Even though I’ve not done a proper head count, I’m still pretty sure that Fort Knox Five have been featured on our little blog more than anyone else in our thirteen-year history. The old-skool LSM crew were sharing their music long before I joined the team, but over the last nine and a bit years, I’ve been only too happy to pick up the baton to continue our unwavering support for the Washington, D.C. legends and all they do. It was seven years before the blog was born, however, that Jon Horvath, Steve Raskin, Rob Myers and Sid Barcelona formed Fort Knox Five and Fort Knox Recordings, which means this autumn, they’re celebrating the official 20th anniversary of both legendary institutions and celebrate they have been and are!
With plans in place to make 2023 a year-long celebration of their epic achievements, the decision was taken to focus attention on Fort Knox Recordings and celebrate all that they’ve achieved with their label thus far. With that, they took to the roads of America and Canada to play a ton of club gigs and a heap of festivals, with music released on the label taking centre stage and always packing out the dancing space supplied. Despite the hectic schedule, time was found in the summer to release their Another Decade of Fort Knox Recordings compilation.
Fort Knox Recordings has always been a melting pot of genres, and the second instalment of Another Decade of Fort Knox Recordings is exactly that once more, with some of the finest reggae, funk, breaks, Latin, house, downtempo and trip-hop tunes on the planet being served up and sent our way to feast upon. Artists from the current Fort Knox Recordings roster, such as Thunderball, International Velvet, Qdup, Omegaman, Nappy Riddem, Mustafa Akbar, See-I and, of course, Fort Knox Five themselves, all feature on the new comp, along with extended family members Ursula 1000 and Backbeat Underground. Also featured is a selection of remixes that always follow every artist’s official release. They come from Skeewiff, All Good Funk Alliance, Skiitour, Bobby C Sound TV, Funkanomics and Lakeshore Drive. Although just a snapshot, this compilation demonstrates the heavyweight and always funky sounds you can expect from the legendary label on the regular! Hit the Bandcamp link at the bottom of the page to get your hands on the compilation and all the music featured in this post.
With the bulk of the year’s gigs done and dusted, the spotlight has now moved from Fort Knox Recordings and onto Fort Knox Five for the final third of the year. The plan, once the hectic festival season was over, was to start releasing a series of remixes of classic Fort Knox Five tracks from some of their favourite artists from around the globe. So far, two of those very remixes have landed, with The Allergies leading the way with their battle-hardened and ultra-funky breaks remix of Insight feat. Asheru. It’s a tougher hit of funk from the Bristolian duo that we’re used to, but we’re diggin’ it alright! Following on comes that man Krafty Kuts with a floor-quaking and body-shakin’ remix of Fort Knox Five’s marquee tune The Brazilian Hipster. A favourite of many a Fort Knox Five fan, Krafty takes on the much-loved classic and breathes new life into it with a bumpin’ and bass-heavy workout for the movers and shakers out there.
More of these remixes are coming, so keep ’em peeled folks!
Fort Knox Five – Insight feat. Asheru (The Allergies Remix)
Fort Knox Five – The Brazilian Hipster (Krafty Kuts Remix)
If you think the music is over, it’s time to gird your loins, take a breath and get ready to go again with Another Decade of Funk. This funk spectacular is a strictly Fort Knox Five affair that celebrates and showcases the origins and evolution of the Fort Knox sound across 11 choice cuts from the last decade. The highlights reel, as you might expect, is as epic as they come! Check out the low down here:
The story of the second decade kicks off with Fort Knox Five’s sophomore studio album, Pressurize The Cabin. This collection features some choice gems from that release including the boom bap party anthem “Reach”, featuring Flex Mathews. Mustafa Akbar drops the funk on “Whatcha Gonna Do” and “Keep it Poppin” while legendary British trombonist and soul crooner Ashley Slater brings the heat on “Fire in my Belly.” (Available here as a radio edit for the first time)
After a chance meeting with Sir Joe Quarterman, one of D.C.’s legendary singers from the 70’s, the group cooked up the floor burner “Don’t Go”, which captures the vibe of D.C.’s classic funk era. “Give it a Minute” pushes the hometown influence into the future with its Go-Go meets 808 jeep beats topped by the bouncing crisp flow of Bcap.
In 2017 Steve relocated to British Columbia and some incredible collaborations followed starting with the modern funk-meets-glitch hop banger “Jinglin’ Janglin’” with K+Lab, featuring vocals by hip hop royalty Baby Bam (Jungle Brothers). The “DC to BC” series grew, teaming up with Slynk on “Keep the Funk Real”, and with Lazy Syrup Orchestra on “Start the Ride”, both exploring some west coast mid tempo vibes.
Alongside these future forward collaborations, the classic FK5 sound can be heard loud and clear on “Playing with Fire” featuring Emily Molloy as well as the funky instrumental groover “McGuires Audio Shop”.
– Fort Knox Recordings
Despite all of the celebrations, there will always be a heaviness in the hearts of the Fort Knox family because of the loss of one of the founding fathers of Fort Knox Five, Jon Horvath, and two longtime collaborators and brothers from other mothers, Mustapha Akbar and Zee Steele (See-I). The world became a little less bright when they left this world far earlier than they should have done, but because of the impact they made, they will live long in the hearts and minds of the Fort Knox family, and their legacy will be etched into musical history forever. Funk in peace Jon, Mustapha and Zee.
On a personal note, I bloody love Fort Knox Five, although I know that’s no secret. I was a latecomer to the World Wide Web, which meant they’d already been on their journey for seven years before I hopped on board. I was searching through the people Krafty Kuts followed on Soundcloud to find some new people to follow myself and up popped Fort Knox Five. I’d never heard of them before, but their name was one of the coolest I’d ever heard or clapped eyes on and I knew I had to investigate. I know I got really lucky too, because the first track I listened to was the legendary Funk 4 Peace feat. Mustapha Akbar. So infected by the funk I was after several listens to that masterpiece, I listened to everything they’d released at that time and have listened to everything they’ve released there on after. And why wouldn’t I, or anyone for that matter? It’s feel-good music from the gods and it just happens to be damn funky too! Whether you’re tuning into one of their downtempo wonders or one of their heavyweight floor-fillers, the smile on your face will not stop growing, and that’s all down to those legends Fort Knox Five. Here’s to the next ten!
Last but by no means least, I’d just like to give a massive shoutout to Fort Knox Five’s manager Andy Cerutti. The hung-sung hero of operations, Andy is the chap who keeps the wheels in motion and makes sure the road ahead is a smooth one for the guys to do their thing worry-free. I’ve had many dealings with Andy over the years and not only is he a pleasure to work with, but he also hooks LSM up with exclusive plays of mixtapes from the epic Funk The World series. As we’ve witnessed over the last two decades, when they all work together, Fort Knox Five is a formidable funk machine.
Links for Fort Knox Five :
Soundcloud / Facebook / Website / Bandcamp / Mixcloud / YouTube / Twitter / Instagram / Twitch
