Flobots

About Flobots

Flobots are an alternative rock/rap group from Denver, Colorado, formed in or around 2000. To date, they have released three albums (counting the 2001 independently released Onomatopoeia). Flobots found mainstream success with its major label debut Fight with Tools (2007), featuring the single "Handlebars", which became a popular hit on Modern Rock radio in April 2008.

Flobots formed in 2000 when lead emcee James Laurie a.k.a. Jonny 5 (not to be confused with former Marilyn Manson guitarist John 5) teamed up with producer Farhad Ebrahimi a.k.a. Yahktoe. Together they released the album Onomatopoeia in 2001, and the title track ended up in a compilation by the MIT Songwriting Club (Yahktoe's alma mater). The title track featured guitar player David Gralow, cello player Terrence Favors, and bass player Jaymz Haynes.

Jonny 5 kept the Flobots name when forming a side project with another lead emcee, Brer Rabbit. They teamed up with violist Mackenzie Roberts, bassist Jesse Walker, guitarist Andy Guerrero (from funk band Bop Skizzum), trumpet player Joe Ferrone (also from Bop Skizzum), and drummer Kenny Ortiz. By the year's end, their unique instrumentation and politically and socially charged music became popular in their hometown of Denver, and Flobots became a full time project. The group members also identify themselves by numbers; Jonny 5 is 05, Brer Rabbit is 0, Mackenzie is 33, Andy is 17, Jesse is 101, Joe is 79 and Kenny is 69.