Nothing can stop the fyah...
Katchafire
New Zealand Roots Reggae Band
An all maori ethnic reggae band originating from the city of Hamilton in the Waikato region of Aotearoa New Zealand. They adapted their name from the Bob Marley and The Wailers album 'Catch a Fire', originally a five piece Bob Marley tribute band formed in mid 97' by manager then and former lead guitarist Grenville Bell, original members of the tribute band consisting of Haani Totorewa (Keyboards, Vocals) Tere Ngarua (Bass), Thompson Hohepa (Guitar, Vocals) and Grenville's two sons Logan (Guitar, Lead Vocals) and Jordan Bell (Drums).
The band has been though many changes over the years with members joining and leaving finally settling with the new talents of Ara Adams Tamatea (Bass), Jamey Ferguson (Keyboards, Sax, Lead Vocals) and Leon Davey (Vocals, Percussions) highly respected and appraised musicians stepping into fill vacant positions, a move that gave Katchafire their distinct trademark sounding reggae vibe and tightly bonded musical flow.
The year 2003, Katchafire went on to record their first album 'Revival' which went triple platinum spawning the hits 'Giddy Up' and 'Get Away', the album still popular with the listening audiences of all ages and generations of today. Their second album 'Slow Burning' released 2005 went platinum and is equally as good as the first with re noun singles such as 'I n I', 'Frisk Me Down' and 'Hey Girl'. The band invited the resources of horn section 'Le Sexion' with Feal (saxophone), Mols (trumpet) and Thomas (trombone) from the highly acclaimed reggae band 'Mr.Gang' of France to grace their musicianship on the album.
The 2007 world release of their third album titled 'Say What You're Thinking' reached gold sales within a few weeks of it's release then platinum soon after with comments and reviews to suggested this to be their finest work to date. The album has not only the front-men Logan Bell & Jamey Ferguson solely on vocals, but additions by band members Haani Totorewa, Jordan Bell and Leon Davey prove to be not only talented musicians, but also talented song writers/lead vocalists that can hold their own, their input uplifting Katchafire's sound to an even higher level of class and style. 'Say What You're Thinking' reached the number 4 spot on the U.S Reggae Billboard and placed at 5 on the World Reggae Chart.
The album joined the success rate of the previous releases and ultimately went to number 1 on the Hawaiian music charts.
With the groups popularity growing globally, Katchafire has toured from Australia, Saipan, Guam, New Caledonia, Fiji, Italy, Indonesia, Amsterdam to the U.K and frequently tour Hawaii where a vast amount of the bands international popularity spawned and eventually spilled onto the U.S mainland. They performed to a sold out stadium audience at the Birthday Bash celebrations in Waikiki and is known as the first band in the history of the event invited to perform on both celebration nights. Katchafire have accumulated a steady fan base in the U.S California coast which has them touring American soil at least twice a year with a full work load as well as a busy local itinerary at home that has them working 2 to 3 days of the week every week.
The band has shared the stage along side of international acts such as The Wailers, Mr.Gang, Horace Andy, Moonraisers, Sly and Robbie, Steel Pulse, Sean Kingston and Gentleman. They performed at the first ever New Zealand Raggamuffin 2008 festival in Rotorua with international & local New Zealand reggae acts UB40, The Wailers, Maxi Priest, Arrested Development, The Midnites and New Zealand's own The Black Seeds and were the only Australasian band invited to tour with the Raggamuffin 2008 in Australia.
As well as performing with international artists, Katchafire have performed with top class Aotearoa Dub n Roots acts such as, the upfull and positive vibes of 1814, thunderous dub n bass band Salmonella Dub, the staunch Maori ethnicity of Tiki Taane, kiwinesian reggaemeisters Three Houses Down, the cool and collective Sweet and Irie, energetic powerhouse groups Kora, and LAB, raw reggae roots act Cornerstone Roots, and the godfathers of Aotearoa reggae themselves 'Herbs' plus many more.
Katchafire once again went through changes with the departure of some of it's long-standing members welcoming the introduction of new faces and fresh talent in the bands line up, but even with these changes, Katchafire still offer a unique sound from a solid group of musicians, a soulful taste of reggae that soothes, kiwi driven roots flavor added with subtleties of the groups musical influences. Katchafire continue to reach beyond their boundaries to audiences, cultures and listeners everywhere in all corners of the world.
