Biography/History of
V Factory
Search for “V Factory” on file-sharing website
YouTube and you will find dozens of fervent fan tributes to the group,
even though their music has yet to be released to the general public.
That’s because today’s MySpace-savvy kids have an uncanny radar for
what’s exciting and new. And V Factory, five mad-talented young male
singers and dancers, are all that and more with their combination of
edgy urban pop and electrifying hip-hop dance moves.
With their hip-hop-meets-R&B vibe, the instantly addictive songs that V
Factory have just finished recording for their debut album for Warner
Bros. Records have more in common musically with Usher’s “Yeah!” or
Chris Brown’s “Kiss Kiss” than
anything by ’N Sync or the Backstreet
Boys. The first single, the crunk-tinged “She Bad” even features a
rap from Bay Area Hyphy star E-40. “We didn’t want to come out as just
another pop group,” says V Factory’s affable lead singer Asher Book. “We
wanted the music to have an edge and a lot of flavor. We all listen to
hip-hop, so to have E-40 rapping on our record is just crazy.”
Written and produced by a top-notch team, including Kara DioGuardi
(“Round and Round”), Twin (“Pump It,” “History,” “Treat Her Like A
Lady,” “In It For The Love”), J. Marty (“Dem Hot Girls”), and Soundz
(“She Bad”), the upcoming album has something for everyone, from
tough-edged beats to touching ballads, giving it an appeal to music
lovers of all ages. “Our music is diverse,” says Nathaniel Flatt. “It’s
as diverse as we are. We all come from completely different backgrounds,
but we’ve come together and somehow it works.”
The group began to coalesce in September 2006 when Tommy Page — a Warner
Bros. Records’ vice president of A&R who worked with High School Musical
star Ashley Tisdale on her debut
album — accompanied Tisdale to rehearsals for the first HSM tour. “I
watched Ashley perform with a group of teen dancers who were cast by
director Kenny Ortega,” Page says. “Ashley and I were both knocked out
by Jared Murillo who seemed to own the stage. I thought, ‘Wow, if I
could find four other guys who could sing and move like that, we could
form an amazing group.’” (Page knows a little something about pop
groups, having spent ten years as an artist. He scored a No. 1 hit with
“I’ll Be Your Everything” in 1990 and toured with chart-topping pop
phenomenon New Kids on the Block for four years.) “For me,” Page says,
“Jared was the template that set the bar.”
Murillo, a soft-spoken 19-year-old from Mapleton, UT, is now known to
legions of young fans for his appearances as a featured dancer in HSM,
its nationwide tour, and HSM II, for which he also earned an Assistant
Choreographer credit by creating the dance number for “I Don’t Dance.”
Born in Honolulu, Murillo moved to Utah with his family at age 4, began
singing in church at age 5, and enrolled in dance classes the following
year. At age 8, he appeared with Donny Osmond in Joseph and the Amazing
Technicolor Dreamcoat. A trained competitive Latin Ballroom and West
Coast Swing dancer, Murillo is a former World and United States
Champion, and was once ranked the No. 1 male ballroom dancer under 20 in
the U.S. While performing at the opening ceremonies of the Winter
Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002, Murillo met Kenny Ortega, who cast
him three years later in HSM. “I almost didn’t audition because I was
really involved with ballroom dancing,” Murillo says with a chuckle.
Luckily he did, or he wouldn’t have met Page, who began scouting for
other group members immediately, starting with a lead singer.
Tipped off by young Hollywood’s premiere vocal coach Eric Vetro, Page
was introduced to Asher Book — a charismatic 19-year-old from Arlington,
VA, who got his big break at an open casting call for the theatrical
production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Cast in the principal role
of Chip the Teacup, Asher traveled the U.S. on tour with the show for
two and a half years, becoming so popular with fans that he was wound up
playing the character for longer than any other actor in the show’s
touring history.
