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 A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''face ...

. Their music style mixes elements of funk,

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 the ...

, 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 ...

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 effo ...

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. The duo, as Thievery Corporation, heads the label's roster of artists. Roster ESL Music's current art ...

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,

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 H ...

. 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 Circ ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...

. In 2008, Fort Knox Five released their debut studio album Radio Free DC 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. This was followed by

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 influence ...

, Fort Knox Five, 2Tuff , 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 Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tra ...

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

*'' Radio Free DC'' (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 Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as t ...

- ''Drum 'n' Boogaloo'' (2005) * Rex Riddem - ''Salvador Diaspora'' (2005) *

Torpedo Boyz The Torpedo Boyz are a German/Japanese electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music m ...

- ''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 - ''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 indu ...

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 S ...

- ''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 ...

- ''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 - ''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 Ne ...

- ''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 influence ...

- ''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 Sub is a common abbreviation of words beginning with the prefix "sub-". Sub or SUB may also refer to Places * Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia, IATA code SUB Computing and technology * , an HTML tag for subscript * SUB designat ...

– ''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 rea ...

& 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 rel ...

* 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 ...

* ''Blowing Up on the Spot''-

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

* ''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. Tel ...

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 ...

* ''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 ...

* ''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.