Fort Knox Five is a

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

-based musical group consisting of Steve Raskin, Jon Horvath, Rob Myers and Sid Barcelona. The

musical collective Musical collective is a phrase used to describe a group of musicians in which membership is flexible and creative control is shared.Liisa Ladouceur"Collegjthk ctive Souls" ''This Magazine'', November/December 2004. The concept is distinct from th ...

releases music through their self-run label, Fort Knox Recordings. Their music style mixes elements of

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

, hip hop, and

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

History

Fort Knox Five was formed in 2003 by four like-minded musicians as an outlet for a new style of funk-infused electronic music. The group chose their name "because our studio has always been called Fort Knox," though there were only four members in the group. Members hail from various side projects and previous outfits; Steve Raskin originally part of

Edsel Edsel is a discontinued division and brand of automobiles that was marketed by the Ford Motor Company from the 1958 to the 1960 model years. Deriving its name from Edsel Ford, son of company founder Henry Ford, Edsels were developed in an effort ...

and Raskal as well as

ESL Music Eighteenth Street Lounge Music (ESL Music) is an independent record label based in Washington, D.C. founded by Rob Garza and Eric Hilton in 1996 in music, 1996. The duo, as Thievery Corporation, heads the label's roster of artists. Roster ESL Musi ...

Recording Artists Liftoff and Thunderball, Rob Myers plays sitar and guitar with

Thievery Corporation Thievery Corporation is an American electronic music duo consisting of Rob Garza and Eric Hilton. Their musical style mixes elements of dub, acid jazz, reggae, Indian classical, Middle Eastern music, hip hop and Brazilian music, including bo ...

and International Velvet and also plays guitar in See-I, Jon Horvath recorded music with both DJ Dan and Raskal, and Sid Barcelona was also a part of

Recording Artists Liftoff and Thunderball. Fort Knox Five formed their record label, Fort Knox Recordings to release their music, and the label is now distributed by Washington, DC-based

Dischord Records Dischord Records is a Washington, D.C.-based independent record label specializing in punk rock. The label is co-owned by Ian MacKaye and Jeff Nelson, who founded Dischord in 1980 to release ''Minor Disturbance'' by their band The Teen Idle ...

. In 2005, Fort Knox Five were selected to be the opening DJs on

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs ...

Harajuku Lovers Tour The Harajuku Lovers Tour was the first solo concert tour of American recording artist Gwen Stefani. The tour began through October to December 2005, to support of her debut studio album ''Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'' (2004). Although Stefani emba ...

throughout North America, playing numerous shows alongside Stefani and

The Black Eyed Peas Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie, who replaced Kim Hil ...

. Fort Knox Five were also selected by Urb Magazine for their annual "Next 100" artists to watch. In 2007, Fort Knox Five were selected to remix two

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

songs which were released on Roots, Rock, and Remixed. Fort Knox Five were also selected as the resident DJs at the Eye Candy Sound Lounge at the

Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino Mandalay Bay is a 43-story luxury resort and casino at the south end of the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is owned by Vici Properties and The Blackstone Group and operated by MGM Resorts International. It was developed by Circus Circus ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. In 2008, Fort Knox Five released their debut studio album

Radio Free DC ''Radio Free DC'' is the debut studio album of electronica band Fort Knox Five. It was recorded in the band's hometown of Washington, D.C. The concept of Radio Free DC is that the listener is scanning the radio dial and encountering different sou ...

which features all four members of Fort Knox Five on production as well as numerous guest vocalists and musicians. In 2009, Fort Knox Five began the year with a tour of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. This was followed by Fort Knox Recordings hosting a special inaugural event called The Funk 4 Peace Ball which featured

Afrika Bambaataa Lance Taylor (born on April 17, 1957), also known as Afrika Bambaataa (), is an American DJ, rapper, and producer from the South Bronx, New York. He is notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influenc ...

, Fort Knox Five,

2Tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock cont ...

, and Nappy Riddem. EA released its Skate 2 video game in January, which featured Fort Knox Five songs on the game soundtrack. Fort Knox Five also released Volume 1 of Radio Free DC Remixed in February 2009. Member Jon Horvath died on August 21, 2015. in 2020, Fort Knox Five received the WAMMIES (Washington Area Music Award) for Best Electronic/Techno Artist or Group

Discography

Albums

*''

'' (2008) *Pressurize the Cabin (2015)

Singles and EPs

*''Dodge City Rockers'' (2003) *''The Big Score'' (2003) *''Blowing Up The Barrio'' (2004) *''The Brazilian Hipster'' (2004) *''Radio Free DC'' (2005) *''The Spirit of '75'' (2007) *''Bob Marley Remixed'' (2007) *''Radio Free DC Remixed Vol 1'' (2009) *''Radio Free DC Remixed Vol 2'' (2009) *''Radio Free DC Remixed Vol 3'' (2009) *''Radio Free DC Remixed Vol 4'' (2009) *''Radio Free DC Remixed Vol 5'' (2009) *''Radio Free DC Remixed Vol 6'' (2009) *''Radio Free DC Remixed Vol 7'' (2009) *''Radio Free DC Remixed Vol 8'' (2009) *''Radio Free DC Remixed Vol 9'' (2009) *''Radio Free DC Remixed Vol 10'' (2009) *''The New Gold Standard Vol 2'' (2010) *''Shift Remixed EP'' (2010) *''Bhangra Paanch Remixed EP'' (2010)

