INTERVIEW WITH FIVE FOR FIGHTING!
I had the pleasure of talking with the incredible singer song writer Five for Fighting. We talked about his musical beginnings, some interesting stories and how music has changed him over the years. We were honored to have some time to communicate with him. He is currently on tour so check out the tour dates by clicking on the links below!!
f28 Editor in Chief Chris Sturk and John of Five for Fighting Interview
Q: You are known around the world by your stage name Five for Fighting, which honestly, I have not met a person yet who does not know that name, but your real name is Vladimir Ondrasik. I read that EMI executives wanted you to use Five for Fighting as your stage name due to believing your real name was too difficult to say or did you come up with this name and suggest it to the executives? How did the Five for Fighting name develop?
A: As it was the age of Boy Bands and Grunge Music, EMI wanted me to come up with a band name. I had just come from a hockey game where Wayne Gretzky’s bodyguard Marty McSorley had received a penalty “Five minutes for Fighting” after a scrap with an opposing team. I sarcastically suggested “Five for Fighting” to the EMI President, expecting him to dislike it as it sounded like a heavy metal band. Alas, he loved it, and “Five for Fighting” was born!
Q: As a child you were surrounded by music, your mother was a piano teacher in Los Angeles and I can only imagine she introduced you to the piano as an incredible instrument. Did your interest in playing the piano and also learning other instruments such as guitar come from her encouragement for you to embrace music or was it something you found a love for on your own or a mixture of both?
A: I was very fortunate as my mom started me playing piano at two years old. I gained the fundamentals as a child and at thirteen when I was tired of practicing, she let me quit. That freedom ignited my passion for songwriting and singing. My father was an astrophysicist at Nasa which sparked my love for astronomy and math. My parents’ encouragement was crucial in my growth as a writer and producer and I will be forever grateful for their support. As far as the guitar, I “borrowed” my sister’s guitar at 15 years old, and one day I will return it to her. I promise!
Q: While I was doing some research, I read that you were friends with White Snake Bassist Rudy Sarzo and worked with Pat Benatar and were imbedded in the “pop metal” scene of the time. If this is true, how did you meet Rudy, is there a funny story behind that and how did working with these incredible musicians of their time including Pat Benatar help you grow as a musician?
A: I was so blessed to have amazing mentors like Rudy and Scott Sheets from Pat Benatar. I met Rudy at a Malibu Pool where both he and our family had condos. I lived the “Almost Famous” life hanging with him, his wife, and Whitesnake traveling around to gigs. Who knew that Rudy was a closet Barry Manilow fan and appreciated my piano based style. I love that Rudy is still on the road Rocking the house to this day. Rock-n-Roll is the fountain of youth!
Q: Your breakthrough album which was released in 2000 was called “America Town” which included the smash hit “Superman” but you actually had an album released before that in 1997 called “Message for Albert” under EMI records. How did writing for the album “Message for Albert” help you as a singer songwriter develop as an artist? Did that learning process guide you in a way while the songs for your “America Town” album? Did you approach each album differently when composing each song of stick with a similar writing recipe?
A: Making “Message for Albert” was a dream come true…I was able to work with the President of EMI and record producer Davitt Sigerson who produced Tori Amos’s classic “Little Earthquakes”. Though EMI closed and my record went into the abyss of music history, I learned quite a bit about production and the music business. For each record my approach was always to write the best songs I could, often writing 100 songs to get the 10-12 that made the record. In my mind, it’s always about the song.
Q: I was 22 when September 11th happened and remember where I was, what I was doing and the fear I had of not knowing where my friends were in New York because there was no cell service and I could not call them. Your song “Superman” took on an entirely different meaning after that tragic day and helped millions of people cope with the devastation of that day. You played at the Concert for New York, which raised over 30 million dollars, to honor the city, their first responders and the people who lost their lives in this tragedy. What was it like for you to be there and sing a song that had taken on a life of its own and seeing so many other musicians and artists come together in the shadow of this horrible event?
