Phatfish
Encyclopedia
Phatfish are a Christian rock
, CCM
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 the world. They have released a number of their own albums and played alongside many well-known worship leaders, and led worship themselves at international conferences. They have also appeared on many worship albums, both live and studio, and on national television programmes such as BBC1's Songs of Praise
and on Christian radio and TV networks like GOD TV
, UCB
, Premier
and Cross Rhythms
. They are active members of their local church Church of Christ The King, home of Terry Virgo
, Stuart Townend
and other prominent Christian figures and are frequently involved in leading worship and musical projects.
Their worship songs such as Holy, Holy, There Is A Day and Amazing God are sung in churches globally and are featured on many live and studio albums. The band often perform concerts at different international events with an impressive live set. They released a 2 disc best of collection titled 15 - The Anniversary Collection
in late 2008, described by their record label as "highlighting the incredible contribution that the band have made to the UK Christian music scene". It is on the back of this album, that was met well with considerably positive reviews, that the band welcomed two new members to the band and returned to the studio to follow up with a new record, In Jesus
. The album is being followed up by a tour starting in London, and live appearances at many international Christian conferences and events over the next year, such as New Word Alive
, Salt & Light Conference, Newday
, Together On A Mission
, Forum UCCF
Conference and Keswick Convention
.
Phatfish's song "There Is A Day" has been played over 60,000 times on YouTube and the track "In Christ Alone", with Phatfish playing and Lou Fellingham leading alongside Stuart Townend, has been played over 3 million times.
is the lead vocalist and occasional songwriter for the band. Performing and appearing in every show and on every record, she is recognised for her distinctive and powerful voice that has been described as "wistful", "soaring" and "angelic" and her knowledge of vocal technique and harmonies enables her to train and manage a 50-strong choir at her local church CCK. She has since launched a solo career, however continues to work with the other members of Phatfish and has stated in the 2006 DVD There Is A Day that the release of her solo albums means in no way the end of the band.
, Julian Kindred and Kevan Frost. Nathan uses Pork Pie drums, and has done for sometime.
concerts.
.
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 and 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 decided to work on some more explicitly worship-orientated songs, and released their first full album We Know the Story.
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 Pamplin Records 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. In 2000, Phatfish released an album containing some of their older music, titled An Audience With God. Later in the year the band appeared at the 2000 Greenbelt Festival
, toured Singapore, the Netherlands, and countries both side of the Atlantic again.
'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.
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, including Festival Manchester and YC Newfoundland in Canada.
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
, Martyn Layzell
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 2005, Phatfish embarked on "The Faithful Tour" which took them across England and Scotland, supported by guitarist Dan Wheeler
. The band also appeared on GOD TV
performing "The Cross", a version which later appeared on the 2006 DVD release "There Is A Day".
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. They also supported lead singer Lou and friend Stuart Townend
on a Stu + Lou tour taking them to various locations around the UK.
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 – The Video Collection was also released at the end of 2006, incorporating music videos, an unplugged concert and interview footage, with wordsmith Andy Back. The video content was created by Quirky Motion and Fruit Media.
In July 2007 Phatfish released Guaranteed
, the first to contain all-new material since 2003. Receiving positive reviews and high sales at Christian events, the album contains ten songs described as having "intricate but driving, compulsive rhythms". The release of the album was followed up with a series of gigs titled Phatfish and Lou Fellingham
and a TV appearance on Premier TV. Phatfish also led worship at international conferences in England, Scotland and Wales. The band were runners up at the Christian Web and Blog Awards, attended by the Bishop of London, in the "Most Original Worship Blog/Website" category. They came second to Tim Hughes' and Al Gordon's win for their website worshipcentral.org.
In early 2008, the band performed two more Phatfish and Lou Fellingham
concerts in connection with Hope 08
. The first event was in Brighton, as part of "Soul By The Sea"; the second in Gloucester on March 14. Lou Fellingham led worship at the Kingsway's Children's Ministry conference in January, and the band gigged and led worship at New Word Alive
in Wales alongside Stuart Townend
. There were five more concerts in 2008; Keswick, Crawley, NEWI, Danbury and Bognor Regis Bible Week.
Phatfish will be worked with other worship leaders such as Simon Brading, Evan Rogers and Stuart Townend at worship events such as Newday, Together On A Mission, Radiant, Keswick Convention and are due to appear at Mission:Worship in November.
released her second solo album, Promised Land in May 2008, and an exclusive launch night at the Clarendon Centre was planned with only 150 tickets where Lou
, backed by Phatfish, performed each track from her new album and talked about the inspiration behind them. An article appeared on the Cross Rhythms
website with similar content of Lou talking about the songs from the album. Michael Sandeman, keyboardist, released his instrumental album "Worship Reflections" in May as well.
In an interview recorded at New Word Alive
in 2008, drummer Nathan Fellingham explained he would be starting up Fishtank Creatives, influenced by the name of the band and their 1999 studio album Purple Through The Fishtank. This will be the management company to draw all the works of Phatfish, and it's individual members, together in one place as a cohesive resource.
In December 2008, A Best of Phatfish two CD album was released. The album is titled 15, though the band celebrate their official fifteen year anniversary in January 2009, it was decided to be available before Christmas and New Year.
