Hey, all. Check out this video for Fort Knox Five’s Shift featuring Afrika Bambaataa! The track is the soul and the visuals are the trip. They’ve got b-boys and go-go dancers turning it out alongside slick visual gravy that… well… my eyes lapped up. Stu Mackay-Smith and DJ Ball directed it and, you know it, stars Afrika Bambaataa, Mustabar, and Fort Knox Five.

Along with this video is a bunch (13!) of remixes for Shift. You can get them at iTunes ($5.99 package) and at Beatport ($12.99 with a higher bitrate for DJs and Hi-Fi’s). Personally, I lean towards the Sub Swara remix; you know me, I’m a dubby kinda guy. You can stream the remixes from SoundCloud under the video.

Shift featuring Afrika Bambaataa & Mustafa Akbar (Remixes) by fortknoxfive

Fort Knox Five comes with rep’ across multiple genres. They tell us that they’re really not into classifying them. That’s ok with us; the tunes they create are solid. This week, Fort Knox Five (FK5) and Jungo Road have several treats for you. Two hot FK5 preview remixes given away for free here on Jungo Road first worldwide! An interview with FK5. Finally, a hour long mix by FK5 which Jungo Road is known for serving up.

First, the free tunes and a thank you from us here at Jungo Road to Fort Knox Five for this exclusive preview. The first tune is a Kraak and Smaak remix of FK5’s What Make ya Dance (Fort Knox Recordings, release in early 2010). This will be a full single with multiple remixes, instrumental versions plus the original. The second is a FK5 remix of Kraak and Smaak’s Ain’t Gonna Take It (Jalapeno Records UK, release tbd). Finally, we have an hour long mix from the guys.

Download the ZIP package of the two free tunes as a gift from Fort Knox Five and Jungo Road:

• Fort Knox Five – What Make ya Dance (Kraak & Smaak’s Dutch Oven remix)
• Kraak & Smaak – Ain’t Gonna Take It (Fort Knox Five’s Red Light Remint)

I’ve been long time fan of FK5. When I heard they were coming to New York City on tour, I snapped up a ticket and headed to Brooklyn. The guys played both what I anticipated to hear and what I didn’t expect. And, that made a great performance. The guys agreed to do two interviews with us; one we captured on video which we will post later this month here on Jungo Road. Read on for the other interview with them, our streaming player and the tracklisting from their mix.

Who are the people that make up Fort Knox Five?

Sid Barcelona, Jon Horvath, Rob Myers and Steve Raskin.

Where are you guys living?

We all currently reside in Washington, DC. JonH bounces back and forth Between DC & BC (British Columbia). His wife is from Squamish, BC; a cozy little town at the foot of the mountains.

Its plainly obvious that you all have music in your blood. How far back does it go?

Steve, Rob and Sid all had the obligatory piano lessons as children. JonH was forced into the violin at a young age. Rob was also a band geek playing clarinet and sax until he settled on the guitar at the age of 13.

Any other bands in your past?

Sure. Sid, Steve and Rob were in a band as youths called Citizen Atom. Sid sang, Steve played bass and Rob played guitar. In the heyday of the DC indie-punk scene in the ‘90s, Steve played guitar in a band called Edsel and Rob sang and played guitar in a band called Mud. Both bands were helped by local independent record label Dischord Records (Minor Threat, Fugazi); starting a relationship that lasts to this day. Dischord distributed FK5’s debut album Radio Free DC. Rob still gigs a lot playing guitar with DC Soul-Reggae stalwarts, See-I; and guitar and sitar with Thievery Corporation.

Fort Knox Five has a unique talent for blending the sounds of old-skool funk and hip-hop with current day thick, chunky basslines. As a DJ, I know I can always rely on their music to pick up the vibe on the dancefloor. They are masters at appealing to a wide audience by weaving recognizable elements of old-skool, familiar grooves and adding a dirty/sexy edge. I’ve found that even the most reserved club goers tend to gravitate to the dancefloor when I throw down FK5 tracks in a set. Their sound is fun, funky and by far some of my fave party music. —Melyss

When did you all get interested in electronic dance music?

When Steve was recording the album Techniques of Speed Hypnosis with his band Edsel in the mid ‘90s, they went to the UK to work with producer Angeli Dutt (My Bloody Valentine, Oasis) dropping Steve smack in the middle of the Liverpool electronic scene which revolved around the legendary club Cream. He drank the Kool-Aid so to speak and came back as a club music convert. Before we knew it, we were going to all the raves in the DC area like Buzz, Fever, Bassrush and Snowball where we met JonH.

What do you like about electronic dance music?

Phat beats!

What kind of music are you into and how does that affect the music you create?

We love all genres and forms of music. It is really important for us to incorporate live instrumentation into our music. Whether it be live guitar, horns, sitar, bass, or drums, this is what really moves us. Generally, we use a lot of electronic beats; but most of the other stuff is played live. That is how we get our organic feel to the music. Groove, melody, and spirit transcend all genres. We are also really into hip hop, reggae, punk rock, funk, soul, breaks, and dub.

When did you start producing music?

Steve and Sid started producing proto-electronica tracks back when Sid was running the computer lab at the Rhode Island School of Design. JonH teamed up with Steve in the late ’90s to start a project called JonH & Raskal. They made electro-funk and house tunes.

What was the first release you all considered a success?

Scorpio Rising by our alter-ego, Thunderball, was the first time we saw an album of ours really move people. Thunderball is a project of Sid, Steve and Rob on ESL Music. As for FK5, it all really started with the first releases, but The Brazilian Hipster has definitely been our most successful single to date.

And what about your first full length album?

