With a last-minute addition to March’s stacked WOMADelaide line-up and a long-awaited album dropping this year, world domination is “still in the plans” for NZ jam legends Fat Freddy’s Drop.
Returning to South Australia’s WOMADelaide for the first time since 2014, Fat Freddy’s Drop founder/producer DJ Fitchie aka Chris Faiumu says the City of Churches can expect a "tighter show" half a decade on.
“I remember the 2014 gig quite well actually… people were hiding in the trees because it was so hot,” Chris laughs.
“I’m hoping it’s not gonna be as hot as the last time, but we love playing Australia and we’re looking forward to it. Obviously you can expect some newer material, and in terms of the live show I think we’ve just seen a bit of a natural progression.
"As we’ve gotten bigger there’s definitely more pressure to deliver a tighter show, whereas ten years ago we were able to improvise a lot more. Our sets these days are certainly more premeditated, but I think we’ve been able to shape them to be a bit of both really – still quite spontaneous. Should be good.”
The headline slot at the iconic four-day festival kicks off a string of Australian dates for the genre-bending eight-piece, who will be bringing their internationally acclaimed stage presence to Aussie crowds for the first time since 2016.
With the band having clocked up x14 platinums releases, nearly 30 Australian tours, and sold-out shows across Europe in the interim, the Kiwi reggae rascals are keen to endurance-test their fresh material in classic Freddy’s style: onstage.
“We still love performing live, it’s the core of what we do and I’d like to think we’re even better at it now,” Chris says.
“We love the immediacy and the responsiveness in comparison to sitting in the studio for hours and hours writing music. It’s great to get out, play it live, and play it loud."
The upcoming album, their first since 2015’s 9-track ‘Bays’, will draw upon the soul virtuosity, psychedelic yarn-spinning, and crowd-controlling electronic sonics that the band’s worldwide fan base has grown to love – with perhaps an extra dash of the latter.
“The music certainly feels like it’s becoming a bit more electronic. We’re really enjoying a kind of personal exploration of analogue synthesisers and I think the music is the same but the sound is slightly changing.
"Technology – in the context of music anyway – constantly evolves, with things like synthesisers being reissued and remade. The ways of making music nowadays are just off the hook.
“We love what we do and we’ve still got a couple of albums in us, so no plans to disappear anytime soon. Hopefully people are still keen to come see us because we’re going to keep coming. World domination is still in the plans."
Fat Freddy’s Drop 2019 Tour Dates
Sat 9 Mar - WOMADelaide (Adelaide)15-17 Mar - Forum Melbourne
Wed 20 Mar - Odeon Theatre (Hobart)
Fri 22 Mar - Hordern Pavilion (Sydney)
Sat 23 Mar - Eatons Hill Hotel (Brisbane)
Sat 6 Apr - Fremantle Arts Centre
