Drop by Drop, these guys have become what we call the

"Fat Freddy's Drop"

Over and Over I kept taking the CD out, check that my stereo was working properly, put it back in and still hear nothing. Being so sure that there is nothing wrong with the CD, I shouted at my brother for using my stereo to listen to his moldy CD's (that kind of music is sure to damage the stereo) and decided to listen to it on the computer. I saw it as soon as I put the CD into the slot, a big, bold window on the screen with these words written hugely on it: "Blank CD"! The words hit me like a thousand prickles. "How could this be?"

My writing teacher had handed us each a CD, saying that we had to write about whatever was on it. Does that mean I have to write about blankness, I thought, or doesn’t my teacher know how to burn CD's?

It took me three days to contact everyone in the class, to see what was on their CD's and it wasn't good news. Some had the same problem as me, others had a bigger one! Their CD's did work, but they wished it hadn't. "It is horrible; sounds like a death march", one of them said. "Even nursery rhymes sound better than this", said the other.

Terrified about what I was about to face, I borrowed a friend's CD and took it home. "No"! I thought, after I had listened to it once, "This is not a death march, nor a nursery rhyme, it sounds like the "Pink panther" tune"!

A week later I have my headphones on in the library, in the class, on the bus and in the car, listening to the tune, trying to get used to it. And it does not happen. I don’t know what it is about this song that makes it so... different.

With a little search on the internet, I find out that the song is called "This Room" and it belongs to a group called "Fat Freddy's Drop". They are a seven-piece family band who grew up, and still live in, Wellington, New Zealand. And there I find my answer as to why they are different from anything I've ever heard; they do Dub Reggae!

Apparently these guys are huge in NZ and are well known in the UK and Europe. Their "Based on a true story" album went Shipping Gold on the first day it dropped making history as the first independently distributed album to hit Number One on the NZ Album Charts. Within just two weeks, the album had reached Platinum. They were Awarded Best Live Act at the b-Net NZ Music Awards in 2004 and they have toured nationwide, to Australia and completed critically acclaimed tours of the UK and Europe in 2003 and 2004, building on international partnerships with London's Kartel Records and Berlin's Sonar Kollektiv. The band's original CD, Live at the Matterhorn, went Gold with over 11,000 copies sold purely through word of mouth.

It took 18 months of recording, mixing and engineering to make "Based on a true story" but it paid up for Fitchie AKA Mu, the band leader. He was awarded Best Producer and Most Outstanding Musician at the b-Net NZ Music Awards 2005, and Best Producer at the b-Net's in 2003. His MPC 2000 sampler is the core of the Freddy's sound, as he mashes up bouncing beats and bottom heavy bass lines for each Freddy's tune.

"I've explored other software options but have always stuck with the simplicity and mobility of the MPC", says Fitchie in an interview with Recovery. "Sonically, I love it. Most of all, MPC's aren’t as fast as their software equivalents and don’t offer as many features, but it's this fact that is the magic. It keeps you real and focused on the feel and the important things. A lot of the new software sequences and editing packages are just making it too easy. I believe there must be sweat, pain and tears to achieve something that's just a little more special than what else is out there." 

"Based on a true story" was recorded in The Drop studio which is stationed on the basement of Fitchie and Nicole Ducworth's home, just 6 feet away from the beach, in Wellington. The production process was organic, with the ten tunes evolving almost entirely live on stage and the arrangements were then fine tuned by the seven players in the studio. The album was recorded near the beach and that is where it would best be listened to. Imagine yourself lying on a hot sandy beach holding a chilly drink bottle against your cheeks, listening to the tunes of Fat Freddy's Drop. That’s what I did, and it worked for me.

"This Room" is the forth song on the album, but not he best one. Luckily I managed to listen to some of the other tracks of the album on the internet, and they were actually really good! From then on I started communicating with the rhythm and the lyrics of their songs. My favorite one up until now is "Cay's Crays". I think Dallas, the band's vocalist, sounds his best in this song. I can now understand why he was awarded Best Vocalist at the b-Net NZ Music Awards 2005. Dallas's stage name, Joe Dukie, is drawn from his father Joe, also a singer, and his grandfather, a musician nicknamed Dukie after Duke Ellington.

The rhythm of "Cay's Crays" is smooth and romantic. Again imagine yourself on a hot evening, this time in your back garden, with all your friends, preparing for a barbeque. "Cay's Crays" is playing on your stereo, with the volume up and loud, and you are turning the meat slices and flirting a bit, while Dallas, with his velvet voice, sings: "Well you're the part of my memories, that I never wanna live without".

The most appreciated song on this album is "Wandering eye". It has made history as the most-played song on New Zealand radio. This is my second favorite song. It is more upbeat than "Cay's Crays", and if you are a talented person in dancing, you can actually dance to this one without making a fool of yourself. I played this song on the weekend while I went mountain climbing with a group of friends and this was the only thing that kept me from falling off. Everyone had to keep close to me; otherwise they wouldn't hear the song. So there was always someone close when I needed help! We all listened to the song a few times but none of them seemed to be able to communicate with it. I can understand why they couldn't. Iranians are very obsessed about western music. You cannot find a young person in Iran who hasn't heard of "Westlife" or "Celine Dion". They listen to this kind of music more than they listen to Iranian music, even though they don’t understand the lyrics. But it is mostly pop and Rock, what they listen to. You can hardly find anyone here who appreciates the art of soul, jazz or hip/hop. It does not go with the Iranian culture. You ask one of them if they've ever heard of "2pac" and they would be like: "two packs of what?"

During our mountain climbing one of my friends said that she has seen the video of the "Wandering eye" and that it has been shot inside a fish and chip shop. "This would do wonders in England", I thought, "but are the people of New Zealand as crazy about fish and chips as the British?"

All the members of Fat Freddy's Drop are good eaters. Meals are a sacred pastime for Freddy's, so it only fits that they have their video shot inside a fish and chip shop. I bet they went into the kitchens and had a bite between each take! At home, Dobie Blaze is the family chef, and a good one too, looks like it! None of the band members look skinny; they all look healthy and energetic. "A band that eats together stays together!" says Fitchie.

The length of the tracks on the album is 7 minutes on average, which is fun, because the song doesn't end as soon as you get into the mood. On Fat Freddy's Drop gigs, the songs go even longer than that. The Fat Freddy's are far better suited to the stage, where tracks aren't limited to the capacity of a CD. You see them perform for two hours, leave the stage, come back up for an encore which is usually one song, 20 minutes long! No two Freddy's gigs are the same. In fact no two Freddy's performances (of the same song) are the same! You hear them on the T.V performing "Hope", they sound great, so you buy their album, but the "Hope" featured on the album is completely different to what you heard on T.V, which itself is different to the "Hope" you will hear if you go to one of their gigs. They are all different, yes, but great!

Personally, I like what they do. They are raw, talented, different and new. Also Dallas has a great voice. (I just had to add that, couldn't help it!). It would be excellent if they distribute their albums all over the world, America needs to hear some music like this, and so does Iran. If they do so they would hit fortune, I'm sure anyone who listens to the likes of Bob Marley, Whitney Houston and James Brown will love these guys.

According to their website, Fat Freddy's Drop are performing live in London on Wednesday 27^th June 2007.For more information visit:www.ticketweb.co.uk or  www.ticketmaster.co.uk.