BIOgraphy
Family Video wants you to dance like the world is ending.
The Charlotte, NC-based seven-piece fuses vintage synths, four-on-the-floor drum machine grooves and fuzzed out, angular guitars to craft indie pop songs that conjure up the likes of Echo and the Bunnymen, Depeche Mode, and LCD Soundsystem. Anchored by frontman Josh Shabtai’s manic stage presence and darkly tinged lyrics, the band evokes the decadence and daring of a musical era gone by.
An NYC transplant (formerly of art rockers Controller), Shabtai moved to Charlotte with a batch of songs and a hunger to get them out into the world. He recorded Family Video’s debut album with producer Danny Kalb (Ben Harper/Beck/DREAMERS) at White Star Sound outside Charlottesville, VA. Shades is an 8-song collection that introduces listeners to Family Video’s unique brand of synth-infused pop-punk.
Shabtai enlisted David Frick (synths), Garrett Ballard (lead guitar), Ben Fortenberry (rhythm guitar, noise box), Gabe Avant (drums), Brian Bethea (sax), and Eli Wendkos (bass) to transform Family Video from a bedroom project into an in-person spectacle. Audiences can expect a cinematic, high-energy show with equal opportunities to dance and sing along.
The band’s next EP, Colors, also produced by Danny Kalb, will be released in early 2024.
PHOTOS
PRESS quotes
“Basically, Family Video makes dance music for public riots” - Alt77
“…a grinding abrasive electro-funk groove in which squealing scythes of synths and loud guitars tangle in a cacophonous knot that would warm the robotic cockles of Gary Numan’s synthetic heart” - Queen City Nerve
“Family Video’s blend of pop-punk, synth wave and indie rock is as polished as it is boisterous.” — CLTure