“Trying to capture the various musical influences that have fanned the collective musical flames for a large band like Fat Freddy’s Drop is a tough assignment,” Scott Towers tells Apple Music about his band’s Influences playlist. “But I think these songs have been consistent waypoints on our 20-plus-year journey together.” The seven-piece Aotearoa New Zealand band’s biggest inspirations span hip-hop, soul, funk and far beyond—and the tracks on this playlist, selected by saxophonist Towers and rapper Mark Williams, represent the sounds and artists that have led the way. Below, Towers talks through each track on this meticulously curated list. Bill Withers, “Use Me” “A huge influence on our vocalist Joe Dukie and his approach to phrasing and melody, but also for the wider band—especially the way James Gadson and co. bring that country-fried funk into the mix. This was played a lot at club nights we all attended in the mid ’90s, too.” Ken Boothe, “Is It Because I’m Black?” “This is actually a cover of a terrific Syl Johnson song and it’s a blueprint, really, for how we have approached writing soulful reggae tunes over the years. The groove is undeniable, the bottom end is punchy, the horns sound great and Boothe’s performance is so heartfelt.” D’Angelo, “Spanish Joint” “The voice, the swag, the production—from his all-time classic, Voodoo. The Big D has been a constant of our tour-bus playlists since forever and the circle was completed when D and his band used our Wellington studio to jam and rehearse for their NZ shows in 2016.” A Tribe Called Quest, “Check the Rhime” “We’ve used the Akai MPC as the main workhorse of our production and live shows from the get-go, so the sample-based production from these geniuses is pure butter to our ears.” The Temptations, “Shakey Ground” “You don’t always have to look for the super rare records to find the nuggets. Sometimes ‘known’ bands are overlooked in favour of unreleased outsiders, but groups like The Temptations were huge for a reason. It’s all about that heavy bottom end and the reverb-drenched cosmic horn solo. Great tempo too—and tempo is so important.” Madvillain, “Figaro” “Dope mind-bending storytelling from MF DOOM plus dope neck-snapping production from Madlib equals awesomeness. We’d file this under ‘square wheel’—it’s all a bit discombobulated and unsettling but gets you to a certain place as a listener.” Fela Kuti, “Shufffering and Shmiling” “Even on uptempo jams, Fela’s never in a rush. He always lets the ideas unfold naturally and organically. We’ve definitely added more Afro touches to our style over the past five or six years, especially in our live shows.” Carl Craig, “At Les” “Much like Fela, Carl Craig’s productions slowly reveal themselves as they suck you down the vortex to some silicon sunset in the future world. When we’re writing tunes in our studio jam sessions, no matter what the style or feel we’re working in, we’ll often end up lost in some low-slung techno vamps. And we love vintage synths.” Kid Creole & The Coconuts, “Stool Pigeon” “Always theatrical, always fun, always loose as hell, always funky. When we’re writing funk tunes, Prince, Talking Heads, Kid Creole and Parliament-Funkadelic are the starting point we come back to most often.” John Lee Hooker, “Slow and Easy” “This is a serious music lesson. It seems so simple on the first listen, but then you realise there is just so much subtlety and variation (and accents) in the way he riffs along with his stories. And it just sounds so bloody good.” Fatback Band, “Wicky Wacky” “Such a great understated groove, and it’s cool how that repeated vocal melody just bubbles away in the background almost the whole track. This reminds me of our studio sessions, with the band locked into a simple riff and Joe Dukie just jamming ideas over the top as we write a song in real time.” SBTRKT, “Wildfire” “Huge fans of Little Dragon (and Koop, singer Yukimi Nagano’s previous group) and we played on the same bill at Sonar in Barcelona where they killed it. Aaron Jerome’s production on this is just dubby, freaky pop perfection.” Silicon, “Burning Sugar” “Kooky-rock is a genre that NZ does incredibly well, and the Nielson brothers (Ruban and Kody) are absolute musical treasures in that scene. This is Kody’s project but he and his bro have collaborated on so much great stuff (The Mint Chicks, Unknown Mortal Orchestra). It’s like Curtis Mayfield and Can morphed into one.” Dorothy Ashby, “The Moving Finger” “One for heads here. In terms of pure production this is seminal: heavy in all the right ways, but with plenty of subtle writing and arranging touches from Ms Ashby and Richard Evans.” Moodymann, “Black Mahogani” “Another tune that leans heavily into sample culture and had us all running for the crates to check the original cuts and see how this was stitched together. Great drum programming and enough of the gritty funk edge that all music from Detroit seems to find naturally.” Grace Jones, “Private Life” “We simply had to include some Sly & Robbie in this list, and there are literally dozens of tunes that might’ve made the cut. This stands out as a stellar example of the legendary rhythm section’s approach: clear and uncluttered but still unrelentingly propulsive. Add in the rest of the totally amazing Compass Point crew (the studio in the Bahamas where this was tracked) and Grace freakin’ Jones, and you’ve got an essential cut for sure.” The Congos, “Ark of the Covenant” “No words. All-time classic. So beautiful.”

Fat Freddy’s Drop: Influences

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