The Flobots are to the music world as the new flavored Coffee Mate is to our morning coffee. They are the barbecue sauce to our Lil Smokey’s. They kick ass. The Flobots’ are getting all this love thanks to their hit song, “Handlebars”. Tuesday, they will be rinding into St. Pete for a set at the State Theatre. We wanted to sit down and have a gab-session to find out more about them. They share their thoughts and feelings on their recent success and whether or not they can really ride their bike with no handlebars.
Howdy! How are you all doing?
We’re doing great. This has been an amazing year so far, and we’re excited to see what comes next.
What would you consider the biggest break in your career?
In late January, our song “Handlebars” was selected to go into rotation on 93.3FM KTCL. The exposure generated a wave of interest that has carried us to a national platform.
Tell us about the biggest crowd you've ever played.
Opening up a sold out show at Red Rocks was an experience we’ll never forget.
You've been getting a lot of radio play. Tell us about the first time you heard yourself on the radio. What were you doing at that moment?
We were all in different places when he heard ourselves in Denver, but we were in the van driving into LA for a show when we first heard ourselves on KROQ. KROQ is the biggest station in the LA area, and it was the moment we realized we might experience national success.
Can you really ride your bike with no handlebars? How about a unicycle?
Some of us can ride our bikes without handlebars, but some of us are still learning. No one has yet mastered the unicycle.
If you could tour with any band, who would it be and why?
Outkast. First of all it would be amazing because it would mean Outkast was back together. More importantly, the experience would no doubt send us on an inspired new trajectory.
Who would the band want to brawl? David Hasselhoff, Chuck Norris, or Fabio?
We wouldn’t want to brawl with anyone. Non-violence is a cornerstone of our message. But if we were to spar with one of these three, it would probably be Chuck Norris. He’s clearly the most skilled and we would want to sharpen our own skills against the best.
What’s next for The Flobots?
We’ll be hitting the road in May and continuing to work on and expand our non-profit organization, Flobots.org. The organization’s mission is to provide a structure through which bands can invest their social and cultural capitol in efforts to increase civic engagement, volunteerism, literacy, and creative expression, and to build a community of music fans around these efforts. We have had great success assembling a team of dedicated individuals who are piloting the Denver program, and we’re excited to try to take the organization to a national stage. Learn more about it at www.flobots.org!
