Fat Night

Boxing Day is an English holiday where people dress in boxes and throw fists. Don’t Google that statement. The internet is prone to lies, and you may get unfairly confused. Will’s Pub celebrated Boxing Day properly this year, with Dumberbunnies, Zap Dragon and The Attack, Fat Night, and a “fight” between two grown men dressed as Christmas presents.

The vibe is celebratory. Folks trickling in after 10:00, bellies full of holiday leftovers, sporting new shoes. It is the kind of night where nothing promises to stand out above anything else.

Fat Night comes highly recommended by respected local musicians. They stand there looking like Ivy League cliches, four white guys, one in a short sleeve button-down, another in a baggy sweatshirt, all with beautiful teeth.

We know better than to limit ourselves by making judgments based on appearances. Still, judgment creeps in. A soul band full of young white dudes? This can go well, but it will not be legendary. Then Daniel Hanson’s guitar comes in, driven by Ted Issen’s bass groove, kept in time by Nik Ritchie’s drums, and punctuated by Gabriel Gundacker’s monumental personality on the keys. Prejudice floats away into the steam of the room.

Sweaty, sexy music ensues. Nasty, filthy funk going down smooth as Cabernet. One minute we hear the sound of Stevie Wonder, the next, the influence of D’Angelo. Strangers rubbing sweaty elbows with comic grins.

Latin influence rears its head. Now we are moving our hips in some kind of salsa interpretation. Dance partners begin to blur. Lines of connection begin to cross. No one dares move to the bar for a refill. All voids are filled, overflowed by Fat Night’s sweet soul.

Stevie Wonder, D’Angelo, salsa, how do we categorize this band? “When I wake up in the morning, love,” comes the first line of the first cover of the night. Covering Bill Withers is a bold move — a statement of self-aware confidence. Fat Night is taking “Lovely Day” and making it their own.

Fortunately for Orlando, Fat Night hails from here and will no doubt be quick to return to adoring hometown fans when the schedule allows. Unfortunately, the band is relocating to Chicago. If the universe entertains justice for quality, major festivals and high-profile opening gigs will abound for Fat Night in the coming years.

Boxing night felt like the kickoff to something special. Sure, two grown men dressed as presents boxed for our enjoyment. But Fat Night is the real deal. We expect big things from them nationally. If things do not work out in Chicago, Orlando will welcome them back with open arms. For now, cheers to Will’s Pub and Boxing Day 2015 for bringing us a Fat Boxing Night.

Fat Night Live Review by Jason Earle, edited by Matthew Weller. - Shows I Go To

On écoute Fat Night et Sun go down pour se mettre bien pour ce lundi.

Oh yeah Fat Night, merci. Je reprends le taf aujourd’hui après deux semaines de vacances. Je voulais donc un son souriant qui me donne l’envie (si tu as Johnny dans la tête, désolé)

Je l’ai trouvé avec ce petit funk des familles. C’est le groupe d’orlando qui nous le balance. C’est une funk très calme, avec des rayons de soleil et de la chaleur humaine.

Le facebook : https://www.facebook.com/fatnightmusic

Et c’est extrait de Lazy Day, cet excellent ep à écouter en dessous. - AnotherWhiskyForMisterBukowski

Picture yourself sitting on a front porch on a beautiful Florida day, smokin’ cigarettes and watching the cars go by. Fat Night’s Lazy Days puts you there. The primary contributor appears to be the band’s deep roots in R&B and Latin vibes. Right off, skins (drums) walk on in with a jaunty jive, turning heads. You’re treated to laid-back strings (guitar), cruisin’ double time piano, and mellow guitar solo-ettes. The ride is as perfect and elusive as our chilled afternoon.

The organ and guitar carry you throughout the album on waves of reverb and pure groove, inviting you to experience the graceful dance of the two instruments, performed by talented hands. These elements rap around each other, only to suddenly repel, finally separating to show one another a thing or two. This is especially apparent on the tasty “Long Shadow Short Temper,” a fresh mix of call-and-return, paired to silky harmonies. A trippy organ solo leads you to the end of the street with the promise of a six-pack.

Regardless of the beautifully orchestrated keys and strings, one mustn’t detract from the marvelous vocals of the EP. The vocal lines take you on a ride down the coast with the top out and a damn good cigar to burn. Masterful use of triplets lends itself to the frequent off beats and groovy, riding bass. As if precise rhythms and sultry tones weren’t enough to keep your ear glued to your speakers, the vocal runs are capable of melting the frostiest of loins.

Fat Night rounds off this lethargic afternoon with a conclusion, of sorts, with a drive into the sunset on “Thoughts.” As the sun comes down on Lazy Days, you receive a look-back, stylistically and emotionally, ending your journey as relaxed as you began it. ATTENTION SHOPPERS: Fat Night’s Lazy Days should go with you everywhere. It is fantastic for every occasion and will put you in the right mood every time. Keep it easy. Listen to Fat Night. - Vinyl Warhol

Dedicated soul seekers, their live performances exude the electricity of their varied influences, and this is their chief inspiration: “A musician who has played a song at hundreds or thousands of shows but can still find ways to make it sound fresh is the kind of musician that survives. I think funk, soul and R&B especially allow for songs to develop endlessly.” - Orlando Weekly

