KEEPING Fat Freddy’s Drop moving is a mission, says trumpet player Toby Laing.
“It’s a challenge every day keeping this massive monster together. There are 30 of us on the road, it’s like the Roman Army, we can’t stand still, we just keep marauding on.”
The work pays off. After selling out the Opera House, fans will be stoked to see the band has added another show to the agenda. Even more treats are in store during the NZ Music Month tour.
It’s been 10 years since Fat Freddy’s Drop released a live recording, and during the band’s upcoming Wellington shows, Live at The Roundhouse will be released for the love of the capital.
Laing says a lot has changed since Live at the Matterhorn was released in 1999.
 “We were a collection of musicians with a broad range of musical knowledge, but it really took DJ Fitchie to give us some shape. There is no way the group ever would have happened if he had not pulled us together,” says Laing.
Live at The Roundhouse was recorded at a London show following a gruelling French tour that saw them play almost nightly. After some much needed sprucing up the band let loose on London with the sonic totality of a mountain groaning.
“We had been looking rough for a month so for London we dressed up in really nice clothes, we went to the laundromat, got our shirts ironed, ties done.”
The new live album includes a stellar version of Pull the Catch; a song Laing says reflects the heart and soul of the group.
The song was produced while staying at singer Dallas Tamaira’s home town of Kaikoura, where much of their music originates.
The band was looking for a sound reminiscent of reggae artist Freddie McGregor, and a crayfishing trip gave them the inspiration.
“Pull the Catch is firmly rooted in a time and place, about a specific day. The guys all went out fishing on Dallas’ uncle’s crayfish boat. When they came back they had all the lyrics and everything. We haven’t had any other one day songs.”
Another song to listen for is The Raft, which Laing says is one of Dallas most beautifully written pieces. Artist Otis Frizzell returns to design the album cover, and Laing says it’s another design that draws you in to gaze at the detail.
While onstage Laing is Toby Chang, one of those oddities the band likes to embrace. Asian heritage doesn’t come into it, Chang just rhymes with Laing, it’s one of those nicknames that choose you, he says.
“You don’t have an option, you get a name, don’t know if you like the name, but everyone is calling me Toby Chang , he sounds like a good guy to know,”
Laing laughs.
Touring New Zealand is the backbone of the band, and Laing says it’s a privilege to still be selling out shows in their home town. With the current tour taking in large theatre halls all the members are trying their hand at stage production.
“We are all having a go at directing at the moment, and calling the shots.”
Fat Freddy’s Drop wants to push the entertainment side for fans who have been following them since 1999.
“Every time we decide to do a tour in New Zealand we are like, ‘what can we do that we haven’t done before, what sort of presentation of music can be done?’ We are doing more set design, and going into these beautiful theatres is not the environment we normally play in,” laughs Laing.
After a nationwide tour the band is off to the US in June, travelling down the West Coast and ending up in Hawaii. Laing is especially excited about their first performance in Hawaii.
“I mean, no outfits are planned at this stage, but I tell you man, one of us will be wearing the traditional garb, and I’m sure I know who that will be.”
Lyrically, the group smacks of NZ, but Laing says the universal themes have resonated with crowds the world over.
Their first stint in the US was at the Detroit Music Festival, a place that has half-empty GM and Ford buildings towering over it as a reminder of its economic woes.
“Everyone there in Detroit is a total inspiration in the way they play, its like the whole town went down to the $2 Dollar Shop to buy their clothes. They are all proud, talented human beings with no money at all, but they have found a way to live,” he says.
Fat Freddy’s Drop, The Opera House, May 21 & 22.