The tracklisting includes songs from Phatfish's previous 8 albums, "remastered and sounding better than ever".
Worship songs such as "O God Of Love", "Awake Awake O Zion", "There Is A Day" and the recent "Amazing God" feature, amongst more performance orientated tracks like "Heavenbound", "Rise Up", "Stepping Out" and "What Would I Do?". There are also two new tracks which haven't previously featured on Phatfish CDs; "There Is A Day" which was recorded for the DVD release of the same name, and "The Call", which was featured on the 2003 Festival:Manchester release On The Streets.
Christian music journalist Mike Rimmer has written a piece, included in the album, talking about the band and its history. The CD cover was designed by Jules Burt, and is predominantly red, with the new Phatfish logo that featured on There Is A Day - The Video Collection and Guaranteed alongside a cassette, snapped CD and white headphones making up the number 15. The official description of the album is "The Fifteen year anniversary collection".
The CD was chosen as album of the month for January 2009 in Wesley Owen shops across the UK. It was given a 9/10 rating by Tony Cummings, broadcaster, at Cross Rhythms
. He stated in his review that the album was "a piece of British Christian music history".
Kevan Frost
, who worked with the band on Heavenbound and Guaranteed, produced the album and Julian Kindred, who worked with them on Faithful: The Worship Songs engineered alongside Kevan and Luke Fellingham.
The album was released in the Summer of 2009. To promote the album, Phatfish headlined an event in London at Leicester Square, before performing concerts at around the UK.
On May 20, 2009, Phatfish released the title track from the album, called In Jesus, as a download single. The song was downloaded over 800 times in the first week, and is to be followed up with the release of the album on 4 June 2009.
They performed at Newday, a large UK festival in August 2009, and lead worship in the mornings. They will also played at global events including Together On A Mission, Big Church Day Out, Bible By The Beach, the Church of Christ The King Worship School and at a special Easter Concert at Dorking Halls on 27 March 2009. One song from the album featured on a Church of Christ The King Live Album, being recorded on the 26 and 27 March 2009 at the Clarendon Centre, alongside Stuart Townend and Simon Brading. An Autumn tour started earlier in the year and took the band across the UK again promoting the new album [In Jesus]. Newday's live album from the 2009 event also features the songs "In Jesus", "Mission" and "There Is Mercy", all from the In Jesus album, as well as "To You King Jesus", which appeared on 2003's Nothing But The Truth. The band have performed one off events at Westminster Abbey and other prominent UK locations this year, and continued their journey into 2010. A live video of Holy, Holy, recorded at Newday 2009 in response to Tim Hughes' cover has appeared on YouTube showcasing the band's immense talent at performing live.
In 2010, Phatfish lead worship and performed concerts at Premier Radio's Woman to Woman conference in Manchester and Edinburgh's Women Walking With God. They also made a return to the Spring Harvest stage to perform two late night concerts. The first was in Minehead with the second in Skegness. Finally, Phatfish have recorded two new BBC Songs of Praise programmes due to air late 2010 and early 2011. They were recorded in Peckham.
Live". They have raised so far £3,000 for Hope HIV, a charity they are supporting throughout the tour.
The band are recorded Kate Simmond's new EP "Grace", and have just appeared at Together On A Mission. Lou Fellingham
was not present due to the birth of her baby boy Jude. They have played at Keswick Convention with Stuart Townend
and appeared at Newday
with Matt Redman and are due to appear on the album "King Of Nations" due in November. They also feature on Keswick's "Christ Centered".
Phatfish have continued their The Light Tour with Nathan Fellingham, drummer, calling it "one of their most successful tours in the band's 15 year history". It will be continuing into 2011 with more dates added for next year. Some of the dates have been sold out.
In December 2010 Phatfish announced a new compilation album titled Anthems For Worship
, which is a collection of their most popular worship songs that are suitable for congregational use. The album has 14 newly remastered tracks from their previous albums, including new remixed versions of "Awake Awake O Zion", "Here Is The Risen Son" and "Come Let Us Worship" from the album Faithful. It also has the versions of "Faithful" and "There Is A Day" found on 15 - The Anniversary Collection, two new recordings; "O God Of Love" and the hymn "Here Is Love" and two live versions "Holy Holy (Lift Up His Name)" and "Amazing God". As with the other tracks taken from Faithful, the song "The Cross" has been slightly remixed to bring out Lou Fellingham's vocals to the foreground. The band are releasing the album through their new label Kingsway Music in February 2011 but are selling a number of limited edition versions in December 2010 prior to Christmas.
Phatfish confirmed on Facebook in October 2010 that they will be releasing a brand new album, due to be the 2nd with the current lineup, in 2011. Two new songs were premiered on The Light Tour, and they may feature. They are songwriting at the moment and recording is due to start early 2011.
. The band are said to have always strived for musical creativity and play tight in a live setting. Phatfish use programming in both a worship, concert or studio setting, often organised by Michael Sandeman.
