Morning Fatty will debut its most “confident and polished” album to date with their “Dreamlife” release show at High Dive on Friday, said bassist and band founder, John Pop.
Bells and Robes, The Orange Constant and Xenogenesis will open the show. Performances will begin at 8 p.m. with doors opening at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at ticketfly.com, High Dive and Hear Again Records for $10 in advance and $12 the day of the show.
“Dreamlife” will be Morning Fatty’s third album, not counting their 2011 extended play “Facemelt,” and represents significant growth for the band, Pop said. Morning Fatty has been known to shift their style from project to project, entering the “Dreamlife” era with a style Pop describes as electronic reggae.
“This is the sound that we want to create our legacy on,” Pop said.
Pop started Morning Fatty as a 10-piece ska band with vocalist Andrew White in high school around 2004. When Pop and White moved to Gainesville for college, they cut down their numbers and polished their sound, adding guitarist Miller Joyner around 2010 and drummer Tim Mulberry in 2014. Before joining Morning Fatty, Mulberry toured worldwide as a drummer for The Black Eyed Peas.
“When we were starting out it was kind of a ska band, punk band type feel,” Pop said. “We had fun with it, but as you grow, your musical tastes change a little bit, and you just go with what you have fun playing.”
Friday’s “Dreamlife” show will be the first time any of the new songs will be performed live, along with several new remixes and a new light display. The show promises to usher fans into the next phase for Morning Fatty.
Though they cannot release specifics yet, Morning Fatty seems to be gearing up for even more news in the near future.
“I can’t publicly say what’s happening because nothing’s in stone yet,” Pop said. “I guess in a broad way, we have some good deals sparking with some major players in the music industry.”
Thirteen years of playing and building a career around music have taught Pop countless lessons. Working in the music business means persistence to Pop; keep sending out emails and calling “until you get an answer.”
“Keep trying and trying different ways to make it happen,” Pop said. “There’s always a way around it. There’s always a way to make it happen.”
