Wellington ensemble Fat Freddy's Drop created music history in 2005 when its debut long player, Based on a True Story, became the highest-selling album ever by a homegrown act in New Zealand. The band went on to establish an international following, particularly throughout the UK and Europe, becoming a summer festival favourite, as well as capable of selling out 10,000 seat venues in England for their own headline shows. Fat Freddy's Drop started out as a party band in their hometown of Wellington in 1999, a loose collective of skilled players melding together elements of freeform jazz, dub, funk, ska, soul and hip-hop, with a distinct Islander flavour. Making the group all the more unique, there is no drummer or bass player in the lineup, and gigs are primarily improvised affairs.