Phatfish's studio albums, however, vary, depending on the producer and members of the band at the time of recording. Purple Through The Fishtank has an acoustic driven sound; it was recorded in Nashville, whilst Heavenbound makes more use of electric guitars in a heavy rock manner, accompanied by vocals described by Cross Rhythms
magazine as "soaring". Nothing But The Truth is pop rock, with a slightly jazz feel toward the latter part of the album, pointing to the band's earlier acid jazz days with We Know The Story. It was produced solely by Nathan Fellingham, and the electronic sound that fairs popular with his productive style is noticeable. On Faithful - The Worship Songs, Alan Rose is no longer with the band and producer Julian Kindred, who worked on Delirious?'
World Service album, brought forward the keys and synthesisers more, similar to Phatfish's live worship where the keyboards are noticeably prominent. Phatfish have recently honed a more worship orientated sound on their more recent studio album Guaranteed; the latter focusing on Luke Fellingham's driving bass, with the addition of strings and hammonds to give the album "brooding soundscapes". The band pull the different styles they have worked through over the years together in their live settings, changing renditions and compositions and sounds to suit the song. The latest album In Jesus features more of a tight rock sound, mainly due to the introduction of the two new guitarists.
The band are currently working on a new album where it is reported they will be developing the modern rock/new indy influences as well as producing classic congregational worship songs. The band also hope to produce an album that is more accessible to fans outside the Church by including lyrics/themes that explore truths of the bible.
, with songs from Lou Fellingham's debut album Treasure and Phatfish's recent Guaranteed
being played as well as older songs. As well as organising their own tours, Phatfish regularly perform in one-off appearances at different events around the world. The largest so far has been Festival:Manchester in 2003, where 50,000 delegates attended the week, and other notable concerts have been performed at Stoneleigh Bible Week in the 90s and early 00s, at Newday
, Soul Survivor, events organised by radio and magazine Cross Rhythms
and other Christian organisations like Greenbelt Festival
, Newfrontiers
, Keswick Ministries, New Wine
, Bognor Regis Bible Week, New Word Alive
, Spring Harvest
and Souled Out
, and conferences overseas such as Worship Together and YC Newfoundland. Moreover, the band often conduct worship seminars and teaching at various events or Churches throughout the world.
noted in his review of Faithful - The Worship Songs that the "influence of the Phatfish guys on the British worship scene should not be underestimated. Whether as songwriters or as part of the Stoneleigh worship band, they have played a major part in the last 10 years." Phatfish have contributed many worship songs into the modern Church, nationally in Britain and internationally around the world.
Nathan Fellingham is the principal worship songwriter of the band, his works including Holy Holy, There Is A Day, Awake Awake O Zion, Jesus Christ Holy One, Amazing God, To You King Jesus, and O God Of Love; written with wife Lou
. Michael Sandeman has also contributed with his compositions The Cross, Jesus Loves The Church and Here Is The Risen Son. Before his departure in 2003 (though he regularly makes guest appearances with the band), Alan Rose wrote hits such as Heavenbound and Oh Our Lord and King. Despite calling herself a "new to songwriting" in 2006 on Phatfish's There Is A Day - The Video Collection, Lou Fellingham
is rapidly increasing her contribution to songwriting in the band, especially with the release of her debut album Treasure and second album Promised Land. Her compositions You Give Rest To The Weary (I Will Say), Sing To The Lord, Amazing Love and Build This House are growing in popularity.
The band are also known for their potent contemporary songs, not necessarily designed to be used in a congregational setting. Some are written to be used in performance for concerts or for personal pastoral use, or written to tackle issues of the modern world. These include Stepping Out, Rise Up, What Would I Do?, This Year, Best Thing, Annoy and Lou Fellingham's
God Of Mercy (Prayer Song).
Nathan Fellingham's Holy Holy is described by himself in an audio interview at New Word Alive
as being their most popular tune that has "travelled furtherst around the world". It also featured on Tim Hughes'
When Silence Falls and The Livingstone Collective's Portrait Of Worship. The band's songs feature on many compilation, live, studio and instrumental albums that are available internationally, with non-Phatfish versions of songs such as There Is A Day, Amazing God, and Awake Awake O Zion being available on iTunes
.
The band's most critically acclaimed song is There Is A Day. Featuring on dozens of live worship albums, and three Phatfish releases, the song talks about the day of "Jesus' return", and it's potent theological content is a talking point for many Christian musical lovers and reviewers.
, Kate Simmonds and Stuart Townend
at Newfrontiers
organised conferences Together On A Mission and Newday, where crowds of up to 6,000 are gathered. They have also appeared at events such as Spring Harvest
, Soul Survivor, Keswick Convention, Bognor Regis Bible Week, Radiant, Women Walking With God, Kingsway Children's Ministry, Cheltenham Bible Week, Mission:Worship, Festival Manchester, New Word Alive
and Worship Together in America and Canada. Lou Fellingham
either leads herself or is a backing vocalist to the main worshipper, often harmonising or using her voice as an instrument rather than just singing the melody. The technical skill of Phatfish in a live setting is why they are regularly called on to lead worship. In addition, they offer practical advice about Christian music and leading worship on their recently released Working As A Band double-disc CD. They teach this material at worship seminars and one-day events, as well as the annual Mission:Worship conference in Eastbourne
.
The band often appear on BBC1's Songs of Praise
, leading worship or performing worship songs. Stuart Townend
has been present at some of the recordings, although Lou Fellingham
performed his In Christ Alone in 2005 when it featured in the "10 most popular hymns in Britain" list.
The band have featured on three albums which have won the coveted CBC Praise & Worship Album of the year award; two Stoneleigh albums Ruach and Beautiful Saviour, and Stuart Townend's
Best Of Stuart Townend Live.
See Lou Fellingham
article for more Phatfish contributions
Christian rock
Christian rock is a form of rock music played by individuals and bands whose members are Christians and who often focus the lyrics on matters concerned with the Christian faith. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies between bands...
, CCM
Contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...
and Worship
Worship Music
Worship Music is the tenth studio album by American heavy metal band Anthrax. It is their first album of original material since 2003's We've Come for You All and the first to feature original singer Joey Belladonna since 1990's Persistence of Time...
Band. They live in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
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 the world. They have released a number of their own albums and played alongside many well-known worship leaders, and led worship themselves at international conferences. They have also appeared on many worship albums, both live and studio, and on national television programmes such as BBC1's Songs of Praise
Songs of Praise
Songs of Praise is a BBC Television programme based around traditional Christian hymns. It is a widely watched and long-running religious television programme, one of the few peak-time free-to-air religious programmes in Europe Songs of Praise is a BBC Television programme based around traditional...
and on Christian radio and TV networks like GOD TV
GOD TV
GOD TV is an international Christian television broadcaster that transmits the GOD Channel from Jerusalem.The network’s Free-to-air signal is carried via multiple satellites 24-hours-a-day providing programming at no charge to viewers. This ranges from Bible teaching to motivational seminars,...
, UCB
UCB
UCB may stand for:Universities:* The University of California, Berkeley, United States* The University of Colorado at Boulder, United States* University College of Bahrain, Saar, Bahrain* University College Birmingham, England, UK...
, Premier
Premier Christian Radio
Premier Christian Radio is a British Christian radio station wholly owned by the charity Premier Christian Media Trust.Premier Christian Radio broadcasts Christian programming including news, debate, teachings and Christian music to London and the surrounding areas.It operates on three frequencies...
and Cross Rhythms
Cross Rhythms
Cross Rhythms is a Christian media organisation based in Stoke-on-Trent, England.-History:The roots of what was to become Cross Rhythms go back to two separate sources which merged in 1991. In 1983, broadcaster Chris Cole started a 30-minute weekly Christian music radio show on Plymouth Sound FM, a...
. They are active members of their local church Church of Christ The King, home of Terry Virgo
Terry Virgo
Terry Virgo is a prominent leader in the British New Church Movement, . He is the founder of the Newfrontiers family of neocharismatic evangelical churches, which has grown into an international apostolic network of over 700 churches in more than 60 nations. He is a leading Reformed Charismatic...
, Stuart Townend
Stuart Townend
Stuart Townend is a British Christian worship leader and writer of hymns and contemporary worship music. His songs include "In Christ Alone" , "How Deep The Father's Love For Us", "Beautiful Saviour" and "The King Of Love".As of 2008, CCLI lists the "In Christ Alone" in its Top 25 CCLI Songs...
and other prominent Christian figures and are frequently involved in leading worship and musical projects.
Their worship songs such as Holy, Holy, There Is A Day and Amazing God are sung in churches globally and are featured on many live and studio albums. The band often perform concerts at different international events with an impressive live set. They released a 2 disc best of collection titled 15 - The Anniversary Collection
15 (Phatfish album)
15 is the two disc "Fifteen Year Anniversary Collection" collection from Phatfish, released in 2008. It contains 32 songs from the collection of Phatfish albums and EPs spanning back to 1994...
in late 2008, described by their record label as "highlighting the incredible contribution that the band have made to the UK Christian music scene". It is on the back of this album, that was met well with considerably positive reviews, that the band welcomed two new members to the band and returned to the studio to follow up with a new record, In Jesus
In Jesus
In Jesus is the eighth and most recent studio album from Phatfish, released 4 June 2009. The album has been described by Cross Rhythms Christian magazine and radio as having "a slightly rockier edge than recent albums" that sees them "closer to the classic sound of their best selling albums...
. The album is being followed up by a tour starting in London, and live appearances at many international Christian conferences and events over the next year, such as New Word Alive
New Word Alive
New Word Alive is an annual conference originated by a partnership of the UK Christian organisations UCCF and Keswick Ministries. The conference is focussed on Bible teaching, corporate worship, and family time. The conference is a continuation of the former Word Alive event which ran within...
, Salt & Light Conference, Newday
Newday
Newday, established since August 2004, is an annual Christian youth festival organized by the Newfrontiers family of churches. The event is aimed at young people between the ages of 12 to 19, either Christian or non-Christian....
, Together On A Mission
Together On A Mission
Together On A Mission was an annual conference held at The Brighton Centre, Brighton, UK. Organised by the Newfrontiers network of churches, the 4 day conference involves Christian teaching and worship....
, Forum UCCF
UCCF
Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship , formerly known as the Inter-Varsity Fellowship , is a UK-based evangelical Christian charity that operates on university campuses....