Compilations

*''The New Gold Standard'' (2006) *''Reminted'' (2007) *''Radio Free DC Remixed'' (2009) *''The New Gold Standard 2'' (2010) *''10 Years of Fort Knox Five'' (2013)

Remixes

* Rodney Hunter - ''Electric Lady'' (2004) * Dr. Rubberfunk - ''The Owner'' (2004) * Dynamo Productions - ''Get It Together'' (2004) * Jeff Settle - ''The Whistle Song'' (2005) * Tower of Power - ''This Type of Funk'' (2005) *

Mo' Horizons Mo' Horizons is a duo of DJs from Hannover, Germany. Their music can be described as a mixture of downtempo, acid-jazz, nu jazz, soul, funk, dub, trip hop, big beat, bossa nova, boogaloo and drum'n'bass. They first came to prominence on various c ...

- ''Drum 'n' Boogaloo'' (2005) * Rex Riddem - ''Salvador Diaspora'' (2005) * Torpedo Boyz - ''Are You Talking To Me!??'' (2005) *

Kraak & Smaak Kraak & Smaak () is a musical production trio from the town of Leiden, Netherlands, consisting of Oscar de Jong, Mark Kneppers and Wim Plug. The three began recording in 2003. Their first album, titled ''Boogie Angst'', was released in the UK ...

- ''One of These Days'' (2006) *

Chris Joss Chris Joss is a French multi-instrumentalist and record producer. Early life and education Chris Joss was born in France. According to his website "his parents enrolled him in electronic organ lessons aged 12 which taught him the basics of mus ...

- ''Wrong Alley Street'' (2006) *

A Skillz A.Skillz (born Adam Mills) is an English electronic musician. He has worked across the UK at FabricLive, Spectrum, Chew The Fat, Supercharged, The Boutique and Sugarbeat as well as gigs around the world at major events, festivals and music indus ...

Krafty Kuts Krafty Kuts (real name Martin Reeves) is an English producer and DJ of electronic music and breakbeat. His first album, ''Freakshow'', was released in 2006 on his Against The Grain label and contains guest artists Tim Deluxe and Ashley Sla ...

- ''Ain't It Funky'' (2006) *

Tito Puente Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – June 1, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz c ...

- ''Ran Kan Kan'' (2006) * Deborah Bond - ''Don't Waste Your Time'' (2006) * Nickodemus - ''Give the Drummer Some'' (2006) * Skeewiff - ''Now I'm Living For Me'' (2006) * Sulphonic Soundsystem - ''Catalina Sunset'' (2006) *

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

- ''Jeepers Creepers'' (2007) *

Joe Bataan Joe Bataan (also spelled Bataán) (born Bataan Nitollano; November 15, 1942) is a Latin soul musician from New York. Early life Joe Bataan was born Bataan Nitollano and grew up in the 103rd Street and Lexington Avenue part of East Harlem in New ...

- ''The Fool'' (2007) * Malente - ''Open Secret'' (2007) * Ancient Astronauts - ''36 Hours'' (2007) * Thunderball - ''Strictly Rudeboy'' (2007) *

Afrika Bambataa Lance Taylor (born on April 17, 1957), also known as Afrika Bambaataa (), is an American DJ, rapper, and producer from the South Bronx, New York. He is notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influenc ...

- ''Got That Vibe/Just A Smoke (2007) * Ursula 1000 - ''Electric Boogie'' (2007) *

- ''Duppy Conqueror'' (2007) *

- ''Soul Shakedown Party''(2007) * Dust Galaxy - ''Here Come The Trumpets'' (2007) * Bitter: Sweet - ''Salty Air'' (2007) * Watch TV & The Primetime - ''Voodoo Royale'' (2007) * Thunderball – ''Strictly Rudeboy feat Rootz & Zeebo''(2007) * All Good Funk Alliance – ''NY Funk'' (2009) * Sub Swara – ''The Balance'' (2009) *

Deekline Deekline is a British producer and DJ of breakbeat, breakstep, drum and bass and garage music. He is the innovator of breakstep music which is bass-heavy, breakbeat-infused 2-step, first characterised in his 1999 hit "I Don't Smoke", which reac ...

