Featured Artist: Phatfish
Phatfish, based in Brighton, England, are one of the UK's most well known and longest running worship rock bands around. The band was originally called 'Purple Phatfish' in 1994 when Dave Fellingham, Nathan & Luke Fellingham (Dave's two sons), Mike Blow , Adrian Watts, Louise Hunt (now Lou Fellingham), Michael Sandeman and Rachel Head decided to come together to create a Christian band accessible for Christians and non-Christians alike. The band spent most of the first year performing their own songs in secular clubs mainly in the south of England. The band become known as just 'Phatfish' at the end of 1994 when rapper Rachel Head left the band.
The band continued to tour and gig around many clubs in London and universities around the country , but it was in 1997 that the band decided to work on some more worship orientated songs, and from there they 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. Guitarist Alan Rose who had been working with worship leader Paul Oakley joined and the band started song writing again. This led to a more rockier sound. In 1999 the album Purple Through the Fishtank was recorded in Nashville. The album had a broad appeal and increased the profile of the band both in the UK and abroad.
Album recordings quickly moved on and by the beginning of 2001 after a busy year of touring, the album Heavenbound was born. Recorded in the UK the album had a recurring theme of Heaven and man's future with God. The album was released to rave reviews, which led to the band having a very busy schedule of gigging all over the UK.
After the band were involved in some of their biggest gigs to date, they soon jumped back into the studio to record songs that had been used while touring the last albums. The resulting album was called Nothing But The Truth and was released in May 2003. At this time the band said goodbye to Alan Rose. The remaining four members took some time out and spent a year or so concentrating on other non-Phatfish projects.
What followed in 2004 was an album named Faithful - The Worship Songs which featured fresh studio arrangements of many of their more 'congregational' worship songs. In 2005, Phatfish embarked on "The Faithful Tour" which took them across England and Scotland, supported by guitarist Dan Wheeler. It was in 2005 that Lou Fellingham recorded her debut solo album Treasure. Lou's solo album gained many a great review and led to her touring with Stuart Townend on a Stu+Lou tour around the UK.
2008 saw the release of Lou Fellingham's second solo album, Promised Land and an exclusive launch night at the Clarendon Centre was planned where Lou, backed by Phatfish, performed each track from her new album and talked about the inspiration behind them. At the same time Michael Sandeman, keyboardist, released his instrumental album Worship Reflections.
In early 2009, Ben Hall and Jos Wintermeyer (guitarists) both officially joined Phatfish. By the summer of 2009 the band had released their latest album In Jesus. Again with a new edge with two new guitarists this album gained more stunning reviews, which led to the band playing some of the biggest festivals around the world. In Autumn 2010 the band embarked on their latest tour called The Light Tour with Nathan Fellingham calling it "one of their most successful tours in the band's 15 year history".
In December 2010 Phatfish announced a new compilation album titled Anthems For Worship, a collection of their most popular worship songs. The album featured 14 newly remastered tracks from their previous albums.
Phatfish, who are now about to release their new studio album 'Higher', have said "This latest collection from the Phat stable features songwriting from just about every member of the band. Stylistically we are in Rock/Pop territory but with these creative bunnies the toons can go anywhere and frequently do! There are tracks that could spin off tomorrow's DJs through to a reworked hymn from the 18th century. A futurist ballad and an RnB influenced semi-rap about Creation and Evolution. It's definitely not your standard worship album. Which is just how we like it."