Conference and Keswick Convention
Keswick Convention
The Keswick Convention is an annual gathering of evangelical Christians in Keswick, in the English county of Cumbria.- History :The Keswick Convention began in 1875 as a catalyst and focal point for the emerging Higher Life movement in the United Kingdom. It was founded by an Anglican, Canon T. D....
.
Phatfish's song "There Is A Day" has been played over 60,000 times on YouTube and the track "In Christ Alone", with Phatfish playing and Lou Fellingham leading alongside Stuart Townend, has been played over 3 million times.
Lou Fellingham (1994 - Present)
Lou FellinghamLou Fellingham
Louise "Lou" Fellingham , , is a Christian worship leader, singer and songwriter from Brighton in East Sussex, England. She is a founding member of the British band Phatfish and has also pursued a solo career....
is the lead vocalist and occasional songwriter for the band. Performing and appearing in every show and on every record, she is recognised for her distinctive and powerful voice that has been described as "wistful", "soaring" and "angelic" and her knowledge of vocal technique and harmonies enables her to train and manage a 50-strong choir at her local church CCK. She has since launched a solo career, however continues to work with the other members of Phatfish and has stated in the 2006 DVD There Is A Day that the release of her solo albums means in no way the end of the band.
Nathan Fellingham (1994 - Present)
Nathan, married to Lou, is the drummer and principal songwriter for the band. His worship songs Holy, Holy, There Is A Day, Amazing God, O God Of Love (written with Lou Fellingham) and Awake, Awake, O Zion are sung in congregations all over the world. He also manages the band under the title of Fishtank Creatives and produces all the Phatfish albums, usually alongside others such as Alan ShacklockAlan Shacklock
Alan Shacklock is an English musician, composer, arranger and recording producer who currently lives and works in Nashville, Tennessee...
, Julian Kindred and Kevan Frost. Nathan uses Pork Pie drums, and has done for sometime.
Michael Sandeman (1994 - Present)
Michael is the keyboardist for the band. He often uses different sounds, techniques and instruments like synthesisers. He also writes poetic and performance orientated songs for the band, such as What Would I Do?, This Year and This Is What My God Is Like. He has also collaborated with drummer Nathan on many. Michael, often referred to as Mick or Bertie, oversees the worship training areas of Phatfish, writing and organising most of the material for their 2006 training release Working As A Band and heading up the seminars on training at conferences such as Mission:Worship organised by Kingsway.Luke Fellingham (1994 - Present)
Luke, less of a songwriter, is the bassist for the band. He is known for his appearance in the way of a lengthy beard that has grown over the years. Luke set up a company with Nathan entitled Luna Sound, which he oversees and operates out of his own studio in ICC Studios in Eastbourne. He has mastered the past three Phatfish releases, Guaranteed, 15 & "In Jesus", and Lou Fellingham's Promised Land.Jos Wintermeyer (2009 - Present)
Jos, part of the live crew for Phatfish for a few years, joined the band along with Ben Hall in early January 2009. He is the rhythm guitarist for the band, using acoustic and electric depending on the song. He has also worked with Phatfish as a guest musician since late 2007 and his first appearance live was in November 2007 in Brighton at one of their Phatfish and Lou FellinghamPhatfish and Lou Fellingham
Phatfish and Lou Fellingham is the title of a series of ongoing concerts being played by Christian band Phatfish, and their lead singer Lou Fellingham....
concerts.
Ben Hall (2009 - Present)
Ben Hall is the lead guitarist for the band, and the first permanent since Alan Rose left in the Summer of 2003. He has worked with Phatfish since early 2008 before becoming a full-time member in 2009. Ben contributes to the development of the bands continuing rock influence and is known for his high energy during gigs and strong musicianship. Using and endorsing a number of high end instrument companies, Ben retains that the most important piece of gear is a player's hands.| Band Role | Year | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 1995 - 1997 | 1998 - 2003 | 2004 - 2008 | 2009 - Present | |
| Lead Vocals | Lou Fellingham | ||||
| Guitar | Jos Wintermeyer | ||||
| Lead Guitar | Mike Blow | Alan Rose | Ben Hall | ||
| Bass | Luke Fellingham | ||||
| Drums | Nathan Fellingham | ||||
| Percussion | Adrian Watts | ||||
| Keyboards | Michael Sandeman | ||||
| Rapping | Rachael Head | ||||
Alan Rose (1998 - 2003)
Alan Rose joined the band after the departure of Mike Blow. He was the guitarist, primarily electric but occasionally acoustic, and also helped write some hits such as Heavenbound and Oh, Our Lord And King. His final performance was in Summer 2003 at the huge Festival:Manchester. He has since made guest appearances alongside the band in worship events and one-off concerts and features as a guest musician on 2007's GuaranteedGuaranteed (Phatfish album)
Guaranteed is the 2007 studio album from Phatfish. It features the vocals of Lou Fellingham, and consists of 10 new tracks written by various members of the band...
.