That would be Radio Free DC. You know, it may have taken us five years to finish, but we’re still really proud of how it came out; and frightened by how long the process can take! So we bucked the trend by putting out The New Gold Standard 2 as quickly as possible. Guess what? We’re really proud of that one, too! There’s a lesson in there somewhere. We’re just not sure what it is.

In getting to know you a bit better, I see such passion in what you all create. Tell us about how you make it happen.

Since we run our own label – with the help of our label manager, Andy Cerutti – we’ve had to figure out how to meld the creative process with the business side. We do all of it ourselves, from the music production and performance to the graphic design, motion graphics and web programming and maintenance. It’s a ridiculous amount of tasks to cover, but, we’ve never had to sacrifice any artistic integrity.

What I was at your performance in Brooklyn, you had a lot happening on stage. What do you use when you produce and perform your music?

We are ProTools based studio. We do use Ableton Live for sketching. For DJing, we primarily use Serato. We’ve added VJing with Modul8 and VDMX. We believe that incorporating the live visual element into the DJ sets has been really exciting. It really makes the DJ set more of an actual performance.

What are some of the amazing venues you’ve performed at?

We have played several amazing and truly unique venues over the past several years. Ones that really stick out amongst the rest are Fabric (London), La Paloma (Barcelona), and The Expo Center (Hong Kong). There are several amazing venues in San Francisco, too. We have played a bunch. Ghostship @ Treasure Island in SF is fantastic. We have also played at MightySF and 1015 Folsom, which are also awesome venues.

The past few years, we have been participating in Burning Man (Nevada), Shambhala Music Festival (Salmo, BC), and Earthdance (Laytonville, CA); all great. Burning Man is a really fantastic experience. There are so many good memories. Oh… JonH met his wife at Burning Man in 2007. That has got to be his highlight!

What do you want to be known for now – as it relates to music styles? And where are you going?

We want to be known for rejecting genre-fication and accepting all types, forms and traditions of music and exploring them. That and creating dance floor bombs! Where are we going? Breaking down the genres even more; mixing elements from fidget to flamenco.

What are some other music producers and DJs that you admire?

The Nextmen, Nick Thayer, A.Skillz, Neighbor, Deekline, Sub Swara, Neighbour, Mat the Alien, Smalltown DJs, Wicked Lester, All Good Funk Alliance, QDUP Foundation and Bassnectar to name a few.

You create and contribute into some amazing music collaborations. What are some of the ones that you are excited about now?

We are really excited about our newest release, The New Gold Standard 2. It features tracks by all of the bands that we affectionately refer to as the “Fort Knox Family”.

• Nappy Riddem, featuring long-time FK5 collaborators Rex Riddem, Mustafa Akbar & Hash Vyas
• See-I featuring DC sibling-legends Rootz and Zeebo as well as Rob and Saxophonist Frank “The Sax Pusher Mitchell” – all of whom play in the Thievery live band;
• Empresarios featuring Javier Miranda of See-I and Thievery Corp;
• The indie-pop sounds of Speedy Consuela, the “Steve Raskin Family Band” with his wife Miss Johnna M – of Thunderball fame –, his sister Joyce, and brother-in-law Matt White
• Liftoff which showcases the “Wayward Messiah” himself, Steven Albert.

We’re also excited by our most recent collaborations with hip-hop godfather Afrika Bambaataa: Shift, on the new record; and Zulu, We Don’t Stop Yawl for EA Sports NBA LIVE 10.

Thanks FK5 for your time, your tunes and for your creative talent!

Keep up to date on Fort Knox Five’s live performances at their websites below and the Jungo Road calendar.

More about Fort Knox Five on MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, SoundCloud, YouTube and their own website.

Booking USA/Canada: Click to reveal email
Booking worldwide: Click to reveal email

Stream the mix and click on the links below to purchase! You can also download this full podcast mix above.

1. Afrika Bambaataa & Timezone – Zulu! (We Don’t Stop Yawl) feat. Why G, Mickey Factz, and Fort Knox Five [unreleased]
2. DJ Dan & Uberzone – More Bounce to the Ounce [unreleased]
3. Masters at Work – Work (Fuzzbox Inc Edit) [unreleased]
4. Sub Swara – The Balance (Fort Knox Five remix) [Low Motion Records]
5. Master P – Rock It (Fuzzbox Inc Edit) [unreleased]
6. EPMD – I’m Housin’ (Soul Focus vs EPMD Edit) [Soul Focus]
7. Think Tank & Neighbour – Night Owl [Funk Weapons]
8. Samin – Boomin’ in Your Heater (Fort Knox Five Edit) [unreleased]
9. All Good Funk Alliance – Man With the Jam Plan (Fort Knox Five Remix) [Super Hi-Fi]
10. Kraak & Smaak – Mad as Hell (Fort Knox Five Remix)
11. Fort Knox Five – Shift feat. Afrika Bambaataa & Mustafa Akbar [Fort Knox Recordings]
12. Ursula 1000 – Mystics [ESL Music]
13. Fort Knox Five – The Party Pushers feat. Mustafa Akbar (Smalltown Romeo Remix Krafty Kuts Re-Rub) [Against the Grain]
14. Young MC – Know How (Stanton Warriors Remix) [unreleased]
15. TC – Where’s My Money (Caspa Remix) [D Style Recordings]
16. AC/DC – Il Cattivo Plus Thunder (Crookers Edit) [Mad Decent]
17. Steve Aoki – I’m In The House feat. [[[Zuper Blahq]]] (The Count AKA Hervé’s Burning Down Your House Remix) [Dim Mak]
18. The Nextmen – Lion’s Den feat. Ms Dynamite & Andy Cato (Club Mix) [Sanctuary Records Fontana]