The band has been though many changes over the years with members joining and leaving finally settling with the new talents of Ara Adams Tamatea (Bass), Jamey Ferguson (Keyboards, Sax, Lead Vocals) and Leon Davey (Vocals, Percussions) highly respected and appraised musicians stepping into fill vacant positions, a move that gave Katchafire their distinct trademark sounding reggae vibe and tightly bonded musical flow.
The year 2003, Katchafire went on to record their first album 'Revival' which went triple platinum spawning the hits 'Giddy Up' and 'Get Away', the album still popular with the listening audiences of all ages and generations of today. Their second album 'Slow Burning' released 2005 went platinum and is equally as good as the first with re noun singles such as 'I n I', 'Frisk Me Down' and 'Hey Girl'. The band invited the resources of horn section 'Le Sexion' with Feal (saxophone), Mols (trumpet) and Thomas (trombone) from the highly acclaimed reggae band 'Mr.Gang' of France to grace their musicianship on the album.
The 2007 world release of their third album titled 'Say What You're Thinking' reached gold sales within a few weeks of it's release then platinum soon after with comments and reviews to suggested this to be their finest work to date. The album has not only the front-men Logan Bell & Jamey Ferguson solely on vocals, but additions by band members Haani Totorewa, Jordan Bell and Leon Davey prove to be not only talented musicians, but also talented song writers/lead vocalists that can hold their own, their input uplifting Katchafire's sound to an even higher level of class and style. 'Say What You're Thinking' reached the number 4 spot on the U.S Reggae Billboard and placed at 5 on the World Reggae Chart.
The album joined the success rate of the previous releases and ultimately went to number 1 on the Hawaiian music charts.
With the groups popularity growing globally, Katchafire has toured from Australia, Saipan, Guam, New Caledonia, Fiji, Italy, Indonesia, Amsterdam to the U.K and frequently tour Hawaii where a vast amount of the bands international popularity spawned and eventually spilled onto the U.S mainland. They performed to a sold out stadium audience at the Birthday Bash celebrations in Waikiki and is known as the first band in the history of the event invited to perform on both celebration nights. Katchafire have accumulated a steady fan base in the U.S California coast which has them touring American soil at least twice a year with a full work load as well as a busy local itinerary at home that has them working 2 to 3 days of the week every week.
The band has shared the stage along side of international acts such as The Wailers, Mr.Gang, Horace Andy, Moonraisers, Sly and Robbie, Steel Pulse, Sean Kingston and Gentleman. They performed at the first ever New Zealand Raggamuffin 2008 festival in Rotorua with international & local New Zealand reggae acts UB40, The Wailers, Maxi Priest, Arrested Development, The Midnites and New Zealand's own The Black Seeds and were the only Australasian band invited to tour with the Raggamuffin 2008 in Australia.
As well as performing with international artists, Katchafire have performed with top class Aotearoa Dub n Roots acts such as, the upfull and positive vibes of 1814, thunderous dub n bass band Salmonella Dub, the staunch Maori ethnicity of Tiki Taane, kiwinesian reggaemeisters Three Houses Down, the cool and collective Sweet and Irie, energetic powerhouse groups Kora, and LAB, raw reggae roots act Cornerstone Roots, and the godfathers of Aotearoa reggae themselves 'Herbs' plus many more.
Katchafire once again went through changes with the departure of some of it's long-standing members welcoming the introduction of new faces and fresh talent in the bands line up, but even with these changes, Katchafire still offer a unique sound from a solid group of musicians, a soulful taste of reggae that soothes, kiwi driven roots flavor added with subtleties of the groups musical influences. Katchafire continue to reach beyond their boundaries to audiences, cultures and listeners everywhere in all corners of the world.
