Fat Freddy’s Drop in LA Thursday June 24 @ Music Box

Fat Freddy’s Drop is on a world tour and currently hitting up the West Coast; this live band from New Zealand was here just last fall and received a wild reception by the local hippies and city kids alike who love their dub-infused sound that is riddled with jazz, funky as hell and topped off with the impossibly soulful voice of lead singer Dallas.

Fat Freddy’s Drop hits the Music Box in LA on Thursday night, and I had the pleasure of speaking with MC Slave on the phone when he was chilling in San Luis Obispo before heading up to San Fran. The group has three sold-out shows booked at the Independent and then will bounce off to Hawaii this weekend.

Having just performed at the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, MC Slave was high on California (who isn’t?) and an impending show on the beach in San Luis Obispo. Fat Freddy’s Drop is based in Wellington, New Zealand, the capital city and cultural epicenter of the two insanely gorgeous islands, though their members hail from Christchurch and Auckland as well.

The first time Fat Freddy’s Drop hit the US was six years ago for the Detroit Electronic Music Festival, well before the days of their album Based on a True Story, which is arguably the most popular New Zealand release ever. It was this album I heard while catching a ride in the back of a friend’s van across the top of the North Island, inspiring me to jump up to the front and into the driver’s lap to demand who it was.

After the double-platinum release of Dr Boondigga and the New BW (June 09), Fat Freddy’s Drop has hit the road on a world tour to promote their impending album, Live At Roundhouse, which was recorded in London in 2008 at the famous venue.

Until I get a recording device on my phone, transcription is an impossibility; however besides the above information, this was my favorite part of the interview:

Who are some New Zealand producers we should know about?

1. Electric Wire Hustle (soul, R&B, K-pop)

2. Eru Dangerspiel aka Riki Gooch (funky psychedelic R&B)

3. Julien Dyne (psychedelic concrete 2-step)

I love finding out who my favorite artists’ favorite artists are and checking them out! Their show is highly recommended, wherever you can catch them….or maybe it’s time to plan that trip to New Zealand, which is everything you have heard x 1000.