Jun 14, 2008 6:34 pm US/Mountain
Denver's Flobots Credit Local Scene With Success
DENVER (CBS4) ―
You don't normally expect to find a top national band hanging out in a Denver garage, but that is where you'll find Flobots.
Within months of the local release of their album "Fight with Tools," the band has gone national with a major label, a tour and creative freedom, all of which, they say they owe to Denver fans.
"Local radio play sparked the national radio play. That's what got us the attention. But in the end, it was really the support of Denver fans that got everything going in the first place," said Stephen Brackett.
And that spark came from the Denver music scene.
"The Denver music scene is really thriving," Jesse Walker said.
The clubs, the fans and the local attention have brought wide area success to a number of bands. A number have made national names for themselves, and that includes Flobots, with a sound that rages through hip hop, carries aspects of the classics, riffs on jazz and adds a social consciousness to the onstage mix.
"We all come from different places musically," Mackenzie Roberts said. "Many of us are classically trained. So it is easy for all of us to work together and move through different genres."
All of which comes together with power and electricity on stage, making Flobots a breakthrough name in music.
Still, with the success the band is now experiencing there is a worry. What will corporate music executives do once they get their hands on Flobots? The answer is nothing, at least if the band has anything to say about it. According to Jesse Walker, "There is no way that a major label is going to change us."
Given the very nature of the modern music business that is more truth than boast. Rather than developing new talent, most labels are going in search of those who have already found their own way, developing their own sound and core audience.
For the executive, that's a more concrete path to the true music lover, the person who is always searching for a new sound to buy, than those hit-and-miss fans who enjoy music they find manufactured on TV reality shows.
Flobots isn't that.
In the end, standing on the national stage gives Flobots two immediate opportunities: first, to play; second, to make a difference.
"The tour, the music, the national press, it's all just another way to get out message out there," Andy Guerrero said.
And they are.
Flobots will perform on Sunday, July 20, at the Mile High Music Festival. Tickets are available through
tickethorse.com.
For more information on the band, and its message, you can head to
flobots.com or their community service site at
flobots.org.
(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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