Fat Freddy's Drop at England's Secret Garden Party festival. Photo: Rachael Wright
The potent concoction of disco, rootsy dub, soul and electronic funk brewed by Fat Freddy’s Drop has won the Wellington soul collective a diehard international following, allowing the band to deliver their famed live show to European fans twice a year, performances that reach the ears of over 200,000 punters annually.
Freddy’s – made up Chris Faiumu, Dallas Tamaira, Iain Gordon, Joe Lindsay, Toby Laing, Tehimana Kerr and Scott Towers – first played a European run of shows in 2002, and they’ve come a long way from the splitter vans they’d originally pile into on their trans-Europe adventures.
These days they criss-cross the continent in relative style courtesy of a tour bus equipped with bunk beds and all mod cons. Nevertheless, life on board the bus is not without its challenges, even for the road-honed unit.
In mid-2014 Fat Freddy’s Drop headed back to Europe and the UK to play dates in London, Munich, Croatia, Switzerland and Amsterdam. Towers aka Chopper Reeds, the band’s saxophonist, documented the trip and talked to the people they encountered – and the people who keep Freddy’s on the road – for Music 101.
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