Jack Tame: A tribute to an artist who's work enriched my life

I played the trombone in high school.   

I know what you’re thinking: squeaky-voiced Jack running through a few scales on his big brass slide? Hello Ladies...   

But honestly the fact that my instrument was seen as a bit quirky was kind of an attraction for me at the time. What the trombone wasn’t —at least back then— was very cool.  

To my mind it was good for jazz band and good for a blast in orchestra, but I wasn’t creative enough to find or even search for a different sound with my trombone. Brass had its place and that was that.  

But the year after I left high school, Based on a True Story hit record stores. I’d never heard of Fat Freddy’s Drop, but I was played a song by a friend and I bought the album the day it was released. I know it was 2005, because I can literally remember buying the CD from a Sounds record shop. I can remember walking down Madras Street in Christchurch with it burning a hole in my bag, so excited to play it.  

Let me tell you, I’ve never thrashed an album so much in my life. The way it starts off so sparse, those simple plunking piano keys, and then builds and builds and builds.   

The sound was so exciting. So different. So cool. 

Man, I thought. If I’d known this kind of music existed, this blend of dub and reggae and jazz and soul, with its brass component, too! As much as I have enjoyed Glenn Miller arrangements, I might have branched out a bit further with my high school music mates and the old ‘Bone.  

I’m no celebrated music afficionado but it occurs to me that Fat Freddy’s Drop are a prime example of musos’ musos. They’re a band which loosely formed from a crew who just like jamming. They’re a band that loves to play live, that still just loves to improvise. And, at least from the outside, they seem utterly unconcerned with the trappings of rock’n’roll stardom, with glossy magazine covers, fame and riches. Forget your 3-minute, four-chord tricks to sell into the top 40 radio stations, if you’ve been to a Fat Freddy’s concert, you’ll know it can be hard sometimes to know when a song begins and ends.   

I also think there’s a real, distinct New Zealand flavour to their music. There’s something Pacific, something relaxed, unshaven, and unconcerned. The sound of the Kiwi summer road trip. For the year I lived in the States, I’d always crank it up any time I had an American in my apartment as if it were a statement of identity. 

It probably says a lot about the band’s aspirations, motivations, and priorities that despite their incredible international success, the individual members of Fat Freddy’s Drop aren’t all household names in this country. I know next to nothing of their private lives. And of all the members, I reckon I’d only have been able to name two, off the top of my head, if you’d asked me earlier this week: Dallas (friend of the show), the singer, and Mu. 

Chris Faiumu founded Fat Freddy’s Drop. He produced their music, and as DJ, his beats, blends, and samples were the foundation of so much of their art. I feel my experience with his work will be similar to that of so many others in New Zealand and around the world. I feel really saddened by news of his death, and so grateful, so grateful, for the music he made that seriously has enriched my life. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack team podcast
from News Talks at Me.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
So I played the trombone in high school. I know
what you're thinking, squeaky voiced Jack, stumbling off the bus,
then running through a few scales on his big brass slide. Yep, yep,
you're right, hello, ladies. Honestly, though, I think the fact
that my instrument was seen as a little bit quirky

(00:35):
was probably a bit of the attraction for me at
the time. What the trombone wasn't, at least back then,
was very cool right to my mind. It was good
for jazz band, and good for a blast and orchestra,
good for being able to read music and both the
treble and the bass cliff. But I wasn't sort of

(00:55):
creative enough at the time to find or honestly even
to search out a different sound with my trombone. Brass
had its place and that was that. But the year
after I left high school, based on a true story,
hit record stores. I'd never heard of Fat Freddy's Drop,
but I was played a song by a friend and

(01:16):
I bought the album the day it was released. And
I know it was two thousand and five because I
can literally remember buying the CD from a Sounds record shop.
I can remember walking down Madras Street in christ in
christ Church with it kind of burning a hole in
my bag. I was so excited to play it. And
let me tell you, I don't think I've ever thrashed

(01:38):
an album so much in my life. You know, the
way it starts off like so sparse, those simple plunking
piano keys, dun dun dun da dun da, dun dun da,
dun dun dun dun d and then it builds and
it builds and it builds. The sound was just so exciting.

(02:02):
It was so different, it was so cool, and man,
I thought when I saw that a trombonist was part
of the lineup. If I had known that this kind
of music existed, this blend of dub and reggae and
jazz and soul with its brass component. I mean, as
much as I have enjoyed Glenn Miller arrangements, I might

(02:24):
have branched out just a bit further with my high
school music mates in the Old Bone.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
Now.

Speaker 2 (02:30):
I am no, I don't claim to be any sort
of music officionado, right, but it occurs to me that
Fat Freddy's Drop are a prime example of muso's Muso's
So they are a band which loosely formed from a
crew who just liked jamming in their spare time. They
are a band that loves to play live, that still

(02:53):
just loves to improvise, and at least from the outside,
they've seemed utterly unconcerned with the trappings of rock and
roll stardom, you know, with glossy magazine covers, fame and riches.
Forget your three minute four cord tricks to sell into
the top forty radio stations. If you've been to a
Fat Freddie's concert, I've been to a few over the years,

(03:13):
you will know it can be hard sometimes to know
when a song begins and ends. I also think there's
a real kind of distinct New Zealand flavor to their music. Yeah,
there's something kind of I don't know, there's something like pacific,
something kind of relaxed, unshaven, unconcerned. The sound of the

(03:37):
Kiwi Summer road trip. For the years in which I
lived in the US, I would always crank it up
any time I had an American in my apartment, as
if it were a kind of statement of identity. I
think it probably says a lot about the band's aspirations
and kind of motivations and priorities, honestly, that they're kind

(03:57):
of artistic purity, that despite their incredible international success, that
individual members of Fat Fred's Drop aren't all household names
in this country. I was thinking about it. I reckon
I know next to nothing of their private lives, and
of all the members, I reckon I would have only
been able to name two off the top of my
head if you had asked me earlier this week. You

(04:20):
got Dallas, friend of the show of course, who is
the singer for Fat Freddy's Drop. And you got moo
Chris Fayoumu founded Fat Freddy's Drop, he produced their music
and as the DJ, has beats and blends and samples
with a kind of foundation of so much of their art.
And I just feel that my experience with his work

(04:42):
is going to be similar to that of so many
others in New Zealand and around the world, like tens
of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of fans. I
feel really saddened by news of his death and just
so grateful, like so so grateful for the music he made.
That has honestly enriched my life.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
For more on Saturday Morning with Jack Tame. Listen live
to News Talks ed B from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio