Boondigga takes on US

Wellington band Fat Freddy’s Drop recently played three sell-out shows on the West Coast of the United States. The seven-piece dub outfit has been together for nearly a decade, yet only recently released its second album of studio material Dr Boondigga and the Big BW and, up until last week, had played just one gig in North America. “We are an indie group — we have to crack the whip on ourselves,” the band’s trumpeter and unofficial spokesman, Toby Laing, says with a laugh. “It would have been good to be quicker, but we have to be really happy with the production side of it as much as the music.” Laing promises that Fat Freddy’s Drop will return early next year and that the wait for the third album won’t be nearly as long. Fat Freddy’s Drop features at the Parihaka Peace Festival on January 8.