Fat Freddy's Drop

Fat Freddy's Drop's pirate soul train has seen them beat a resolutely independent path to the ears and feet of audiences around the globe for over a decade. 

Formed in 1999 the Wellington seven-piece has never stuck to a script. Their sound draws inspiration from almost every part of the black music lexicon. Soul drenched vocals and jazz harmonies collide with tape delays and echo chambers, underpinned by a rhythm section as comfortable laying down a throb­bing, techy sound­scape as they are a swampy blues stomp.

It's an approach that demands a lot of performer and listener. According to DJ Fitchie, MPC & producer, Fat Freddy's Drop is the product of both the band's restless creativity, and New Zealand's geo­graphic isolation.

"One of the upsides of being far away from the action and not having to deal with the weight of a strong musical history is that we don't feel we have to stick to one par­ticular style or approach," Fitchie said.

A string of legendary festival performances around the world set the scene for Freddy's debut album, Based On A True Story. Re­leased in 2005 to a storm of critical acclaim and public support it remains the highest selling independently released album in New Zealand's music history (9 x Platinum) and garnered the band seven New Zealand Music Awards be­tween 2005 and 2006.

Cham­pioned in the UK by BBC Radio's influential left-field DJs Gilles Peterson and the late Charlie Gillett, and constantly evolving live per­formances led to invitations to play iconic festivals, such as Glastonbury, WOMAD and Barce­lona's super-hip SONAR Festival, and a string of sold out tours of the UK, Europe and Aus­tralia.

On the second studio album release, 2009's Dr Boondigga & The Big BW, their songs took a natural path from the live stage to the studio and the band stretch themselves further musically by dig­ging deeper into their grab bag of influences. There are stylistic nods to Mem­phis soul (the low slung soul of Boondigga), Detroit (album opener The Big BW) and even Africa jazz alongside the blues and dub that Freddys fans expect.

"It's still jazz, soul and reggae with a bit of a modern take on it. I like that you can keep com­ing back to it to make sure you've discovered every layer. We're better songwriters now too," Fitchie said.

Dr Boondigga & The Big BW was the biggest selling local release of 2009, going Platinum in four days and picking up several NZ Music Awards. The nine track seventy minute long disc has again attracted criti­cal international acclaim. Charlie Gillett named it one of his top seven albums for 2009 while Garth Trinidad, Radio KCRW, Los Angeles, hailed Fat Freddy's Drop as 'the bugged out love child of Isaac Hayes and Lee Scratch Perry.'

Celebrating the release, Fat Freddy's Drop toured Ber­lin, Paris, Amsterdam and London and in 2009 and made their headline debut in North America, selling out all three shows in San Fran­cisco, San Diego and The Roxy in LA.

In 2010, the third album release was Live at Roundhouse, a recording of the band live at the converted rail roundhouse in London in 2008. The gig was the finale to a six-week European tour and captures the band in their natural element. Lost in the music in the best possible way, the long extended jams were the foundation for the studio recording of Dr Boondigga & The Big BW.

No two Freddy's shows are ever the same and given the band's beginnings, it's no surprise that live performance is really what excites and drives the band, with regular pilgrimages across the seven seas. Fat Freddy's Drop continues to sell out headline shows via word of mouth and to garner spots at top festivals such as Rock en Seine Festival, Paris and Bestival, Isle of Wight. Freddys kicked off 2011 playing Good Vibrations Festival across Australia and hit the road for a six week tour to Europe and UK including a headline show at 5000 capacity Brixton Academy, London and gigs in Germany, Portugal, Spain, France and Poland. A second Europe & UK tour is set for September, including the headline spot at Alex James Present Harvest and Harvest at Jimmy's food and music festivals.

The band release their music on a range of vinyl, digital and CD formats through their artist operated label The Drop, and Freddys albums are available across Europe, United States, Australia and New Zealand with distribu­tion partners Rough Trade, !K7, Inertia and Rhythmethod.

"It has been very important being independent and guiding the direction of the band our­selves. We've been together for over a decade now and being independent has given the band a strong identity," Toby Chang said.