Impressed not only by his obvious talent (Asher’s other credits include
the ABC Family original movie Pop Rocks, Nickelodeon’s Zoey 101, and the
feature film Come Away Home), Page was also struck by Asher’s upbeat
personality and easygoing way with people. “I knew immediately that he
was the one to anchor the group,” Page says. For his part, Asher says
that after focusing on acting, singing with V Factory makes him feel
complete. “I get to be on stage and perform and do what I love every
day. Why wouldn’t you want to be doing that?” he says with a laugh. “And
the fact that I get to do it with these four guys, who are all really
fun and lighthearted, is just awesome. Wesley and I are roommates, and
we’re probably the most alike. We both like to live in the moment.”
Indeed gregarious Wesley Quinn, from Greenville, SC, is, at 18, the
group’s youngest and most fun-loving member. He was bitten with the
performing bug at age 6 after attending his younger sister’s dance
recital. “I told my parents, I really want to do that,” he says. Wesley
embarked on 11 years of intense technical dance training (“I’m from the
South, so I even did seven years of clogging,” he says), followed by
voice lessons. Wesley, who admits he loves to be the center of
attention, is excited about being in V Factory because “I strive to
entertain everybody, no matter who it is. It’s in my blood, I just have
to do it.”
Another guy with dance in his blood is street-smart 24-year-old
Philadelphia, PA, native Nick Teti, known by his nickname Nicky T, who
got his start doing musical theater in high school then taught himself
to dance while in college. “I knew if I wanted to be a great all-around
performer, I’d have to learn to dance,” he says. “I’m a huge
Justin Timberlake fan, so I’d
study his moves in his videos, go the mirror, try them, re-wind the
video, go back to the mirror and try again until I nailed it. That’s
pretty much how I learned to dance.” Described by the others as the most
hard-working member of the group, Nick has a laser-like focus when it
comes to performing. “I’m one of those guys who when he sets out to do
something, it’s my main focus until I accomplish it,” he says. “So I’m
kind of like the motivator. I’m the one who always gets on them when
they’re tired. I’m that guy who will always keep on pushing.”
Finally, we have dark-eyed looker Nathaniel Flatt, 26, who was inspired
to pursue entertaining after seeing a production of Peter Pan in his
hometown of Cookeville, TN, at age 5. “I remember thinking how amazing
it was that the guy was flying,” he says. As the attention-starved
youngest child of four, Nathaniel got his start acting in local plays
and eventually found his way into musical theater, which required him to
study voice and dance. Not long after moving to L.A., he landed a major
campaign with Target, as well as numerous print ads, music videos, and
commercials for Sony, Heinz, and The Disney Channel. The wisest member,
whom the others say they all look up to,
Nathaniel was excited to join V Factory, because “it was something
completely different,” he says. “I thought it would be an amazing
experience. I’m inspired by the other guys all the time.”
And is he ready for the V Factory mania that is sure to follow when the
album drops this summer? Nathaniel surely speaks for the group when he
says, “Are you kidding? I was born ready.”
V Factory’s first single “She Bad” will be released to radio this summer
when the guys will also join Menudo, N.L.T., and Varsity on a nationwide
tour. |
Listen to Music
Round and
Round
Windows Media
128k |
56k
Quicktime
128k
|
56k
She Bad
Windows Media
128k |
56k
Quicktime
128k |
56k
MP3:
She Bad
These Are the
Days
Windows Media
128k |
56k
Quicktime
128k |
56k |
|
5/01 House
Of Blues - Las Vegas, Nevada
5/03 Great American Music Hall - San Francisco, California
5/04 House Of Blues - San Diego, California
5/05 House Of Blues - West Hollywood, California
5/06 House Of Blues - Anaheim, California
5/07 Southworth Event Center - Provo, Utah
5/08 The Gothic Theatre - Englewood, Colorado
5/11 House Of Blues - Dallas, Texas
5/13 House Of Blues Chicago - Chicago, Illinois
5/14 House Of Blues - Cambridge Room - Cleveland, Ohio
5/15 St. Andrew’s Hall - Detroit, Michigan
5/16 Blender Theater @ Gramercy - New York, New York
5/17 North Fork Theater - Wesbury, New York
5/18 TLA - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
5/20 Stone Pony - Asbury Park, New Jersey
5/22 House Of Blues Myrtle Beach - North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
5/23 TBA - Greenville, South Carolina
5/25 Revolution Night Club - Fort Lauderdale, Florida
5/26 House Of Blues - Lake Buena Vista, Florida |
