From EA Games to the stage at Shambhala Music Festival Fort Knox Five has – almost – done it all. Before playing Spiritbar on Saturday night, Shambhala took time to catch up with Jon Horvath of Fort Knox Five.
1. You hope that your music will inspire, incite and unite audiences to “Funk 4 Peace!” What inspired you to make that your mission?
We like making music that is fun and happy. It has always been our mission not to take things too seriously. Funk 4 Peace was spawned on bringing people together to rally for peace through music. Music is an integral part of everyones lives, whatever culture or place they come from.
2. What do you feel was the defining moment of your career?
We have had several moments that we are really proud of. A chance meeting with Afrika Bambaataa in our local DC Record Store led to producing several songs together. That was a huge moment, because Afrika Bambaataa is the Amen-Ra of the universal hip hop culture. Also having the opportunity to remix some of our all time top inspirations like Bob Marley, Tito Puente, Louis Armstrong to some our funk compatriots like A Skillz and Krafty Kuts, Kraak and Smaak, Mo’Horizons, Nick Thayer and more. We are really happy with the way our career has gone.
We have spent the last year and a half focusing on developing our label Fort Knox Recordings. We have released amazing debut albums from Empresarios, See-I, Nappy Riddem and Liftoff as well as a slew of top charting remixed compilation. Our next release bring things full circle with the release of All Good Funk Alliance’s Jacks of all trades album. The AGFA guys have been down with Fort Knox since the beginning. They decided to let us release their new album. It is definitely their best work thusfar, and we are extremely proud to be releasing it.
3. You’ve had the opportunity to work on a lot of interesting projects, from soundtrack production for EA games to providing the musical direction for Eyecandy Sound Lounge at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. What stands out for your as the most exciting or inspiring project you’ve worked on?
We love doing scoring projects for EA Sports and EA Games. It is really interesting, and we end up learning a lot of different techniques every time we work on a new project. We recently completed scoring work on a SIMS3 expansion pack. It helped us get into using a lot of virtual synths, and virtual instruments. We love some of the elements of Bass Music. Incorporating those instruments help us meld an organic yet gritty sound. The scoring stuff gets you thinking outside the box.
4. You guys are veteran Shambhala DJs, what is your fondest memory thus far?
We have so many fond memories of Shambhala. It is truly one of the best events in the world. We love spreading the word about it. We love that people all over the world now about it! It is very inspiring to play Shambhala. When we get home from Shambhala, we are always ready to work on new tunes. The family feeling is unmatched anywhere. We are very excited to be a part of it again in 2012!! Counting down the days!
5. When we released Shambhala’s 2012 lineup, you tweeted that it might be the best SMF lineup you’ve ever seen. What are you most excited about? Who comes FK5 recommended?
We are really stoked on the line-up this year. It features a lot of the who’s who of the electronic music scene. Some of the peeps we are stoked to check out are Claude Von Stroke, DJ Dan, Love & Light, Pretty Lights, The Correspondents, A Skillz, Bobby C Sound TV, Dreadsquad, Rob Garza of Thievery Corporation, Neighbour, Janover, Eoto, Break Science, Chali 2na, Vinyl Ritchie, Smalltown DJs, Mat the Alien, Wax Romeo, Delhi 2 Dublin, Librarian, El Papa Chango, Nasty Nasty, Czech, Bitchin’ and so many more!!
Fort Knox Five takes the stage at Spiritbar on Saturday night. Tickets are available through the Hume Hotel. Doors open at 10 p.m.