It’s been close to two years since I received some demos from the guys in Fat Night that I reviewed here on Flea Market Funk. The Funk and Soul outfit out of Orlando, FL have just released a sweet Soul 45 on Colemine this past July, and now have completed a self titled full length that highlights this Southern band’s depth of sounds. The record opener, “Best You’ve Ever Had” channels the Reverend Al Green as vocalist Daniel Hanson pays a fitting tribute to to the man before picking up the guitar and the pace and venturing into Blue Eyed Soul territory. Pretty ballsy, but quite honestly effective, as it sets the tone for this entire record. The band is not afraid to challenge itself and combine their sound with their idols. A little all over the place (in a good way), the band let’s a lot of their influences out of the bag on this 2013 release. The record itself runs the gamut from Blues filled Rock that Jon Spencer was slinging in his Blues Explosion and later in Heavy Trash on “Sometimes”, to playful Pop fueled organ jams on “Smilin’ “, to laid back grooves of D’Angelo on “Three Little Words” and “The Warmth”, to Fela on the instrumental Afro Beat tune “Run, Rabbit Run.” The music is a roller coaster of genres, each new side taking you up and down a variety of each. They’re not afraid to wear their influences on their sleeves as Stevie Wonder shines through on “Tight Knot”, or maybe it’s Jamirouqui, but either way you get the feeling right away that they are essentially a Soul band. A little more polished than their earlier efforts and blending a healthy dose of Rock and Roll into these other genres brings something new and fresh to Fat Night’s table. It’s great to see them getting some shine this year on Colemine with that 45, that label has really put some bands on the map. They are in good company with the stable over there. For now, they seem like they are branching out from their Soul moniker, seeing where different variations of the genre takes them. Whether it be sweet, psychedelic, upbeat and beyond, Fat Night has buckled in and is in for the long haul. - Flea Market Funk

Being away from the work you do for a long period of time is always an interesting experience. In my case being away from my radio show meant that I was basically able to just focus on listening to music for purely personal reasons and personal attachments for a solid month. While I bought quite a bit of vinyl, I wasn’t even really thinking about “this would sound great on Melting Pot” or “I need to feature this in a post.” Strangely I feel that this month off from my musical pursuits allowed me to hear things differently, in a literal way. I feel like everything I listen to sounds different, with certain things sounding even better than I remember them. One my newer discoveries, and a track to my ears just sounds absolutely fantastic is this 45 from a Florida based funk outfit by the name of Fat Night. Though this single has been out for the better part of the year, I only heard it on the recommendation of Cool Chris at Groove Merchant. After living in LA for now a full 6 years, I generally only make it up to Frisco once a year, but the pilgrimage is always worth it. This particular time around I actually had a hard time chosen records, things just didn’t sound right to me. After a couple of misses, Chris suggested that I listen to this 45 and the feeling I got from it was almost immediate and very strong. While the music is fantastic, slow, funky and sultry like a hot Florida summer night, it’s the softness in the vocals that keeps me coming back to this song. Deeply soulful without sounding like what you’d expect “soul music” to sound like. Once I finally got the record home I must have listened to it 15 or 20 times in a row, such was the hold it had on me. Now, I pass that obsession onto you… - Melting Pot

Man, "Things You Do" gave me goosebumps! So much soul! Very easy going track that carries a lot of truth. The first second I heard the song I knew I had to have it. I love how the music is simple yet it still achieves that same unexplainable feeling of any classic song when heard. Pure bliss! - Access Hip Hop

Getting submissions sometimes is like some espionage game. Instead of slipping it in a manilla envelope inside a copy of the Metropolitan section of the Times and giving it to me nonchalantly at Union Square, I get music delivered via my Inbox. I get a lot of it. When it’s not non-appealing, repetetive commercial Hip Hop (sorry not my thing), it’s a lot like this file I got sent yesterday. Interesting. I liked it so much, I bumped it up in the queue of articles to write. Here’s the message I got with it:

New group out of Central Florida

[inserted file url]

Dig!

Love

Now if that isn’t some spy shit, I don’t know what is.

From what I gathered, the trio known as Fat Night is out of Central Florida, USA. Members Ted(bass), Nik (drums), and Dan (guitar/voice) have a sound that’s a cross between a young Johnny Talbot and Jon Spencer or the Black Keys (which is most likely the obvious comparison). Slipping between dirty vocals and an in the pocket groove locked in nicely by Ted and Nik, “Sometimes” winds through some dirty Blues influenced funky Soul and goes into a guitar frenzy before your head keeps nodding to the outro. Recorded in a late night jam session, this unsigned band definitely has some potential, so I’d like to hear some more, and I’d like it to be fuzzy and dirty please. Always great to get an interesting submission here at FMF, no word if they’re gonna press up some 45's yet. Contact their booking agent if you want Fat City to play your event. - Flea Market Funk

“Things You Do” is the latest single from Orlando soul band Fat Night. We’re vibin’ on the track’s neat early 70's vocal group harmonies and cool dusky chorus hook.

Rating: 8.5 - blahblahblahscience.com

The Florida-based quartet churns out some soulful and minimalistic stuff here. "Things You" is simple awesome. - Coleminerecords.com

A wicked slow funk number from Fat Night – haunting, moody, and very very compelling! There's a slightly trippy feel to the track – maybe from the heavy echo used on the vocals – but the core groove of stepping guitar and drums almost takes us back to the best mellow harmony cuts from the east coast scene of the early 70s – as does the lyric! © 1996-2013, Dusty Groove, Inc. - DustyGroove.com

Speaking of funky, local band Fat Night just had a record release party (Aug. 19, Will’s Pub). Their funk-soul-rock stew isn’t completely my sweet spot. But these guys have really gotten good – so exceptional, in fact, that it can no longer be denied, even by a differing palate. - Orlando Weekly