Mike Blow (1994 - 1997)
Mike was the lead guitarist for the band for 3 years, featuring on their releases River Of Life, Neworldisorder and We Know The Story. He appeared as part of The Stoneleigh Band lineup with Stuart Townend and Kate Simmonds until 1998.Rachel Head (1994)
Rachel was only with the band for 9 months, but featured on their release River Of Life which was on cassette only. She can be found on the latest 'best of' collection 15, rapping and providing backing vocals on one of the tracks.Early Years (1994 - 1997)
The band was formed under the name 'Purple Phatfish' by Dave Fellingham in BrightonBrighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
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
Jazz-funk
Jazz-funk is a sub-genre of jazz music characterized by a strong back beat , electrified sounds, and often, the presence of the first electronic analog synthesizers...
/rap
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
outfit at a time when Acid Jazz
Acid jazz
Acid jazz is a musical genre that combines elements of jazz, funk and hip-hop, particularly looped beats. It developed in the UK over the 1980s and 1990s and could be seen as tacking the sound of jazz-funk onto electronic dance: jazz-funk musicians such as Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd and Grant Green are...
was very popular in England. Purple Phatfish had a vision to be 'salt and light
Salt and Light
Salt and light are metaphors used by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, one of the main teachings of Jesus on morality and discipleship. These metaphors in Matthew 5:13-16 immediately follow the Beatitudes and refer to expectations from the disciples....
' 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 decided to work on some more explicitly worship-orientated songs, and released their first full album We Know the Story.
Purple Through The Fishtank & An Audience With God (1998 - 2000)
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-funkJazz-funk
Jazz-funk is a sub-genre of jazz music characterized by a strong back beat , electrified sounds, and often, the presence of the first electronic analog synthesizers...
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 Pamplin Records 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. In 2000, Phatfish released an album containing some of their older music, titled An Audience With God. Later in the year the band appeared at the 2000 Greenbelt Festival
Greenbelt festival
Greenbelt Festival is a festival of arts, faith and justice held annually in England since 1974. Greenbelt has grown from a Christian music festival with an audience of 1,500 young Christians to its current more secular festival attended by around 20,000 - Christians and non-Christians.The festival...
, toured Singapore, the Netherlands, and countries both side of the Atlantic again.
Heavenbound (2001)
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.Hope - Unplugged Live (2002)
In the summer of 2001 they had done an impromptuImpromptu
An impromptu is a free-form musical composition with the character of an ex tempore improvisation as if prompted by the spirit of the moment, usually for a solo instrument, such as piano...
'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
Stuart Townend
Stuart Townend is a British Christian worship leader and writer of hymns and contemporary worship music. His songs include "In Christ Alone" , "How Deep The Father's Love For Us", "Beautiful Saviour" and "The King Of Love".As of 2008, CCLI lists the "In Christ Alone" in its Top 25 CCLI Songs...
, Kate Simmonds and Brian Houston
Brian Houston (musician)
Brian Houston is a singer-songwriter from Belfast, Northern Ireland. His style varies from Christian to roots and mainstream-orientated.-Discography:*Crush *Sex, Love & Religion *Good News Junkie...
joined Phatfish at the gigs. The 2006 DVD release There is a Day includes the Brighton unplugged gig.
The Truth Tour & Nothing But The Truth (2002 - 2003)
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 concerts were in larger venues with thousands attending and meeting with God as well as enjoying the rocking live show. The band were supported by Cathy Burton on most nights, with events taking place all over the country and the tour is Phatfish's biggest to date.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, including Festival Manchester and YC Newfoundland in Canada.
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
Songs of Praise
Songs of Praise is a BBC Television programme based around traditional Christian hymns. It is a widely watched and long-running religious television programme, one of the few peak-time free-to-air religious programmes in Europe Songs of Praise is a BBC Television programme based around traditional...
appearances and worship leading engagements with Matt Redman
Matt Redman
Matt Redman is an English Christian worship leader, songwriter and author based in Brighton.He has worked with Newfrontiers, Passion Conferences, Hillsong London, Soul Survivor, is an artist for Sixstepsrecords and is a member of Compassionart a charity founded by Martin Smith.He appeared with...
, Stuart Townend
Stuart Townend
Stuart Townend is a British Christian worship leader and writer of hymns and contemporary worship music. His songs include "In Christ Alone" , "How Deep The Father's Love For Us", "Beautiful Saviour" and "The King Of Love".As of 2008, CCLI lists the "In Christ Alone" in its Top 25 CCLI Songs...
, Martyn Layzell
Martyn Layzell
Martyn Layzell is a Curate at Holy Trinity Brompton, an Anglican Church in Central London. He is also a Worship Leader, and has regularly led worship at major Christian events including Soul Survivor and New Wine. He features on several live albums from those events both as a singer and a songwriter...
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.
Faithful (2004 - 2005)
In 2004, Phatfish released an album called Faithful – The Worship Songs which featured fresh studio arrangements of many of their more 'congregational' worship songs. The band also appeared at the first Newday and Together On A Mission conferences run by Newfrontiers. Following on from the Stoneleigh Bible Weeks and recent Soul Survivor appearances, the band worked with Matt Redman at Newday, an event for youth aged 12–19, and with Stuart Townend, Kate Simmonds and Evan Rogers at Together On A Mission (with Mobilise). Phatfish performed at a special one-off gig at Newday; due to bad weather previous gigs by other bands had been cancelled. The event was moved into the main hall, where the daily meetings were held, and songs from the Truth Tour were played due to the album release of Faithful being after the summer event of Newday. A live version of Stepping Out, recorded at the concert, appeared on the Newday 2004 album.In 2005, Phatfish embarked on "The Faithful Tour" which took them across England and Scotland, supported by guitarist Dan Wheeler
Dan Wheeler
Daniel Michael Wheeler is an American professional baseball pitcher with the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball.-Baseball career:...
