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.

Tehimana Kerr
Photo credit: Photo by Nick Kingstone
Fat Freddy's Drop - 10 Feet Tall (live at Columbiahalle, Berlin 2015)
Fat Freddy's horns
Photo credit: Photo by Nick Kingstone
Fat Freddy's Drop - Slo Mo (2024)
Fat Freddy's Drop, 2018
Photo credit: Photo by Harry A’Court
Trailer for Marauders, Sarah Hunter's documentary series about Fat Freddy's in Europe, 2003
Mu at Roundhead Studios, Auckland, iTunes Sessions, 2014
Photo credit: Photo by Mark Williams
Iain Gordon
Photo credit: Photo by Nick Kingstone
Slo Mo Jam (2014)
Fat Freddy's Drop in 2024
Photo credit: Jamie Leith
Wandering Eye
Fat Freddy's Drop, 2005
Photo credit: Photo by Ans Westra
Mark 'Slave' Williams, Alexandra Palace, London 2014
Photo credit: Photo by Shanon Moratti
Drop The Nod (live)
Fat Freddy's Drop, Day's Bay, Eastbourne, Wellington, 2019.
Photo credit: Photo by Kerry Brown
Roady
Mu with his MPC
Photo credit: Photo by Nick Kingstone
Midnight Marauders (Live in Munich 2014)
Slings And Arrows Jam (2014)
Camel (Live at The Roundhouse December 5 2008)
Fat Freddy's Drop at London's Alexandra Place, 18 October, 2014
Photo credit: Photo by Shanon Moratti
Mu with Fat Freddy's Drop, Day's Bay, Eastbourne, Wellington, 2019.
Photo credit: Photo by Kerry Brown
Shiverman (Live at Amoeba)
NZ Musician June/July 2013
Fat Freddy's Drop - Slo Mo (2024)
Fat Freddy's Drop - Clean the House (2013)
Dallas at Bays Studio, Wellington, 2014
Photo credit: Photo by Sarah Hunter
Rip It Up June/July 2009
Dallas, Roundhead Studios, Auckland, iTunes Sessions, 2014
Photo credit: Photo by Mark Williams
Joe Lindsay and Dallas Tamaira
Photo credit: Photo by Nick Kingstone
Mu of Fat Freddy's Drop and the Mighty MPC
Fat Freddy's Drop, Day's Bay, Eastbourne, Wellington, 2019.
Photo credit: Photo by Kerry Brown
Boondigga
Trickle Down (Live in Christchurch 2018)
Toby Laing and Scott Towers
Photo credit: Photo by Nick Kingstone
Fat Freddy's Drop at Red Bull's Tokyo In Dub, 8 November 2014
Kamo Kamo (2019)
Fat Freddy's Drop at Roundhead Studios, Auckland, iTunes Sessions, 2014
Photo credit: Photo by Mark Williams
Fat Freddy's Drop
Photo credit: Photo by Nick Kingstone
A portrait of Mu, published by Fat Freddy's Drop to mark his passing in July 2025.
Photo credit: Fat Freddy's Drop Facebook page
Dallas
Photo credit: Photo by Nick Kingstone
Joe Lindsay and Toby Laing, San Francisco Bath House, Wellington, 2013
Photo credit: Photo by Sarah Hunter
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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