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Fat Freddy's Drop is a New Zealand seven-piece band from Wellington, whose musical style has been characterised as any combination of dub, reggae, soul, jazz, rhythm and blues, and techno. Originally a jam band formed in the late 1990s by musicians from other bands in Wellington, Fat Freddy's Drop gradually became its members' sole focus. Band members continued playing with their other respective groups--The Black Seeds, TrinityRoots, Bongmaster, and others--for much of their 13-year career. Fat Freddy's Drop are known for their improvised live performances; songs on their studio albums are versions refined over years of playing them live in New Zealand, and on tour abroad.

The now seven-member Fat Freddy's Drop, sometimes calling themselves the "seven headed soul monster", continued to play live at clubs and festivals. The band's first full-length album, Live at the Matterhorn, was released in 2001 by The Drop. The live album is a recording of their show at the Matterhorn club in Wellington that year. Very little mastering was done to the album, which is divided into four tracks averaging 18 minutes each. It was not formally promoted, but sold 9,000 copies in its first few months via word-of-mouth, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. In 2000, the New Zealand government began a campaign to increase the profitability of the country's music industry, and of music exports abroad, by funding artists and events. The percentage of music sold by nationals went from 5.45% in 2000 to 10% in 2004, and a 2004 government survey indicated one-quarter of New Zealanders attended a live music event in the year previous. Fat Freddy's Drop were not one of the bands funded, but the elevated live music scene, and the relative success of Live at The Matterhorn, gave them more opportunities to establish themselves as one of the area's best live acts. Several of their early singles, like "Hope" and "Runnin", were featured on compilation albums published by local labels and radio stations. An established group from Kaikoura named Salmonella Dub--who one member described as the "forerunner for Fat Freddys"--provided the band opportunities to play in front of larger crowds in New Zealand and neighbouring Australia. The third single, released by The Drop in 2002, "Midnight Marauders" became their first step towards international recognition when a copy was taken to German record label Sonar Kollektiv by a producer. That year, Sonar and affiliated label Best Seven re-released the single in Germany, and European DJ group Jazzanova used the track in several mixes. A second single, "Hope/This Room", was re-released by Sonar and Best the next year. After the singles' success, Sonar invited the band to play a string of European shows in 2003. Sonar label manager Matthias Bohmbach said he was surprised when one-thousand copies of "Midnight Marauders" sold at a show in Germany. Not wanting a single label to control their work in Europe, the band also partnered with London-based label Kartel in 2003 to handle distribution and promotion in England. From 2003 to 2009, distribution of the band's work was handled by The Drop in New Zealand and Australia, by Sonar Kollektiv and Best Seven in most of Europe, and by Kartel in England. Fat Freddy's Drop's European profile slowly increased between 2003 and the release of their first studio album in 2005. The BBC's Gilles Peterson called "Hope" one of the top tracks of 2003. The band was invited to play at the Cannes Film Festival in 2004. International DJ Magazine listed Fat Freddy's Drop as one of the "top 20 bands to look out for" in 2004. In what became an almost annual trip, they returned to touring New Zealand and Australia in 2004, and--partnering with Sonar Kollektiv--returned to Europe for an official "Hope for a Generation" tour. CANNOTANSWER

Fat Freddy's Drop