave Saint Saturn - a studio side-project which has released two parts of a planned trilogy of albums telling the story of stranded astronauts.
  • Guerilla Rodeo - a short-lived pop punk band consisting of members of Five Iron Frenzy (Reese Roper and Sonnie Johnston), Ace Troubleshooter (John Warne and Josh Abbot) and the OC Supertones (Ethan Luck). The band recorded a three-song EP before the members moved on to other projects.
  • Dennis Bayne - trombone player Culp released one album, Ascents, under only his first and middle names. The album contains an acoustic guitar and vocal interpretation of certain Psalms (120-131) from the Bible.
  • Dance Mexican Dance / His Love Fellowship - saxophonist Leanor Jeff the Girl Ortega-Till was briefly involved in an electronica project alongside husband Stephen Till, who was the rhythm guitarist for Roper. Dance Mexican Dance was renamed His Love Fellowship before becoming dormant.
  • Hearts of Palm - Leanor Ortega Till currently plays saxophone for Denver-based nine-piece pop ensemble Hearts of Palm, formerly known as Nathan and Stephen. Their sound can be described as eclectic and anthematic indie-pop.
  • The Hollyfelds - Bassist Keith is currently playing with his wife Eryn in the country / folk band The Hollyfelds (www.TheHollyfelds.com).
  • Soul Daddy - Guitarist Micah is currently playing with “Alan the Fisherman” (R. Alan Brooks II) in Soul Daddy (formerly known as Aquilibrium).

References

  1. ^ Mehle, Michael (1996-05-10). "CHRISTIAN SKA BAND LETS MUSIC BE MESSAGE". Rocky Mountain News. p. 18 D.
  2. ^ a b Todd, Darleen. (12-30-1997). True Tunes News. Now hosted at the Internet Archive. Error in Webarchive template: Empty url..
  3. ^ A more detailed explanation is available at the Five Iron FAQ from FiveIronFrenzy.com (dated Feb. 1999) under "How did you meet?". Now hosted at the Internet Archive. [1]
  4. ^ a b c d "Five Iron Frenzy - The Band". Five Iron Frenzy. 1997. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
  5. ^ Hendricks, Kevin D. (2004). "Keith & Micah on Stuff". Real Magazine. Retrieved 2007-02-14. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ a b "Five Iron Frenzy - Music" (Web). Christianity Today. 2005-01-01. Retrieved 2006-12-21. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ Mehle, Michael (1997-11-10). "FORE! WATCH OUT FOR FAST-RISING FIVE IRON FRENZY". Rocky Mountain News. p. 6 D.
  8. ^ Shari Lloyd (1996-03-22). "Cornerstone". Newsgroup: rec.music.christian. Retrieved 2007-02-15.
  9. ^ a b c d Alfonso, Barry (1999). "Five Iron Frenzy". In Brennan, Luann, ed. (ed.). Contemporary Musicians. Volume 26. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Gale Group. pp. 49–50. ISBN 0-7876-2351-1. ISSN 1044-2197. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help); Check |isbn= value: checksum (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  10. ^ a b c d Sant, John (2000). "Five Iron Frenzy". HM Magazine (83). ISSN 1066-6923. Retrieved 2007-04-24. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  11. ^ Liu, Masaki (2007-02-01). "Artist: Five Iron Frenzy". Retrieved 2007-02-15.
  12. ^ Scott Kerr (1996-08-12). "Five Iron Frenzy signed with..." Newsgroup: rec.music.christian. Retrieved 2007-02-15.
  13. ^ a b "allmusic ((( Five Iron Frenzy > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))" (Web). allmusic.com. 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-21.
  14. ^ Price, Deborah Evans (1998-03-14). "ForeFront signs deal with indie". Billboard Magazine. 110 (11): 134.
  15. ^ Bessman, Jim (1997-10-18). "5 Minute's Five Iron Frenzy takes a mainstream swing". Billboard Magazine. 109 (42): 14–15.
  16. ^ Steininger, Alex (1998). "Ska Against Racism". In Music We Trust. Retrieved 2007-02-17. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  17. ^ a b Steinken, Ken (1999-05-24). "Where No Ministry Has Gone Before". Christianity Today. 43 (6): 74–75.
  18. ^ Musique, Sucre'. (1999). Interview with Reese Roper, from bandoppler.com. Now hosted at the Internet Archive. [2]
  19. ^ a b Hendricks, Kevin D. (2004). "Five Iron Frenzy Our Last Article Ever". Real Magazine. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
  20. ^ "Five Iron Frenzy Interview". Freak Music. 2001-11-02. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite web}}: |first= missing |last= (help); External link in |publisher= (help)
  21. ^ Five Iron Frenzy (2003). "An open letter to all supporters of Five Iron Frenzy from the band". Five Minute Walk. Archived from the original on 2003-02-17. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
  22. ^ Argyrakis, Andy (2003). "The End Is Here". Christianity Today. Retrieved 2007-02-14. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  23. ^ SOULFEST 2007 Artists
  24. ^ http://blog myspace com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=14685422&blogID=218123675 Reese and his 5 Iron friends... (blog.myspace.com blacklisted)
  25. ^ "An interview with Keith Hoerig on April 15, 2000" (Web). Jesus Freak Hideout. 2000-04-15. Retrieved 2006-12-21. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  26. ^ "Five Iron Frenzy - Putter Mayhem!". Freak Music. 2001-11-02. Retrieved 2007-02-16. {{cite web}}: External link in |publisher= (help)

Further reading

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