Биография "V-factory"
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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.
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.
