Fivespeed

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Latest Album

Discography

Morning Over Midnight		(2006)
Bella		(2005)

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Shane of FIVESPEED comments on show cancellation

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Biography

Seattle. Athens, Georgia. Detroit. New York. Montreal. In the last two decades, each city has been lauded as the next rock 'n roll capital. But what about Phoenix? That heated Arizona metropolis is home to one of the most important and prominent rock scenes in the country, starting with platinum rock gods Jimmy Eat World and including such critically lauded acts as Reubens Accomplice and major label newcomers The Format and Authority Zero.

To that list, you can now add Fivespeed. Although the band has spent the past few years developing a strong nation-wide fan base (thanks in part to multiple tours with Finch, Blindside, Jimmy Eat World, Recover, Breaking Benjamin, At the Drive-In, Further Seems Forever, Sparta, From Autumn to Ashes and the 2002 Warped Tour, among others), it's the group's musically appreciative home town that helped shaped Fivespeed's sound and style.

"We've got a really strong local music scene here in Phoenix," explains frontman Jared Woosley. "I think this is the kind of area where you can really develop as a musician. We released one album (Trade in Your Halo) on our friend's local label, and that did phenomenally well for us. It allowed us to get a lot of gigs around here, and it really made us confident that things would happen for us when the time was right."

"Everyone in this band is involved in the writing," says Woosley. "And we each come at our songs from very different places. When it all comes together, it's very distinct. We're five guys coming together from different places on each song – and I think that approach is really reflected in our name. Diversity is one of the keys to what we do—no two songs sound the same. It's exciting to hear… even for us."

"We like playing with power, but you can't use volume to disguise a bad melody or a poorly conceived song," explains Woosley, who cites Jane's Addiction, the Deftones and even Willie Nelson as major influences in Fivespeed's sound. "If there's power and volume, it has to be there to enhance what you've written, and that's the way we approached the material for this album." That attitude helps explains the more left-field racks such as "Touch of One," which manages to both sound wholly contemporary and a bit like a great, lost soundtrack nugget from an 80s John Hughes flick.