Five Iron Frenzy

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Biography

Five Iron Frenzy (also known as Five Iron or FIF ) is a Christian ska band formed in Denver, Colorado|Denver , Colorado in 1995 and disbanded in 2003. The band released a new single and announced they were recording additional new material on November 22, 2011.

The band's music was most heavily influenced by ska and punk rock , but their influences also include heavy metal music|heavy metal . Their songs often include salsa-style shouting, sophisticated literary and music references, and elaborate trombone solos. 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. For some of the earlier Britanick web videos their outro would be the song "Far, Far, Away" off of the album Five Iron Frenzy 2: Electric Boogaloo. Over the course of their career they sold close to one million units in total.

They were known for their positive lyrics and energetic live shows. They often performed their concerts while wearing full costumes (mostly vocalist Reese Roper ); on one tour the entire band wore Star Trek uniforms. The band was known for their themed tours, sometimes using them to raise awareness for social causes. On more than 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. The band's name began as an inside joke, and the band was generally known for their humour, displayed throughout their albums and on stage.

Recurring lyrical themes included the continuing injustices done to Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans , the evils of consumerism , Christian hypocrisy , the shortcomings of the band, and the joy of finding renewal in their Christian faith.

History

Formation

Five Iron Frenzy started as a side-project of Reese Roper , Keith Hoerig , Micah Ortega , and Scott Kerr's band Exhumator .Todd, Darleen. (12-30-1997). News. Now hosted at the Internet Archive. Exhumator had an industrial thrash metal sound, but its members weren't into the style. Their only widely released song was "Spam Jam", on the compilation Green Manna (Fifty280 Records). Beginning in May, 1995, the group began adding members, and they settled on a ska sound in June with the addition of Brad Dunham.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 . The band, sans Micah, Jeff, and Dennis, played on an impromptu stage set up at a Skateboarding|skate ramp at the 1995 Cornerstone festival. The show included Ghoti Hook (before they signed with Tooth & Nail), and the audience included Alex Parker of Flying Tart Records. Although the show was supposed to be closed down by Andrew Mandell of Crashdog and Ballydowse , it wasn't; The band attributes some of their early success to the fact that they were allowed to play and Five Iron returned the next year sponsored by a record label.

In August Culp and Leanor Ortega officially joined, completing the initial lineup. The band's original intent was to stay local, and they opened for acts such as the Mighty Mighty Bosstones , Less Than Jake , and Skankin' Pickle , playing over sixty shows during their first eight months. Though many of these shows were played in regular venues, a great number were also played in churches and at Christian-sponsored events, including the 1996 Cornerstone Festival on the Alarma Records stage. They entertained several offers from major Christian record label s including Alarma, Tooth & Nail Records , and Brainstorm Artists International before signing to Frank Tate's 5 Minute Walk Records in August.

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.

Upbeats and Beatdowns and First Tours (1996-1997)

Their first album, Upbeats and Beatdowns was recorded in September and initially released in November 1996. Its national release in April, 1997 proved an early success for Five Iron, as the release peaked at 39 on Billboard Magazine|Billboard s "Top Contemporary Christian" chart. By the time of the release of their second album, Upbeats had sold 50,000 units. The music video for "A Flowery Song" received a Dove Award nomination in the "short form video" category. That year was largely spent on the road, and the band played 150 shows. 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. That October the band embarked on the "Rock Your Socks Off" tour, for which attendees were asked to bring clean sock s for donation to local homeless shelter s.

Our Newest Album Ever! and Quantity is Job 1 (1997-2000)

In November 1997 the band released their second album, Our Newest Album Ever! . Following the success of their first album, the band felt that their success had been based at least partially on the third wave of ska in general. According to Scott Kerr "The 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'." Five Iron Frenzy sought to distance themselves from the ska scene while maintaining their artistic integrity. Dennis Culp portrayed their goal, stating that " The Police used a lot of ska, but they really weren't referred to as a ska band... they went far beyond ska." For Five Iron, the method of achieving that goal was the creative process. On the first three releases Roper wrote most of the lyrics and Kerr supplied the musical portion. After Kerr left, the band began to explore a wider variety of musical influences, incorporating diverse influences such as latin music|Latin and swing music . Roper continued to write the lyrics, a task that he took seriously. He explained to 7ball in 1997 that "It's not like we try to sit down and write wacky songs. I take songwriting pretty seriously... I've been given this podium. I have a responsibility to tell the truth about things."

Their most significant tour in 1998 was the Ska Against Racism tour, which raised awareness of and money for anti-racism causes. 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. 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 because both of the other participating bands were Christian bands. In 1998, songwriter and lead guitarist Scott Kerr left the band on friendly terms and started his own project, Yellow Second.Musique, Sucre'. (1999). Interview with Reese Roper, from bandoppler.com. Now hosted at the Internet Archive. 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.

Style Changes in All the Hype and Electric Boogaloo (2000-2003)

They reached the peak of their popularity around 2000, with the release of All The Hype That Money Can Buy . With the release of Hype , the band continued to diversify their sound, incorporating Calypso music|calypso , salsa music|salsa , and reggae . Musically Hype turned out to be their most eclectic album. The band toured internationally throughout 2000. Mid summer the band toured in South Africa , and in December they played in Europe. By the time of the release of their next album, the band had sold over a cumulative half-million albums worldwide.

