Knuckles Up
It started decades ago, in back alley pubs and abandoned flats—a restless energy among those without anything besides their voices and the streets. They were kids with a dream to be heard, to make change, together on the avenues of London. It was the late 1970’s. Punk Rock. Its tremors would be felt for decades to come. Its culture was deemed a cancer by those in power, and yet it was nothing short of life’s blood to those who lived it. True punk’s roots have always been beneath the radar, below the surface, underground, word-of-mouth. And though many say its true nature has been dead for a long time, its heart, its remnant, can be found if you listen. Put your ear to the curb and you will be led, not to the bricks of London, England, but to the pavement of Chicago, Illinois. There you will find Flatfoot 56.  "My brothers and I started going to shows in bars, where skinheads and punk-rockers alike would gather week after week," lead vocalist and frontman Tobin Bawinkel explains. "We made friends there because it was our home, it’s where we belonged. And the same scene we were a part of birthed our own band." You wouldn’t, at first, think that these three preacher’s kids would fit in the street-punk scene of urban Chicago. But standing next to them, you might think again. The smallest brother stands 6’4". Tobin himself is 6’ 9", and each of them could easily be mistaken for an Oi! henchman. However, it wasn’t stature that won them respect among their peers; they are as gracious in speech as they are intimidating in presence. They also genuinely love the music, having grown up listening to The Pogues, The Real Mckenzies, and Headnoise, and subculture that’s been the backdrop of their lives. These unique qualities made it impossible for them to just blend in, and it was inevitable that they would eventually take the stage.  After years of attending shows, the three Bawinkels felt it was time to put their thoughts and beliefs into action. They began jamming as a three-piece in 2000 but were searching for one more player to complete their sound. Josh Robieson, doubling on bagpipe and guitar, was the man who brought it all together. It was then they came up with the name "Flatfoot 56," inspired by their youngest brother Kyle, who wore number 56 on his baseball jersey and was teased for having flat feet. In the winter of 2001, they played their first show at a downtown bar.   "We really didn’t know how the crowd would react to our lyrics. The words are straight-forward and very much about our faith. I could imagine bottles flying at my head as we played our first notes for the punk-rock kids. After all, a true punk-rocker’s number one enemy is the church. But we went up there armed with nothing but our hearts and our songs. Nobody threw a single thing. It was a dream come true to be up there, and it would not have been possible without God," says Tobin. Their story built from there—Flatfoot 56 released three independent records in less than five years, selling 7,000 copies along the way, playing bars, colleges, church shows, and everything in-between. And though the local scene embraced them, they found themselves looking at something much larger. At Cornerstone 2003 they were among the festival’s biggest buzz bands, and it wasn’t long before record labels took notice. In late 2005, Flatfoot 56 inked a deal with Flicker Records, who will release the group’s third LP, Knuckles Up.