A: In any other situation it would have been a dream come true, sharing the stage with all my living influences. Of course, that night, was anything but. I will always be humbled that “Superman” provided solace to many families who lost loved ones in 9-11 and became one of the songs that recognized the heroes of 9-11. That concert changed my life in that I saw first-hand why music truly matters, and its ability to raise up those suffering. Much of my activism for veterans, and my recent trip to Ukraine to collaborate with a Ukrainian orchestra birthed out of that concert. Shout out to Paul McCartney who made it happen.
Q: I have always been someone who is interested in my family’s heritage, where my family came from and so on. My father was 100% French and my mom 100% Irish. I have always dreamed about going to Ireland and or France but never have. Though you were born in Los Angeles your family is of Slovak decent. Have you had a chance to visit where your family is from? Has that personal family history impacted your writing and how you view the world?
A: When we were in Ukraine I had a chance to go to Slovakia but we were so exhausted from our trip we put it off for another day. I think, like many, our immigrant story is another example of the power of the American Dream coming to life.
Q: You have an incredible history in the world of music, you have had to platinum albums, nominated for an American music award, been involved in philanthropy which has helped raise over 250,000 dollars for several different critically important foundations plus public speaking and creating your unique blend of music as well as being a father and a husband. What is it that drives you to keep moving forward? What is it about music, your personal experiences in life that gives you the energy to keep developing as musician and as a person?
A: At this point in my life, music has given me the platform to raise awareness and funds for causes important to me. I have met heroic and incredible people through these collaborations and look forward to continuing to do so. I also have many obligations and activities outside of music that gives me clarity and purpose for family, and the world at large.
Q: Your most recent work has brought you to Ukraine and you have seen the ongoing war first hand. You have teamed up with the Ukrainian Orchestra on your song "Can one man save the world" and there is even a picture of you and the Orchestra in front of a destroyed airliner in Ukraine which shows just a small portion of the devastation in the country. How did this incredible meeting between you and the Orchestra come together? I can only imagine with all the chaos that happens in a war zone it must of been a challenge.
A: After seeing the response to "Can One Man Save the World", I had a thought to go to Poland and perform the song with a Polish orchestra to recognize their incredible compassion in taking over 4 million refugees. In conversations that followed we got the word that the Ukrainian ministry was interested in us coming to Ukraine and recording and filming a collaboration with the Ukrainian orchestra. After a series of minor miracles, we traveled to the bombed out Antonov Airport with an entourage of former U.S. special forces operators and a U.S. camera and production team to perform in front of the symbol of Ukrainian independence, the cargo plane "The Myria". Every member of that orchestra had lost a loved one, had someone missing, or a family member on the front lines. To witness the fortitude of the Ukrainian people, against the backdrop of Putin's atrocities, was infuriating, inspiring, and every emotion you can imagine. I wish every American could have stood in my shoes amongst the destroyed tanks in a puddle of jet fuel with my fellow Ukrainian musicians. Our freedom, would certainly not be taken for granted.
Q: How has this experience of being in Ukraine and working with these other incredible musicians, seeing the things you have seen, talking with the people who are dealing with this war day in and day out change you as a person? What drives you to continue to do the work you do even in these incredibly harsh times?
A: At this point in my career, I find energy and purpose in using my platform and skills as a songwriter to shine the light on causes important to me. In the process I meet true heroes in a world where it is easy to be cynical. Be it Afghanistan, Ukraine, or here at home, we all have our role to play in answering the question "What Kind of World do you Want?". History Starts Now!
Q: I want to thank you for taking the time to talk with me today. I greatly appreciate your work and your creative writing. We do have a lot of young readers that are starting off in music, photography, writing and many other creative avenues. What would be the best advise you would give to our young readers hoping one day to reach the heights you have reached over your long and incredible career? What would you want them to know that is important?
