The Australian media has a long history of claiming excelling New Zealanders as our very own. Even with this in mind, it seems somewhat ironic that our city’s most internationally recognised cultural centre, the Sydney Opera House, welcomes Wellington’s Fat Freddy’s Drop to its stage this Australia Day. It’s now ten years since the Kiwi funk-dub maestros launched their debut LPBased On A True Story, and they’ve been a favourite among Australian listeners ever since. In fact, the Australia Day gig isn’t even Fat Freddy’s first appearance at the Opera House.
The band’s seven members might not be vying for citizenship just yet, but Australia has naturally become a home away from home. “For me to go to Sydney, it’s not much more of a big deal than going to Auckland,” says producer and MPC operator DJ Fitchie (AKA Chris Faiumu). “It’s a very familiar place and we’ve got lots of friends there. Our main touring is Europe and we’ve got that down pat now. But Australia’s also a really good territory numbers-wise for us – obviously without as much hassle and as much expense to make it happen.”
In recent years, Fat Freddy’s Drop have become familiar with numerous venues around the globe that are of a similar stature to the Opera House. In the wake of their third LP, 2013’s Blackbird, the band’s fortunes in the Northern Hemisphere rose considerably, which led to sold-out shows in various European meccas.
“We did a big show in October last year at Alexandra Palace in London,” Faiumu says. “It’s probably the biggest show we’ve ever done. We’ve never played to 10,000 fans in our own room. That stuff’s just crazy. We’re very blown away and it still feels great. Now we’ve done that, we’ve got to try to find something else to do. We’ve got to move on and try to do something bigger and better.”
On that note, in October Fat Freddy’s Drop released a brand new single, ‘Slings And Arrows’. The upcoming Sydney show is part of the ‘Slings And Arrows’tour, but that won’t be the only new song to feature in the setlist. Right this minute, the band is holed up in its Wellington studio, chipping away at album number four.
“The stuff we’ve been writing lately is great,” Faiumu says. “We took over a new space just down the road – we just moved in there and then we did Blackbird. It’s such a good space that we just seem to be banging out lots of stuff, so it doesn’t feel too hard really. There’s lots of material around, so we might as well let people hear it.”
Blackbird came four years after Dr Boondigga And The Big BW,which itself emerged four years after Based On A True Story. The fact the band is already making serious headway with album number four suggests it’s time to break out of that four-year release pattern. The septet has been busier than ever over the last couple of years, which has provided a stash of inspiration to keep pushing forward.
“We’re just fairly productive at the moment,” Faiumu says. “We’ve been doing lots of jamming. There’s quite a bit of raw material there that needs to be sorted through and turned into more refined songs for an album, but it’s all there. We enjoyed so much touring Blackbird that we don’t really want to do too much touring without another album.
“It is a job and it’s our income,” he adds. “There’s seven core members and every core member in the band has a family to feed. So it’s kind of striking a balance of keeping the enjoyment but also just staying busy – trying [to keep going] onwards and upwards really.”
It’s thanks to their seven-piece configuration that Fat Freddy’s Drop have developed such a texturally deft and multi-faceted sonic identity, which encompasses future-funk and roots-reggae with a hearty dose of brass. Still, coordinating input from seven active participants could quite easily get overwhelming. Conversely, Faiumu says the more time they spend together, the better their group understanding becomes.
“I think we all know our strengths now, in the studio and in regards to writing music. Some people’s skill in the band lies primarily in playing live and some of the band members are more at home in the studio. We’ve been together for so long and we even knew each other for a number of years before we started this band – we’re really good mates. It goes wrong occasionally, but mostly we just sort it out.”
This certainly bodes well for the upcoming fourth Fat Freddy’s Drop LP. While the record is still a little way off, Faiumu confirms some brand new tracks will be debuted at the Australia Day gig. He also indicates when we’re likely to hear the finished product. “We head off to Europe halfway through June. It’ll be mostly done by the time we take off on that tour. Then when we come back we’ll probably finish and mix the album for a, hopefully, September/October release. That’s what we’re chasing, but albums are funny things. Good intentions may fail, but we’re definitely going to give it a go.”
Catch them at Concert Hall, Sydney Opera HouseonMonday January 26, tickets online.Also appearing at Soda Factory (DJ set) on Sunday January 25, free.
