ENLIGHTENING THE MASSES WITH ‘THE BOOKS WE READ': AUSTIN BASED REGIONAL SENSATION FEEDING 5000 TAKES THEIR EDGY MODERN ROCK VIBE TO THE NEXT LEVEL WITH AN ALBUM PRODUCED BY INDUSTRY VETERAN ROGER SOMMERS
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In Addition to Showcasing at SXSW and Performing During the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, The Band Has Shared Stages With Nationally Touring Acts Including Better Than Ezra, Everclear a nd Seven Mary Three, and Supported Fellow Texas Rockers Blue October, The Toadies and Los Lonely Boys
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In Conjunction With A Triple AAA Radio Campaign For The Album's First Single “Sing Out Loud,” Feeding 5000 Will Host A CD Release Party August 25th At Stubb's

Driven by their explosive mix of elevating themes and blistering guitar edges—and an intriguing band moniker that implies blissful modern rock satisfaction--the Austin-based band Feeding 5000 has built a regional following throughout Texas (Dallas, Houston, Galveston, Lubbock, et al) supporting National Acts: Everclear, Better Than Ezra, The Toadies, Violent Femmes, Blue October, Los Lonely Boys, Reverend Horton Heat, Robby Krieger of The Doors, Bob Schneider, Brian Van Der Ark of the Verve Pipe and Dexter Freebish, to name a few.

This summer, the five piece group is taking its fiercely energetic sound national with the upcoming Triple AAA Radio campaign for “Sing Out Loud,” the inspiring power ballad and first single from their new CD release The Books We Read , which was produced by veteran engineer Roger Sommers (Rage Against The Machine, Alanis Morissette).

To its members, the title Feeding 5000 is much more than a name.  Part of what is quite possibly the greatest networking story of all time; this literary extract from the Bible is the foundation of the band's ambition to spread its music to the masses. First and foremost, F5K intends to entertain and inspire by creating songs that offer something for everyone. Driven by the impulse to share their music, they strive to initiate thought and create emotional response in each listener.

F5K began developing a prolific relationship with Texas radio upon the release of “Thursday's Blues” from an early self-titled release. With spins from several stations including 107.3 the Fox, transmitting from Central Texas near Fort Hood, the band was able to exploit the airwaves and develop a solid reputation as an up-and-coming regional act with something to prove. On May 19, as “Sing Out Loud” was hitting playlists across the country, F5K performed at the three year old indie rock Hyperactive Music Festival in Albuquerque.

The band—which includes lead guitarist Michael Gonzalez, bassist Jeremy Rocha, drummer Alex Geismar, keyboardist Aaron Brown, and lead singer and lyricist Kelly Scott Taylor—will be among longtime Austin friends when they host the CD release party for The Books We Read at one of their favorite haunts, Stubb's, on August 25th.

While Feeding 5000's first CD was a successful sell from local bandstands across the state, Taylor believes the band didn't really hit its stride until Gonzalez brought his powerful and distinctive electric guitar energy to the group in late 2004. Gonzalez was a well-known working musician in Austin who hadn't played in months due to his contracting of the West Nile Virus. When Geismar called and asked him to join, he was recovering, fervent about playing and emotionally motivated to take on the next venture in his career.

“I wanted to be in a band, making records, playing shows, touring and making music for a living,” says Gonzalez. “From the first rehearsal on, the chemistry was there. The best part of being a member of Feeding 5000 is the ability I have to express musical ideas and the confidence they give me to just be myself. There's a real comfort level here. Each member comes in with what we want to write, and then we work together to hammer it out until it takes on the band's identity.”

While Taylor is a seriously thought provoking singer and lyricist, he prefers to write in broad strokes that allow the listener to interpret from a wide possibility of angles. His take on a few of the major tracks on The Books We Read: “The single ‘Sing Out Loud' is probably the most specific of all of them. I wrote it to inspire people who have a strong foothold in life to rally around people who are in pain and in need of fortitude. It's a very positive vibe song. ‘Books' penetrates a little deeper, addressing the idea that history repeats itself. As I see it, we're standing, heedless in the middle of a great society as it crumbles around us and we pretend that it hasn't happened before!”

“‘Drive' is a bit more personal and romantic,” he continues, “it's not necessarily about a specific romantic encounter, but it can be taken as such, just as it can be perceived as a metaphor for pressing on with your life's intention as long as the lights are green. ‘Falling Further' is one of the more introspective songs I've written, encompassing my reality growing up somewhat sheltered, then entering real life with a lot of ethical and ideological questions about the world around me. As a lyricist, I aim to galvanize thought and maintain the same decisive degree of honesty in music, as my band-mates.”   

Each member of F5K leans on the effort and sacrifice of the other members. Brown and Taylor gave up teaching and coaching, and joined college friend Rocha, to relocate to a home in Austin that would later become a home-studio in which their current project would find its genesis. Geismar picked up his craft at the early age of 8. After college he endured the struggles of working as a full-time musician while maintaining consistent session work in LA for two years and making ends meet teaching drum lessons to aspiring kids around Austin. Gonzalez, having just overcome a rare disease, brought a fresh perspective to a promising design, as well as a confidence and a sense of creative fulfillment that the group had not yet been realized.

“The most exciting thing now is that we're getting so many great opportunities to take what we have to the next level and reach more people with the music we love to make,” says Taylor. “We have a chance to take this for a wild ride and achieve what we've been working on for so long. It's great to realize that our goals are becoming more real and attainable all the time.”