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 Liu|Masaki "Saki" Liu at his One Way Studio. With 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. According to Keith Hoerig: "It's a rock record with horns, in the vein of Chicago (band)|Chicago and the Rolling Stones , who have horns all over their records." 2001 marked a turning point for the band as their record contract with Five Minute Walk ran out, leading to rumors that the band would break up. For a time they considered signing with a major label, but they decided to finish their career with 5 Minute Walk.

In late 2001 the band embarked on the "Electric Youth" tour with Relient K , John Reuben , and Ace Troubleshooter . On this tour again the audience was asked to bring socks for donation to local homeless shelters, and to make them into sock puppets for audience participation. On this tour the audience numbered about 1,200 per night, creating what was referred to as the "worlds largest sock puppet choir." Socks were also judged afterward in a "Sock Puppet Pageant" of sorts, with prizes given in various categories. The tour's name is a tribute to Debbie Gibson , who wrote an Electric Youth|album by the same name .

Breakup (2003)

In early 2003 Five Iron announced their impending breakup via their web site. 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 (Five Iron Frenzy 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 (American band)|Bleach , Holland, and Cameron Jaymes. They played their final show on November 22, 2003 at the Fillmore Denver|Fillmore Auditorium in Denver, Colorado|Denver , Colorado . The night before the show Denver received a heavy snow, many fans wondered if the show would be canceled. This show had an attendance of over 3,600 people and was widely released in 2004 as the Double album|double disk set The End Is Here , alongside The End Is Near .

Post breakup (2004-2010)

Persistent rumors about a reunion, like those of the untimely demise of Brad, have haunted the band since their breakup. The band has always denied them, and many members have moved on to other projects. Reese Roper was involved in a short lived project called Guerilla Rodeo . Rodeo had a pop-punk sound and consisted of members of Five Iron Frenzy (Reese Roper and Sonnie Johnston), Ace Troubleshooter ( John Warne and Josh Abbot) and the Supertones|OC Supertones ( Ethan Luck ). The band recorded a three-song EP before the members moved on to other projects. Roper then signed under his own name - Roper (band)|Roper - and released the album Brace Yourself for the Mediocre on 5 Minute Walk Records. Roper also presided over the band Brave Saint Saturn - a studio side-project telling the story of stranded astronauts . The project started in 1995 as a Five Iron side project and has released three albums. Their long awaited third album, Anti-Meridian (album)|Anti-Meridian , was released 15 September 2008.

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, New Hampshire , this rumor was later dispelled by Leanor (the saxophonist) in a blog on her myspace page, http://blog myspace com/index.cfm? fuseaction=blog.view& friendID=14685422& blogID=218123675 Reese and his 5 Iron friends... (blog.myspace.com blacklisted) but Reese Roper did play an acoustic set at Soulfest 2008 as well as some hosting of the 'Inside Out' stage.

On July 22, 2008, after many years of dormancy, the was relaunched with new content. The site is now fan run and hosts photos and content from the band's past as well interviews with formers members and news on their current projects. In August 2008, BraveSaintSaturn, the side project of Five Iron Frenzy members Reese, Keith, Dennis and Andrew which ran along Five Iron Frenzy for many years, also relaunched their to support their third album. Of interest to Five Iron Frenzy fans is Reese Roper's appearance on the site's message board and willingness to answer fan question about the happenings of Five Iron Frenzy's members over the past years.

On Sept. 16, 2009 it was announced through Facebook that a FIF DVD titled 'The Rise and Fall of Five Iron Frenzy' would be coming in winter of 2010. A website was launched as well. According to the Asian Man Records website, the DVD was released to pre-orders March 19, 2010 and became available in stores in April 2010. The DVD contains a 3-hour documentary filmed and edited mainly by Reese Roper, composed of interviews with the band members and live performance and tour travel footage.

Reunion (2011-Present)

During the fall of 2011, the band's website went live with a countdown to November 22, which was the eighth anniversary for the band's final show at the Fillmore in Denver. Roper and Ortega Till began posting through several major social media outlets that an "awesome" announcement was coming on November 22, leading to increased speculation that the band would soon see its resurrection. The speculation increased as the band began posting links to an Internet scavenger hunt for clues which led to a full contingent of reactivated, re-purposed and new websites for the band, its members and related projects. On November 22, 2011, the band announced they were writing new material and working on a new record, and gave away a free song titled "It Was A Dark And Stormy Night" with the file name "Hope Still Flies". The new record, to be funded by contributions from fans via Kickstarter, was fully funded within an hour of launching.

Changes in Religious Commitment

In The Rise and Fall of Five Iron Frenzy , Scott Kerr explained that he chose to leave the band in 1998 due to his renunciation of Christianity. The documentary ends with Andrew Verdecchio implying a similar rejection of belief in God. As of 2011, Verdecchio lists the popular "new atheist" books God is Not Great and Letter to a Christian Nation as favorite books on his personal Facebook page. Other members of the band remain involved in Christian churches to various degrees.