A: Follow your passions. Give yourself a plan B as the arts often do not reward the most talented. This will give you freedom to pursue what is closest to your heart. For songwriters, write hundreds of songs, record your songs, and the hardest thing…Perform them live! Live performance is the best teacher you will ever have. Finally, enjoy it! In the end, isn’t that what the arts are all about. Good Luck!!!
Bio of Five for Fighting
The only way for a story to progress is to turn the page. John Ondrasik— the songwriter and performer known as the platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated, Five For Fighting—knows this well. In the two decades since his first major single, “Superman (It’s Not Easy),” hit the stratosphere, the artist has both evolved and come back ‘round full circle. Creativity, if nothing else, is paradoxical.
To date, Five For Fighting, has released six studio LPs, including the platinum certified America Town and The Battle for Everything; and the top-10 charting Two Lights, along with an EP and live albums.
Ondrasik has penned major hits, including the chart-topping “100 Years,” “The Riddle,” “Chances,” “World,” and “Easy Tonight,” which have earned tens of millions of streams and place him as a top-10 Hot Adult Contemporary artist for the 2000s. The reflective “100 Years” has joined “Superman (It’s Not Easy)” as part of the American Songbook and continues to stand the test of time at weddings, birthdays, graduations, memorials, and many a home video. Five For Fighting’s music has also been featured in more than 350 films, television shows, and commercials, including the Oscar-winning The Blind Side, Hawaii Five-O, The Sopranos and the CBS drama, Code Black.
Referencing Fight For Fighting’s success in the 2000s, AllMusic called Ondrasik “one of the decade's leading balladeers.” But perhaps his biggest achievement is performing “Superman (It’s Not Easy),” at the 2001 Concert for New York, a benefit show at Madison Square Garden that honored first responders and the fallen about a month after the tragic September 11th attacks. Ondrasik performed alongside other big-name artists like Paul McCartney, The Who, Elton John, Billy Joel, and dozens more.
Says Ondrasik, “It was a surreal experience. I was honored and blessed to pay tribute to the heroes who ran into those buildings at ground zero, and hopefully, through a song, provide a little solace to family members who’d lost loved ones.”
Now, though, what once was a dream is a reality. Buoyed by his unique falsetto voice and his prowess on the piano—a skill bestowed to him by his piano teacher mother—Ondrasik has made a solid reputation for himself in the world of songwriting and performance, selling upwards of three million albums over his career. Not only does he tour with his popular string quartet and play solo and rock band gigs, but he is also a high demand keynote speaker in which he combines themes of creativity and innovation with his business acumen. Along with his father, he has managed the family business throughout his musical career. As Ondrasik happily puts it, his company, Precision Wire Products, “makes the best shopping cart in the world!”
He’s presented at TEDx, The Salk Institute, American Cancer Society, and dozens more. Perhaps being the son of an astrophysicist dad and having a degree in mathematics from UCLA has something to do with it.
“Math was the Plan-B to get a real job when the music thing imploded,” says Ondrasik, with a chuckle.
But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t always a student at heart. As he wrote songs in his late teens and early 20s, the Los Angeles-born Ondrasik studied his favorite rock vocalists. Finding out that singers like Freddie Mercury and Steve Perry studied classical voice, he did too, even seeking out some of those icons’ former teachers. No stone unturned. In September of 2021, Ondrasik released the powerful, “Blood on My Hands,” a protest song that takes a non-political, moral stance against the 2021 United States chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.
While he’s well-versed in politics, he isn’t of a bickering mindset. For Ondrasik, it’s about the conversation. “Blood on My Hands,” the track, accompanying acoustic version, and docu-music video, “Blood on My Hands (White House Version),” has had millions of streams to date (despite little-to-no radio play). Like other protest songs of the past— “Ohio” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young or “The Times They Are a-Changin’” by Bob Dylan—Ondrasik aimed to point out a problem. While it’s critical of President Biden’s administration, he says that if a Republican were President, the song would remain the same, only the names would change.
