Phatfish
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Phatfish | ||
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 L-R: Mike Sandeman, Luke Fellingham, Louise Fellingham, and Nathan Fellingham
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Purple Phatfish | |
| Origin |  Brighton, England |
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| Genre(s) | Christian worship, Christian rock |
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| Years active | 1994—present | |
| Label(s) | Authentic Media | |
| Associated acts |
Stoneleigh Worship Band, Newfrontiers band, Lou Fellingham & band | |
| Website | http://www.phatfish.net | |
| Members | ||
| Louise Fellingham - Vocals Nathan Fellingham - Drums & percussion, backing vocals Luke Fellingham - Bass Mike Sandeman - Keys |
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| Former members | ||
| Alan Rose - Guitars Mike Blow - Guitars Rachel Head - Rapper Adrian Watts - Percussion |
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Phatfish are a Christian Rock/Pop and worship Band. They live in Brighton, England and have spent many years writing and performing their own brand of worship-oriented rock, as well as leading worship both in the UK and across North America and Europe. They have released a number of their own albums, played along side many well known worship leaders and appeared on dozens of worship albums. They are active members of their local church "CCK" and are continually involved in leading worship and musical projects. Since they started (1994) Phatfish have been involved in "Stoneleigh" and more recently "Newday" and the annual Newfrontiers leadership conference, among others.
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[edit] History
The band was formed under the name 'Purple Phatfish' by Dave Fellingham in Brighton UK in January 1994. Dave had a vision for a Christian group that would be excellent musically and be respected by Christians and non-Christians alike. He prayed that it would have an anointing to touch peoples' lives with the power and presence of God.
The founder members were Nathan & Luke Fellingham (Dave's two sons; drums & bass), Mike Blow (guitar), Adrian Watts (percussion), Louise Hunt (she has since married Nathan and become Louise Fellingham; vocals), Michael Sandeman (keyboards) and Rachel Head (rapper).
Musically the band was initially a jazz-funk/rap outfit at a time when Acid Jazz was very popular in England. Purple Phatfish had a vision to be 'salt & light' in the secular world, and spent much of the first year performing their own songs in secular music clubs, mainly in the Brighton area where they gained a considerable following on the local music scene. Most of the early songs were not blatantly Christian in content, but tackled contemporary issues with a Christian perspective. Rapper Rachel Head left the band at the end of 1994, and 'Purple Phatfish' became 'Phatfish'.
In the following few years Phatfish gigged further afield, playing regularly in top London music clubs and in universities around the country. They were also in demand with churches all over the UK who would book them to play at youth events and outreaches. During this period they made a number of recordings which have recently been remastered and repackaged under the title An Audience with God.
In 1997 the band felt stirred to work on some more explicitly worship-orientated songs, and released their first full album We Know the Story.
In the summer of 1998, guitarist Mike Blow and percussionist Adrian Watts felt that it was time to move on, and left Phatfish. Guitarist Alan Rose – who had been working with worship leader Paul Oakley – joined, and the band started song writing again. Phatfish moved further away from the jazz-funk sound, and the new songs had a rockier edge. Demos were made with producer Alan Shacklock, and he was able to catch the attention of record company Pamplin Music in the US. Phatfish subsequently signed with Pamplin and in Spring 1999 Purple Through the Fishtank was recorded with them in Nashville. The album had a broad appeal and increased the profile of the band both in the UK and abroad; Phatfish started regularly travelling in Canada, the US and Europe.
By the beginning of 2001 after a busy year of touring and seeing lots of people having great encounters with God in their concerts, the album Heavenbound was born. Recorded in the UK, the album has a recurring theme of Heaven and man's future with God. With Pamplin no longer involved, the band worked with Word UK (now Authentic Media). Heavenbound has been a best seller and received rave reviews. Phatfish had a busy schedule in Autumn 2001, gigging with Heavenbound all over the UK, as well as at events in Canada.
In the summer of 2001 they had done an impromptu 'unplugged' gig with minimal equipment on a side stage at Stoneleigh Bible Week. It went amazingly well and it was decided that three unplugged gigs would take place in January 2002 in different parts of the country to raise money for AIDS orphans in Africa through an organization called Hope HIV. The concerts were all sold out and were a great success, raising £9,500 for Hope HIV. A live album (Hope) was recorded at the gigs and released in spring 2002. Special guests Stuart Townend, Kate Simmonds and Brian Houston joined Phatfish at the gigs. The 2006 DVD release There is a Day includes the Brighton unplugged gig.
In November 2002, the band embarked on The Truth Tour, a series of concerts around the UK using specially-written new songs with the theme of living by God's truth. This was a much bigger multi-media style production than they had used before; the gigs were in larger venues with thousands attending and meeting with God as well as enjoying the rocking live show.
As soon as the tour was over the band retreated into the studio to record the songs which had been used on the tour. The resulting album is called Nothing But the Truth and was released in May 2003, to more fantastic reviews. The band continued touring and playing at festivals through that summer and autumn.
It was with some sadness that the rest of the group said goodbye to Alan Rose in August 2003. The remaining four members took some time out and spent a year or so concentrating on other non-Phatfish projects. Apart from a couple of summer festival gigs, there were some BBC Songs of Praise appearances and worship leading engagements with Matt Redman, Stuart Townend, and others. Nathan and Luke produced an album for Kingsway’s Survivor label called Soul Sista. The three guys also worked on music for a dance production based at their church in Brighton.
