Fat Freddy’s Drop Interview

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Whether you’ve caught them on tour or at a festival, Fat Freddy’s Drop are renowned for their live show, and as a result have filled venues such as the Sydney Opera House and London’s Alexandra Palace. But this New Zealand group have been on hiatus for the first half of 2015 to write and record their fourth studio album, ‘Bays’. Doing things differently, the new album features nine never-heard-before tracks that will drop on 23rd October to fresh, new ears. To find out what was involved and what we can expect, we had a chat with Chopper, Fat Freddy’s very own saxophonist.

We’re very happy that Fat Freddy’s Drop are bringing new music into our lives! ‘Bays’ is very true to your sound of mixing a multitude of genres, but I understand the writing and recording process was a little different to how you guys usually work…

Yeah, normally, because we need to keep working with families relying on us to put food on the table, our year is full with touring, and the recording fits in the middle somewhere. This time we took six months out, we cancelled our European tour and dedicated our time and energy to writing. The process changed a little bit because normally we’d be playing these songs in a half-finished state on a live show and working it out on stage. That’s a really fun way to do it, but it also compromises the process as well because you get caught up in the immediate audience reaction to new songs – it could be a great song, but it’s the wrong time to play it so the audience doesn’t react that well and it ends up on the scrap heap. It’s nice to trust our own ears to the music and trusting that we can deliver something that our audience would enjoy.

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How long were you in the studio for?
We’d done some prep work in the second half of last year, we started writing and finished ‘Slings & Arrows’ first. We were in and out of the studio in-between touring, and then stopped doing shows after our Sydney Opera House show in early March. We haven’t done a live show since. Our first live show is 24th October in Auckland.

Does that mean you’re yet to do any of the new songs live?
Yeah, we haven’t done any of them live – we’ve just been learning how to play them! We’ve been rehearsing, we’ve got the album, and we’re working out the best way to present them.

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So, what will be your plan for the tour?
It’s going to be much like the Blackbird tour a few years ago. We decided that we wanted to showcase the music on that record, so the set was heavily weighed towards the songs on that album, and I think we’ll do a similar thing with this trip. The vast majority of the set will be new music – but of course we’ll throw in a few Freddy’s classics – but the nice thing is that another record out the door means that we can cherry pick from previous records and thread them through the set. It’s exciting for us because we’re able to reinvigorate our live show – we’ll be like a brand new band!

Will you have a few more nerves to play them for the very first time?
Probably! We really believe in the music on this record but it’s not until you play it live that you understand how it connects with a live audience. Someone putting on your record at home and listening to it in the confines of their personal space is very different from being in a big room with 3,000 people and a huge PA. The cool thing is that as we were recording, we’d listen back to it and could totally imagine certain tracks on a big PA or during sunset outside. There are definitely bits of music in there that suit us and the places we play that will translate into live arenas successfully. That was encouraging.

You’re famous for being a live band, what have been your favourite moments on stage?
Almost every single show we’ve ever done, there’s been some little moment of magic. It won’t necessarily involve you directly, but you might look across the stage and hear some awesome little hook-up between Jetlag on guitar and Dobie Blaze on keys and think “Oh my God…” That’s a really amazing feeling to have to feel that energy and excitement when creative people are connecting. But, you can’t go past walking out to 10,000 people at Alexandra Palace in London last year – that was mad!

Have you taken inspiration from any other artists, bands or musicians when it comes to playing on a stage?
That’s an interesting one because Freddy’s is such a unique sounding band and we’ve got a unique approach to playing, it’s difficult to draw parallels. It’s not that specific, but you watch someone and pick up on something. For example, we did a bunch of shows with Erykah Badu and I watched every single second of every song she sang, and watching her just have fun, but at the same time really nailing the music, that was pretty inspiring. It reminds you that you’re supposed to be playing well but also having fun. That’s infectious for the audience as well.

What is it like touring and travelling together as a seven-piece?
Well, with the whole crew it’s more like a 16-piece! But it’s awesome; it’s like a tiny moving town on wheels. We’ve been doing it for so long, we understand what the other guys need whether it’s downtime or party time. For some guys, it’s the case of doing the show, hang out for a couple of hours and then watch movies on the tour bus for 12 hours while you travel, and the next time you see them is for sound check. Some of us are walking around the city streets trying to find record stores, museums – everyone’s got their own thing. But we’ve also got it figured out how to pick someone up if they’re a bit flat, and it’s a pretty successful operation now.

Being from such a top travel destination, where would you recommend someone to visit in New Zealand if they were going for the first time?
There are two places: one is Central Otago Lakes District – absolutely stunning and a great skiing destination in the winter with a great festival scene in the summer and daylight until 10pm, so it’s a pretty awesome environment. And the beaches on the eastern side of the Coromandel – Matarangi, New Chums and Whangapoua – they are some of the best beaches in the world. Those two are really the best of what New Zealand has to offer.

Fat Freddy’s Drop 2016 Australian Tour Dates

Saturday 13th February – Red Hill Auditorium, Perth (oztix.com.au)
Sunday 14th February – Clancy’s Fish Pub, Dunsborough (oztix.com.au)
Wednesday 17th February – Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide (ticketmaster.com.au)
Friday 19th February – The Forum, Melbourne (ticketmaster.com.au)
Saturday 20th February – The Forum, Melbourne (ticketmaster.com.au)
Wednesday 24th February – Odeon Theatre, Hobart (oztix.com.au)
Friday 26th February – Horden Pavillion, Sydney (ticketek.com.au)
Saturday 27th February – The Tivoli, Brisbane (ticketek.com.au)

By Charlotte Mellor
@cmellor_03

Explore Darwin, Northern Territory