Thanks to the song, Ondrasik is now working with evacuation groups that strive to help the American citizens left behind in Afghanistan by the U.S. government, as well as the Afghan people who remain there largely under the threat of terrorism. It’s a difficult, and at times a polarizing subject, but it’s one Ondrasik is not shying away from. Not because of any politics or partisan pats on the back, but simply because he knows it’s the right thing to do.
Ondrasik notes, “There has been a tradition of musicians speaking truth to power. In the current tribal culture, our freedom of expression has never been more critical.”
More recently, Ondrasik released “Can One Man Save the World?,” with a powerful companion music video, featuring the Ukrainian Orchestra filmed in Ukraine. The song, inspired by the courage of President Vladimir Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine, asks the nation, and the world, to stand up for core values of freedom and justice.
Moved to action that extended beyond songwriting, Ondrasik entered an area that had seen heavy combat shortly after the Russians pulled back from the capital with an American production crew.
“I was honored to perform my new Ukraine tribute song Can One Man Save the World? with the Ukrainian Orchestra in the ruins of the Antonov Airport – in front of the Ukrainians’ beloved Mriya, the world’s largest cargo plane that Russia destroyed at the outset of the war,” said Ondrasik. “In sharing this musical collaboration on such hallowed ground, I saw firsthand the fortitude and grace of the Ukrainian people, who whether playing a violin or driving a tank, will not be deterred by Putin's atrocities and aggressions.”
Proceeds from the single and its companion video will benefit the NGO Save Our Allies and further its mission of providing humanitarian aid to Ukraine and Afghanistan.
Throughout his multi-decade career, which began when music publisher Carla Berkowitz (now his wife of 25 years) discerned him in a dive bar, Ondrasik has been involved in multiple charity efforts. Along with supporting the troops via multiple USO tours, Ondrasik created “The CD For the Troops” project with song and comedy compilations featuring artists like Billy Joel, Melissa Ethridge, Chris Rock, and others, gifting more than one million CDs to veterans and military families. John has also been deeply involved with the ALS charity “Augie’s Quest.”
While he may not be as obsessive as he once was—writing upwards of dozens of songs per month, Ondrasik is more focused today. He knows who he is, as an artist and as a human being. His is a career molded by light and darkness. At one point, he’d been looked over by every publishing house and label out there. At another, he had one of the biggest songs in the world. Those extremes give a person perspective.
“I’ve been incredibly blessed,” he says. “I still pinch myself.”
As Five For Fighting, which is a professional hockey term designating a five-minute penalty for fisticuffs on the ice, Ondrasik has also developed a close relationship within the world of sports. He was a contributing writer for Sports Illustrated as well as for his beloved Los Angeles Kings. Five For Fighting was one of the first musical artists to perform on ESPN’s SportsCenter, and has played The Daytona 500, Monday Night Football, The Heritage Classic, the L.A. Kings outdoor hockey game, and more.
“Singing from home plate at Dodger stadium,” Ondrasik says, “where, as a five-year-old boy, my dad and I would catch bleacher bombs during batting practice—that was a dream.”
Today, Ondrasik spends his time writing music, touring, working at the family business, and enjoying life with his wife, two children, and dog Ender.
Through “What Kind of World Do You Want,” Ondrasik’s charity driven website – WhatKindofWorldDoYouWant.com – he is currently raising funds for Afghan evacuation organizations, refugees and veteran mental wellness charities. The singer also launched his new episodic web docu-series titled “Meet the Heroes,” which features Ondrasik interviewing heroic Americans who are involved in rescuing and evacuating American citizens, Afghan allies, and persons of high risk from Afghanistan. He continues to support Save Our Allies and the Ukrainian people through “Can One Man Save the World” and looks forward to returning to Ukraine in the near future.
What motivates him musically now? His latest two songs tell the story. He wants to promote dialogue. He’s set to speak his mind. In song, with the piano. Ondrasik doesn’t shy away from nuance. He embraces it and seeks it - just as he does the next chorus, the next verse. It’s what artists and freethinkers do, after all.
It’s his gift to share.
His decided obligation, too.
For more information visit: https://fiveforfighting.com/