Fat Freddy’s Drop


If any artist symbolised the explosion of reggae and soul-infused dance music out of Wellington at the turn of the century, it was Fat Freddy’s Drop. They took that sound around the planet and are arguably our most successful and influential musical export of the 21st Century.

Fat Freddy’s Drop is a seven-piece band from Wellington. Their sound pays homage to almost every part of the black music spectrum, from soul and dub to jazz and Detroit techno. Growing from the already established career of DJ Mu (Chris Faiumu, aka DJ Fitchie), Freddy’s formed in 1999, following Faiumu’s experimentation with live instrumentation and vocals in his DJ sets – most notably with Bongmaster and The Crackhead Experience.

Iain Gordon
Photo credit: Photo by Nick Kingstone
Fat Freddy's horns
Photo credit: Photo by Nick Kingstone
Fat Freddy's Drop at Red Bull's Tokyo In Dub, 8 November 2014
Fat Freddy's Drop at Roundhead Studios, Auckland, iTunes Sessions, 2014
Photo credit: Photo by Mark Williams
Kamo Kamo (2019)
Slings And Arrows Jam (2014)
NZ Musician June/July 2013
Boondigga
Fat Freddy's Drop - Slo Mo (2024)
Fat Freddy's Drop - Clean the House (2013)
Camel (Live at The Roundhouse December 5 2008)
Dallas, Roundhead Studios, Auckland, iTunes Sessions, 2014
Photo credit: Photo by Mark Williams
Fat Freddy's Drop
Photo credit: Photo by Nick Kingstone
Dallas
Photo credit: Photo by Nick Kingstone
Fat Freddy's Drop - 10 Feet Tall (live at Columbiahalle, Berlin 2015)
Mu at Roundhead Studios, Auckland, iTunes Sessions, 2014
Photo credit: Photo by Mark Williams
Trickle Down (Live in Christchurch 2018)
Trailer for Marauders, Sarah Hunter's documentary series about Fat Freddy's in Europe, 2003
Joe Lindsay and Toby Laing, San Francisco Bath House, Wellington, 2013
Photo credit: Photo by Sarah Hunter
Rip It Up June/July 2009
Joe Lindsay and Dallas Tamaira
Photo credit: Photo by Nick Kingstone
Slo Mo Jam (2014)
Mu with his MPC
Photo credit: Photo by Nick Kingstone
Fat Freddy's Drop, 2005
Photo credit: Photo by Ans Westra
Drop The Nod (live)
Roady
Mark 'Slave' Williams, Alexandra Palace, London 2014
Photo credit: Photo by Shanon Moratti
Fat Freddy's Drop in 2024
Photo credit: Jamie Leith
Fat Freddy's Drop, Day's Bay, Eastbourne, Wellington, 2019.
Photo credit: Photo by Kerry Brown
Shiverman (Live at Amoeba)
Toby Laing and Scott Towers
Photo credit: Photo by Nick Kingstone
Tehimana Kerr
Photo credit: Photo by Nick Kingstone
Fat Freddy's Drop at London's Alexandra Place, 18 October, 2014
Photo credit: Photo by Shanon Moratti
Fat Freddy's Drop - Slo Mo (2024)
Fat Freddy's Drop, Day's Bay, Eastbourne, Wellington, 2019.
Photo credit: Photo by Kerry Brown
Wandering Eye
Fat Freddy's Drop, 2018
Photo credit: Photo by Harry A’Court
Dallas at Bays Studio, Wellington, 2014
Photo credit: Photo by Sarah Hunter
Midnight Marauders (Live in Munich 2014)
Mu with Fat Freddy's Drop, Day's Bay, Eastbourne, Wellington, 2019.
Photo credit: Photo by Kerry Brown
Labels:

The Drop

Members:

Mu - production, percussion, DJ

Toby Laing - trumpet

Tehimana Kerr - guitar

Iain Gordon - keyboards

Scott Towers - saxophone

Mark Williams - MC, vocals

Warren Maxwell - saxophone

Dallas Tamaira - vocals

Joe Lindsay - trombone, tuba

Conway Jeune - guitar

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