. The band also appeared on GOD TV
GOD TV
GOD TV is an international Christian television broadcaster that transmits the GOD Channel from Jerusalem.The network’s Free-to-air signal is carried via multiple satellites 24-hours-a-day providing programming at no charge to viewers. This ranges from Bible teaching to motivational seminars,...
performing "The Cross", a version which later appeared on the 2006 DVD release "There Is A Day".
Trinity, Treasure, Working As a Band & There Is A Day (2006)
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 TrinitarianTrinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
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. They also supported lead singer Lou and friend Stuart Townend
Stuart Townend
Stuart Townend is a British Christian worship leader and writer of hymns and contemporary worship music. His songs include "In Christ Alone" , "How Deep The Father's Love For Us", "Beautiful Saviour" and "The King Of Love".As of 2008, CCLI lists the "In Christ Alone" in its Top 25 CCLI Songs...
on a Stu + Lou tour taking them to various locations around the UK.
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 – The Video Collection was also released at the end of 2006, incorporating music videos, an unplugged concert and interview footage, with wordsmith Andy Back. The video content was created by Quirky Motion and Fruit Media.
Guaranteed (2007–2008)
Since Alan Rose's departure, there have been rumours that Phatfish had disbanded. In a concert planned for late 2006, Phatfish were due to appear alongside Noel Richards and Yfriday in what was being marketed as their final appearance together. The concert was cancelled, and Nathan Fellingham started the Phatfish MySpace, to reassure fans that Phatfish were still an active band, even though they were making fewer public appearances. The band headed into the studio to record an entirely new collection of songs, and came out with their critically claimed new studio album.In July 2007 Phatfish released Guaranteed
Guaranteed (Phatfish album)
Guaranteed is the 2007 studio album from Phatfish. It features the vocals of Lou Fellingham, and consists of 10 new tracks written by various members of the band...
, the first to contain all-new material since 2003. Receiving positive reviews and high sales at Christian events, the album contains ten songs described as having "intricate but driving, compulsive rhythms". The release of the album was followed up with a series of gigs titled Phatfish and Lou Fellingham
Phatfish and Lou Fellingham
Phatfish and Lou Fellingham is the title of a series of ongoing concerts being played by Christian band Phatfish, and their lead singer Lou Fellingham....
and a TV appearance on Premier TV. Phatfish also led worship at international conferences in England, Scotland and Wales. The band were runners up at the Christian Web and Blog Awards, attended by the Bishop of London, in the "Most Original Worship Blog/Website" category. They came second to Tim Hughes' and Al Gordon's win for their website worshipcentral.org.
In early 2008, the band performed two more Phatfish and Lou Fellingham
Phatfish and Lou Fellingham
Phatfish and Lou Fellingham is the title of a series of ongoing concerts being played by Christian band Phatfish, and their lead singer Lou Fellingham....
concerts in connection with Hope 08
Hope 08
Hope 08 was a united Christian social justice and evangelism campaign that planned to transform Great Britain during the year 2008.-Background:...
. The first event was in Brighton, as part of "Soul By The Sea"; the second in Gloucester on March 14. Lou Fellingham led worship at the Kingsway's Children's Ministry conference in January, and the band gigged and led worship at New Word Alive
New Word Alive
New Word Alive is an annual conference originated by a partnership of the UK Christian organisations UCCF and Keswick Ministries. The conference is focussed on Bible teaching, corporate worship, and family time. The conference is a continuation of the former Word Alive event which ran within...
in Wales alongside Stuart Townend
Stuart Townend
Stuart Townend is a British Christian worship leader and writer of hymns and contemporary worship music. His songs include "In Christ Alone" , "How Deep The Father's Love For Us", "Beautiful Saviour" and "The King Of Love".As of 2008, CCLI lists the "In Christ Alone" in its Top 25 CCLI Songs...
. There were five more concerts in 2008; Keswick, Crawley, NEWI, Danbury and Bognor Regis Bible Week.
Phatfish will be worked with other worship leaders such as Simon Brading, Evan Rogers and Stuart Townend at worship events such as Newday, Together On A Mission, Radiant, Keswick Convention and are due to appear at Mission:Worship in November.
Promised Land, Fishtank Creatives & 15 (2008)
Lead singer Lou FellinghamLou Fellingham
Louise "Lou" Fellingham , , is a Christian worship leader, singer and songwriter from Brighton in East Sussex, England. She is a founding member of the British band Phatfish and has also pursued a solo career....
released her second solo album, Promised Land in May 2008, and an exclusive launch night at the Clarendon Centre was planned with only 150 tickets where Lou
Lou Fellingham
Louise "Lou" Fellingham , , is a Christian worship leader, singer and songwriter from Brighton in East Sussex, England. She is a founding member of the British band Phatfish and has also pursued a solo career....
