Fat Freddy's Drop - Up and Away

If success is measured by album sales then Fat Freddy's Drop is surely the most successful band in New Zealand. The Wellington collective's last album, Dr Boondigga & The Big BW, has so far shifted 32,000 copies locally, a feat surpassed by a cool 35,000 sales in Europe.

But there is little time for reflection on their phenomenal success. As well as being one of our most successful bands, Freddy's is also one of the hardest working.

Before the year is out, the self-proclaimed soul pirates will have played to well in excess of 100,000 people throughout the world.
Their journey begins next month with a series of gigs in the US. From there it's off to Europe, where they have toured annually for the past seven years.

Founder of the band, Mu Faiumu, makes no secret that international territories are a priority: "We always said the last album was more about overseas than it was here. It wasn't a stylistic decision or anything, it was more that we'd done all our development pre the first album here. In a country this big you don't really get too many chances to experience that level of hysteria."

With eight people in the group, the FFD tour has grown into a well-oiled machine. It's a far cry from the early days, when the lads dossed in a tiny two-bedroom flat in London's Tooting Broadway, says sax player Scott Towers.

"The operation is much more professional now. It has to be. On this tour we're literally doing 21 nighters."

Before heading off on their latest OE, Freddy's also has something in store for their loyal Kiwi followers - a whistlestop tour of theatres which promises to reveal the band's unseen side.

"This playlist touches on blues and funk and goes deeply into the Detroit electronic sound," says Towers.

"The fact that it's not a festival show, where we've only got 45 minutes to hit them hard, means we can present the stuff in a more relaxed setting."

* Fat Freddy's Drop play the Bruce Mason Centre in Takapuna, Auckland, on May 28 and 29. The band will release an album of live recordings at the gigs.