In 2004, Phatfish released an album called Faithful which featured fresh studio arrangements of many of their more 'congregational' worship songs.
Drummer Nathan Fellingham was the driving force behind the album Trinity, released 2006. It is a compilation of tracks from many artists including Phatfish; the songs focusing on the Trinitarian nature of God.
In late 2005, band member Lou Fellingham recorded her debut solo album Treasure, which was released in January 2006. The band appeared several more times on the BBC's Songs of Praise.[1][2]
At the end of 2006 a Phatfish resource CD called Working as a band was released. It gives practical teaching and advice for local church worship musicians, and explains some of the basics of making a cohesive band sound that will work in a church setting.
There Is A Day - DVD video collection was also released at the end of 2006, incorporating music videos, an unplugged concert and interview footage.
[edit] Origin of band name
The band was originally called "Purple Phatfish", a name that came from a small purple keyring featuring a little fat fish that blew air out of its mouth when you squeezed it. The keyring was given as a present by Nathan's sister-in-law and she suggested that Purple Fat Fish would be a good name for a band. (A picture of the fish may be seen on the 'What's in a name?' page on the band's website.)[3]
[edit] Speculation and next album
Ever since Alan Rose's departure, there have been rumours flying around that Phatfish have disbanded. Although they have been gigging less, the band remain active and will be releasing a new album called 'Guaranteed' in July 2007, featuring ten brand new songs.[3]
[edit] Discography
Note: This is a list of actual Phatfish recordings and does not include the numerous other worship albums on which they have played.
- 1994 'Purple Phatfish' three song demo (cassette only)
- 1995 'River of Life' (cassette only)
- 1996 'Neworldisorder' six song EP
- 1997 'We Know the Story'
- 1999 'Purple Through the Fishtank'
- 2000 'An Audience with God' - compilation with some re-recorded material
- 2001 'Heavenbound'
- 2002 'Hope - Unplugged Live'
- 2003 'Nothing But The Truth'
- 2004 'Faithful'
- 2006 'Trinity' - compilation album *
- 2006 'Working As A Band - Music resource for Church musicians.
- 2006 'There Is A Day' - DVD Video collection
- 2007 'Guaranteed'
- * Trinity is a compilation of tracks from Phatfish and other artists including Matt Redman, Cathy Burton, Brenton Brown, Geraldine Latty, Monique Tute, Dean Salyn and Kristin Getty.
[edit] Other albums/discography Phatfish have featured in
Note: This is a list of recordings in which some members of the band, if not all, have appeared in. These are not actual Phatfish releases. It is not a comprehensive list,
- 1994 'Ruach' - Stoneleigh album
- 1995 'Day Of Favour' - "
- 1996 'My First Love' - "
- 1997 'Loves Compelling Power'
- 1998 'Beautiful Saviour' - "
- 1999 'Covenant Of Grace' - "
- 2000 'Chosen From The Nations'
- 2000 'Praise Mix 2000' - Recorded at Christian event Spring Harvest
- 2000 'Revive '00 - Dare To Believe' - Stoneleigh youth event
- 2001 'The Fathers Embrace'
- 2001 'Revive - Joy' - Stoneleigh youth events
- 2001 'In Christ Alone' - Recorded at CCK, Brighton
- 2001 'Revive '01 - Dreams and Visions' - Stoneleigh youth event
- 2002 'Newfrontiers - Live 2002' - Recorded at CCK, Brighton
- 2002 'Soul Survivor Live 2002 - Glimpses Of Glory'
- 2003 'Does The Future Have A Church' - A compilation of worship songs from previous albums *
- 2004 'Newday 2004' - Recorded at Newfrontiers youth event
- 2004 'The Passion Of God's Son' - Recorded at Newfrontiers event 'Leadership '04
- 2005 'Newday - You Reign' - Recorded at Newfrontiers youth event '05 (backing for Matt Redman)
- 2005 'The Power Of The Cross' - Recorded at Newfrontiers event 'Leadership '05
- 2006 'Treasure' - Lou Fellingham's debut album
- 2006 'Praise Is Rising' - Recorded at Newfrontiers event 'Leadership '06
- 2006 'Newday - Shout From The Roof' - Recorded at Newfrontiers youth event '06 (backing band for Siyoli Lusaseni)
[edit] References
- ^ Songs of Praise, factsheet for Sunday 29 January 2006. (Appearance by Lou Fellingham). BBC Online. Retrieved on April 6, 2007.
- ^ Songs of Praise, factsheet for Sunday 5 November 2006. (Phatfish were backing band for worship leader Stuart Townend). BBC Online. Retrieved on April 6, 2007.
- ^ a b Interview with Nathan Fellingham. Wesley Owen (2007). Retrieved on April 6, 2007.
- Phatfish – artist profile at Cross Rhythms
- Church of Christ the King, Brighton, worship team profile on Phatfish
- Word on the Web (Church Army) – Interview with Nathan Fellingham (Dec 2004)
- Wesley Owen – interview (Feb 2005)
