BIOgraphy
Family Video wants you to dance like the world is ending.
The Charlotte, NC-based six-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 (bass), Gabe Avant (drums), and Brian Bethea (sax)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 was selected by legendary alt-weekly Queen City Nerve as Charlotte, North Carolina’s best band of 2024.
PHOTOS
PRESS quotes
“Basically, Family Video makes dance music for public riots” - Alt77
“Blending pop and rock in a way that is somehow not pop-rock, Family Video makes music that plays just as well at a dance party as it does at your local dive bar. It’s far from the mainstream with a sound that feels honest and authentic” - Queen City Nerve
“Family Video’s blend of pop-punk, synth wave and indie rock is as polished as it is boisterous.” — CLTure
“…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