Band Members to Date:
Logan 'L.B' Bell - Guitar, Lead Vocals
Jordan 'Sticks' Bell - Drums, Lead Vocals
Wiremu 'Mu' Barriball - Guitar, Backing Vocals
Roy Kaiki - Keyboard, Backing Vocals
Leon Davey - Percussion's, Backing / Lead Vocals
Tere 'Mr.T' Ngarua - Bass Guitar
Logan 'L.B' Bell - Guitar, Lead Vocals
Jordan 'Sticks' Bell - Drums, Lead Vocals
Wiremu 'Mu' Barriball - Guitar, Backing Vocals
Roy Kaiki - Keyboard, Backing Vocals
Leon Davey - Percussion's, Backing / Lead Vocals
Tere 'Mr.T' Ngarua - Bass Guitar
Session Musicians:
Thabani Gapara - Saxophone
Christian Mausia - Trumpet
Former Members:
Ara Adams-Tamatea - Bass
Thompson 'Tums' Hohepa - Guitar, Backing Vocals
Grenville 'Gee' Bell - Lead Guitar
Former Members:
Ara Adams-Tamatea - Bass
Thompson 'Tums' Hohepa - Guitar, Backing Vocals
Grenville 'Gee' Bell - Lead Guitar
Jamey 'Jay' Ferguson - Saxophone, Lead / Backing Vocals, Keyboard
Haani 'Dread' Totorewa - Lead / Backing Vocals, Keyboards
2007: Say What You're Thinking
----------------------
----------------------
Haani 'Dread' Totorewa - Lead / Backing Vocals, Keyboards
Discography:
2003: Reggae Revival
Original Release
2003: Reggae Revival
Original Release
- Reggae Revival
- Get Away
- Who You With
- Color Me Life
- Lose Your Power
- Collie Herb Man
- Sensimillia
- Done Did It
- Seriously
- Giddy Up
- Bounce
- Redemption Song (Bob Marley)
Limited Edition
Disc One
----------------------
2005: Slow Burnin'
----------------------
2006: Homegrown Dub
----------------------
Disc One
- Reggae Revival
- Get Away
- Who You With
- Color Me Life
- Lose Your Power
- Collie Herb Man
- Sensimillia
- Done Did It
- Seriously
- Giddy Up
- Bounce
- Redemption Song (Bob Marley)
- Color Me Dubb
- Collie Herb Man (Reactor Dubb)
- Color Me All Jelly
----------------------
2005: Slow Burnin'
- Roots Music
- Hey Girl (Album Version)
- Call Right Up
- I Got Ya Back
- Close Your Eyes
- I n I
- Frisk Me Down
- Human Bonding
- Hey Girl (Dance Version)
- Rainbow
- Rude Girl
----------------------
2006: Homegrown Dub
- Sensi Dub (Pitch Black)
- I & I (Mad Professor)
- Dub Did It (Mr Reliable)
- Colour Me Dub (Maui & Jah Remnant)
- Collie Herb Man (Sola Rosa)
- Roots Music Remix (Baitercell & Huia)
- Hey Girl Version Remix (Confucius)
- Dub Revival (Chris Macro)
- Rude Girl Remix (Chong Nee)
- Frisk Me Dub (L.B & Sticks)
- Close Your Eyes (Ekadek)
- Get Away Dub (J.Harry Long)
----------------------
2007: Say What You're Thinking
- Say What You're Thinking
- Now Girl
- Doesn't Anybody
- Mr Flava
- J Dubb
- This World
- Hold On
- Love Letter (One Love)
- Ultra Music
- Meant To Be
- Pain
- Working
- Agent-H (Instrumental) Available through iTunes only
----------------------
2009: Say What You're Thinking
Special CD/DVD Edition
Disc One
- Say What You're Thinking
- Now Girl
- Doesn't Anybody
- Mr Flava
- J Dubb
- This World
- Hold On
- Love Letter (One Love)
- Ultra Music
- Meant To Be
- Pain
- Working
Bonus Tracks
- J Dubb Remix
- Working Remix
- Collie Herb Man (Live in Kona, Hawaii)
- Say What You're Thinking (Live in Kona, Hawaii)
DVD
- Making of 'Say What You're Thinking' (Video Behind the Scenes)
- Sensimillia (Live at Volt 350 Long Beach)
- Seriously (Live at Volt 350 Long Beach)
- Colour Me Life (Live at Volt 350 Long Beach)
- Working (Official Video)
----------------------
2010: On The Road Again
- On The Road Again
- Sweet As
- Your Dreaming
- Lead Us
- Irie
- Groove Again
- Feels Like
- One Stop Shop
- Chances Are
- Is This Familiar
- Seek Ye
- Serious
----------------------
2013: Best So Far (Compilation)
- Irie
- Love Letter
- Who You With
- Giddy Up
- On The Road Again
- Say What You're Thinking
- Get Away
- Seriously
- Collie Herb Man
- I And I
- Frisk Me Down
- Groove Again
- Meant To Be
- Sensimillia
- Working
- Sweet As
----------------------
2018: Legacy
- Fyah In The Trenches
- Love Today
- I Can Feel It A Lot
- 100
- Walk With Me (feat. Notis Heavyweight Rockaz)
- Ain't Gonna Give up (feat. Anuhea)
- Wasted
- One More Day
- Luv Plan
- Live As 1
- Addicted
- Way Beyond
No comments:
Post a Comment