
In the world of music, where cookie cutter,
sound-alike bands can be found in nearly
every club and venue across the country on
any given weekend, Tulsa-based melodic rock
metal band Down For Five set
standards to set itself apart from this
pack, both musically and visually in its
live performances.
The band was formed in the spring of 2002 by
lead guitarist
Janna Jordan and lead vocalist
Syke Mochek. With the entrance of
bassist
Scott Squires in early 2005, Down For
Five solidified itself as a true,
unparalleled force in heavy rock in the
Midwest. Drummer Jay
Wilson joined the band in May of 2009 to round out the power house lineup.
Even since the band’s inception, the vision
was always to combine modern, grooving
heaviness with the musicality, flavor, and
attitude of old school rock and metal. This
vision was
carried out by Down For Five in a very
successful and effective manner.
Down For Five developed a reputation for
its over the top and in your face live
performances, including use of props such as
banners, lasers, state-of-the-art lighting, pyro fog machines, and more. The band prided
itself in giving its fans a true rock and
roll show to remember, reminiscent of the
“larger than life” acts of days past.
Down For Five achieved
respectable levels of success, with its
recording of Time Has Come – a full
length release which came out on Hollywood,
CA based Sunset Trash records in April of
2006. The album received airplay in
various parts of the country, as well as
Canada. Time Has Come was mastered at
Capitol Records in Los Angeles, CA and the
band saw consistent sales since its
release. The band played three shows in
Hollywood shortly after the album was
released and, at one of those shows, had the
opportunity of jamming with Lemmy from
Motorhead, as well as other well known
musicians. DFF recently picked up
endorsements from Hollywood-based Coffin
Case and TurboTrem Bar Corporation.
In addition to receiving radio airplay, Down
For Five did countless on air
interviews with various media outlets, on
air live performances, received television
airplay for its 2003 DVD, which featured an EPK and three professionally shot videos,
and also did the soundtrack for a nationally
distributed paintball video. In 2003, the
band was invited to that year's Edgefest,
performing alongside acts such as
Evanescence and Mudvayne.
In 2005, the band recorded a song entitled
"Let's Go" which was named the official
theme song for the Tulsa Oilers of the
Central Hockey League. The song was used as
the team's intro music during skate out at
the Oilers' home arena. Tulsa's AF2 football
team, The Tulsa Talons, also saw fit in
collaborating with Down For Five, using the
band's song "Rise" in 2004 and 2005 as the
intro music on its official website.
The band performed at Diversafest 2006 in
Tulsa, OK to a packed house at The Venue, in
which industry personnel was present to
check out the band’s live performance. A
writer for the Denver Post and Rolling Stone
named Down For Five as one of the top five
performances at the festival.
In February of 2007, Down For Five had the
opportunity to play a showcase for Skid Row
guitarist Dave "The Snake" Sabo, who is also
a representative for Doc McGhee's management
company McGhee Entertainment, the management
company for bands such as KISS, Ted Nugent,
and Down.
The band also had the opportunity of
performing at the historic
Rocklahoma 2007 on the main stage, alongside
acts such as Poison, Skid Row, Vince Neil,
Slaughter, Ratt, Twisted Sister, Quiet Riot,
and many more.
The year 2008 saw the band opening for legendary punk act the Misfits at historic Cain's Ballroom in downtown Tulsa.
In fall of 2008, Down For Five was asked to re-record an updated version of "Let's Go" for the Tulsa Oilers for the team to once again use as its theme song. The band reunited with producer/engineer Stephen Egerton of Armstrong Recording studios and guitarist for The Descendants. Egerton's production and engineering skills successfully helped the band achieve the same hard hitting, larger than life sound on the new version of "Let's Go" that he was able to help the band create on the "Time Has Come" album. "Let's Go" was played at home games in the BOK Center in Tulsa and the band also shot a video for the song which was played on the video screens at Tulsa Oilers home games.
Down For Five's last performance to date was
Rocklahoma 2009. At this time, the future of
the band is unknown, as each member is
involved in other projects and activities.
Whatever the future holds, Down For Five is
grateful for the support shown by its fans
over the years.
You
can hear songs off the "Time Has Come"
album by visiting the
Down For Five MySpace page.
To order the album and other Down For Five
merchandise, visit the
Down For Five Web Shop.