& Wizard – ''Bounce & Rebound''(2009) * All Good Funk Alliance – ''Man With A Jam Plan'' (2009) *

– ''Ain’t Gonna Take It''(2009) * Nick Thayer – ''Let it Go'' (2010) * BadBoe – ''Funk In The Air'' (2010) * Scott Hardkiss – ''Beat Freak'' (2010) * Thunderball – ''Moon On The Rise'' (2010) * DJ Love – ''Zigga Zigga'' (2011) * Fuzzbox Inc – ''Party People''(2011) * Ursula 1000 – ''Hey You'' (2011) * Empresarios - ''Space Selecta'' (2011) * See-I – ''Haterz 24/7'' (2011) * Shawn Lee & AM – ''Somebody Like You'' (2012) * Superpendejos – ''La Princesa De La Cumbia'' (2012) * Nappy Riddem – ''Devil Needs A Bodyguard'' (2012) * All Good Funk Alliance – ''Mr. Hipnoid'' (2012) * Opiuo – ''Wiggle Sticks''(2012) * Empresarios – ''Maria Juana'' (2013) *

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

– ''

Bohemian Rhapsody "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a song by the British rock band Queen, released as the lead single from their fourth album, '' A Night at the Opera'' (1975). Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, the song is a six-minute suite, notable for its lack ...

'' (2014)

Music Videos

* ''Shift'' - released July 2010. :SHIFT MUSIC VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyyK_Y9njgQ :Directed by Stu MacKay-Smith & Travis Tetreault :Animator/Editor: Stu MacKay-Smith :Producer/Assistant Director: Travis Tetreault :Associate Producer: Jon Horvath :Director Of Photography: Christian Begin :Stunt coordinator: Jason Hardabura :Additional cinematography by JMO, Adam MacKay-Smith, Colin McGreal & Robin Bell. :Featuring

, Mustafa Akbar, Fort Knox Five, The Now or Never Crew, Hybrid Movement Crew, Nessa V, Jina Anika & Foxy Moron :Filmed on location in Vancouver, BC – New York, NY – Washington, DC

Featuring artists

Fort Knox Five works with various vocalists and musicians to add a live element to their music. The featured artists they have worked with include: *

Asheru Gabriel Benn (born December 29, 1974), better known as Asheru, is an American rapper, educator, and youth activist. He performed the opening and closing themes for the popular TV series, ''The Boondocks''. Early life and music As a youth, Ash ...

Ian Svenonius Ian F Svenonius is an American musician and singer of various Washington, D.C.-based punk bands including Nation of Ulysses, the Make-Up, Weird War, XYZ, Escape-ism, and Chain and the Gang. Between his numerous projects, Svenonius has releas ...

* Mustafa Akbar * Members of See-I * Sleepy Wonder * Miss Johnna M

Media Licensing

* ''Brazilian Hipster'' - Hôtel Costes, Vol. 7 * ''Brazilian Hipster'' -

The Cove (film) ''The Cove'' is a 2009 American documentary film directed by Louie Psihoyos that analyzes and questions dolphin hunting practices in Japan. It was awarded the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2010. The film is a call to action to h ...

* ''Blowing Up on the Spot''-

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 ''Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07'' is a sports video game developed by EA Redwood Shores for the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, Wii and as a launch title for the PlayStation 3 version and Team Fusion for the PlayStation Portable ve ...

* ''Insight'' - Need for Speed: Shift * ''Insight'' -

Fringe (season 1) The first season of the American science fiction television series ''Fringe'' commenced airing on the Fox network on September 9, 2008, and concluded on May 12, 2009. It was produced by Bad Robot Productions in association with Warner Bros. Telev ...

Episode 12 * ''King of the Street'' -

Skate It ''Skate It'' is a skateboarding video game developed by EA Montreal, Exient Entertainment and EA Black Box for the Nintendo DS, Wii, and iOS. The game is a spin-off of 2007's ''Skate'' and was released in 2008. Overview ''Skate It'' is set betwe ...

* ''We Don't Stop Yawl'' -

NBA Live 10 ''NBA Live 10'' is the 2009 installment in the ''NBA Live'' series, developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts. Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic is the cover athlete. It was released in 2009 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PSP, and i ...

* ''Insight'' -

Test Drive Unlimited 2 ''Test Drive Unlimited 2'' is a 2011 open world racing video game developed by Eden Games and published by Atari for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is the sequel to the 2006 game ''Test Drive Unlimited'' and the nineteenth ent ...

* ''Insight'' -

Dirt 3 ''Dirt 3'' (stylised as ''DiRT 3'') is a simcade racing video game developed and published by Codemasters for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was the first game in the series without the ''Colin McRae'' moniker. A sequel, DiRT 4 ...

* ''Funk 4 Peace'' -

External links

Official Website

Fort Knox Five Official Myspace Site

Fort Knox Five Official Facebook Page

The Fort Knox Five Discography

Guardian UK New Band of the Day No. 393
story by Paul Lester
Properly Chilled Fort Knox Five Interview

Adelaide (Australia) Review of Fort Knox Five

References

{{Authority control American hip hop groups Electronic music groups from Washington, D.C.