During an Interview on Broken FM, Leanor Ortega Till described a two-year period of her own severe doubts which caused her to try to avoid fans. She now serves as a missionary pastor at the Scum of the Earth Church in Denver, supported by donations.

Works

Studio albums

Date	Album	US Hot 200	US Heatseekers	Top Contemporary Christian
Nov 1996	Upbeats and Beatdowns	-	-	39
Nov 1997	Our Newest Album Ever!	176	8	9
Apr 2000	All the Hype That Money Can Buy	146	5	8
Nov 2001	Five Iron Frenzy 2: Electric Boogaloo	-	14	19
Jun 2003	The End Is Near	-	-	-

Live albums

Date	Album	US Hot 200	US Heatseekers	Top Contemporary Christian
Nov 1999	Five Iron Frenzy LIVE: Proof That the Youth Are Revolting	190	6	9
Apr 2004	The End Is Here	-	13	10

Compilations

Date	Album	US Hot 200	US Heatseekers	Top Contemporary Christian
Apr 2003	Cheeses...(of Nazareth) (Rarities collection)	-	17	22

EPs

Date	Album	US Hot 200	US Heatseekers	Top Contemporary Christian
Nov 1998	Quantity Is Job 1	-	14	12

Singles

#'' It's Funny, but Not Very Creative - (July 1996) - 7? vinyl
# Miniature Golf Courses of America presents Five Iron Frenzy - (1998) - 7? vinyl
# Brad Is Dead - (1998) - 7? vinyl
#"The Phantom Mullet" - (2000) - Five Iron Frenzy/Philmore split 7? vinyl
#"Far, Far Away" / "Kamikaze" - (2001) CD single
#"It Was a Dark and Stormy Night" - (2011) Digital Download

List of tours

N/A w/Johnny Respect - March 1997

N/A w/ Dime Store Prophets , The Electrics , Dryve , Model Engine and Rose Blossom Punch - Summer 1997

"Rock Your Socks Off" w/The Altered and The Echoing Green (band)|The Echoing Green - Fall 1997

"El Doc Tour" w/The Echoing Green, The Electrics, and The W's - March 1998

"Ska Against Racism" w/ The Toasters , Less Than Jake , Blue Meanies (band)|Blue Meanies , Mustard Plug , MU330 , Kemuri , and Mike Park - Spring 1998

N/A w/The W's - Sept. 1998

N/A w/The W's and Mad Caddies - Oct. 1998

"SkaMania" w/ The Insyderz and The O.C. Supertones - Fall 1998

"Pants Across America" w/ Switchfoot and The Smiley Kids - Spring 1999

"Holy Roller Tour" w/The W's, The Insyderz and Justin McRoberts - Fall 1999

N/A w/The W’s, Philmore and Soul-Junk - Spring 2000

"Ham Jam" w/The W’s, Relient K , Philmore and Soul-Junk - Summer 2000

"Electric Youth" w/Relient K, John Reuben and Ace Troubleshooter - Fall 2001

on Warped Tour - Summer 2002

"Winners Never Quit Tour" w/ Bleach (American band)|Bleach , Holland, and Cameron Jaymes - 2003

List of projects involving members during the Hiatus

Yellow Second - included Kerr and Verdecchio; their third album, Altitude , was released on Floodgate Records in 2004; broke up in late 2005.

Roper (band)|Roper - Reese Roper also played in a band called Roper that put out one full-length album entitled Brace Yourself For the Mediocre. This album came out in Oct 2004 .

Brave Saint Saturn - Brave Saint Saturn (stylized as braveSaintSaturn, brave saint saturn or BS2) is a Christian rock band formed in Denver, Colorado in 1995. The band is a side-project of former members of Five Iron Frenzy started by Reese Roper. The band calls their music style "astro-rock," although Roper has stated that this "doesn't mean anything." The trilogy of albums are meant to artfully represent early life, adversity, and death.

Dennis Bayne - trombone player Culp released one album, Ascents , under only his first and middle names. The album contains an Steel-string guitar|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 (band)|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.

- Bassist Keith is currently playing with his wife Eryn in the country / folk band The Hollyfelds (www.TheHollyfelds.com).

- Guitarist Micah is currently recording and writing with Soul Daddy (formerly Alan the Fisherman) for a project by Soul Daddy & Blackfyre (formerly known as Aquilibrium).

Lineup

Reese Roper – lead vocals

Micah Ortega – lead guitar , Singing|Vocals

Keith Hoerig (1995-2003) – Bass guitar|bass

Andrew Verdecchio – Drum kit|drums , Singing|Vocals

Nathanael "Brad" Dunham – trumpet

Dennis Culp – trombone , Singing|Vocals

Leanor Ortega "Jeff the Girl" – saxophone , Singing|Vocals

Sonnie Johnston (1998–present) – guitar

Scott Kerr (1995–1998, 2011-present) - guitar , Bass guitar|bass , Singing|Vocals

Copyright Citations

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Five Iron Frenzy Photo by: www.christianitytoday.com


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