, backed by Phatfish, performed each track from her new album and talked about the inspiration behind them. An article appeared on the Cross Rhythms
Cross Rhythms
Cross Rhythms is a Christian media organisation based in Stoke-on-Trent, England.-History:The roots of what was to become Cross Rhythms go back to two separate sources which merged in 1991. In 1983, broadcaster Chris Cole started a 30-minute weekly Christian music radio show on Plymouth Sound FM, a...
website with similar content of Lou talking about the songs from the album. Michael Sandeman, keyboardist, released his instrumental album "Worship Reflections" in May as well.
In an interview recorded at New Word Alive
New Word Alive
New Word Alive is an annual conference originated by a partnership of the UK Christian organisations UCCF and Keswick Ministries. The conference is focussed on Bible teaching, corporate worship, and family time. The conference is a continuation of the former Word Alive event which ran within...
in 2008, drummer Nathan Fellingham explained he would be starting up Fishtank Creatives, influenced by the name of the band and their 1999 studio album Purple Through The Fishtank. This will be the management company to draw all the works of Phatfish, and it's individual members, together in one place as a cohesive resource.
In December 2008, A Best of Phatfish two CD album was released. The album is titled 15, though the band celebrate their official fifteen year anniversary in January 2009, it was decided to be available before Christmas and New Year.
The tracklisting includes songs from Phatfish's previous 8 albums, "remastered and sounding better than ever".
Worship songs such as "O God Of Love", "Awake Awake O Zion", "There Is A Day" and the recent "Amazing God" feature, amongst more performance orientated tracks like "Heavenbound", "Rise Up", "Stepping Out" and "What Would I Do?". There are also two new tracks which haven't previously featured on Phatfish CDs; "There Is A Day" which was recorded for the DVD release of the same name, and "The Call", which was featured on the 2003 Festival:Manchester release On The Streets.
Christian music journalist Mike Rimmer has written a piece, included in the album, talking about the band and its history. The CD cover was designed by Jules Burt, and is predominantly red, with the new Phatfish logo that featured on There Is A Day - The Video Collection and Guaranteed alongside a cassette, snapped CD and white headphones making up the number 15. The official description of the album is "The Fifteen year anniversary collection".
The CD was chosen as album of the month for January 2009 in Wesley Owen shops across the UK. It was given a 9/10 rating by Tony Cummings, broadcaster, at Cross Rhythms
Cross Rhythms
Cross Rhythms is a Christian media organisation based in Stoke-on-Trent, England.-History:The roots of what was to become Cross Rhythms go back to two separate sources which merged in 1991. In 1983, broadcaster Chris Cole started a 30-minute weekly Christian music radio show on Plymouth Sound FM, a...
. He stated in his review that the album was "a piece of British Christian music history".
In Jesus & Step Into The Light (2009–2010)
In early January 2009, Ben Hall and Jos Wintermeyer, guitarists, both officially joined Phatfish. A new studio album is in production, and has just been recorded in London over January and February.Kevan Frost
Kevan Frost
Kevan Frost is a British Tony Award and Drama Desk Award nominated composer, musician, and record producer.He is recgonised for his work with the musical Taboo; composing the musical score for the production alongside Boy George. This earned him and his co-composer a nomination for a Tony Award for...
, who worked with the band on Heavenbound and Guaranteed, produced the album and Julian Kindred, who worked with them on Faithful: The Worship Songs engineered alongside Kevan and Luke Fellingham.
The album was released in the Summer of 2009. To promote the album, Phatfish headlined an event in London at Leicester Square, before performing concerts at around the UK.
On May 20, 2009, Phatfish released the title track from the album, called In Jesus, as a download single. The song was downloaded over 800 times in the first week, and is to be followed up with the release of the album on 4 June 2009.
They performed at Newday, a large UK festival in August 2009, and lead worship in the mornings. They will also played at global events including Together On A Mission, Big Church Day Out, Bible By The Beach, the Church of Christ The King Worship School and at a special Easter Concert at Dorking Halls on 27 March 2009. One song from the album featured on a Church of Christ The King Live Album, being recorded on the 26 and 27 March 2009 at the Clarendon Centre, alongside Stuart Townend and Simon Brading. An Autumn tour started earlier in the year and took the band across the UK again promoting the new album [In Jesus]. Newday's live album from the 2009 event also features the songs "In Jesus", "Mission" and "There Is Mercy", all from the In Jesus album, as well as "To You King Jesus", which appeared on 2003's Nothing But The Truth. The band have performed one off events at Westminster Abbey and other prominent UK locations this year, and continued their journey into 2010. A live video of Holy, Holy, recorded at Newday 2009 in response to Tim Hughes' cover has appeared on YouTube showcasing the band's immense talent at performing live.
In 2010, Phatfish lead worship and performed concerts at Premier Radio's Woman to Woman conference in Manchester and Edinburgh's Women Walking With God. They also made a return to the Spring Harvest stage to perform two late night concerts. The first was in Minehead with the second in Skegness. Finally, Phatfish have recorded two new BBC Songs of Praise programmes due to air late 2010 and early 2011. They were recorded in Peckham.
The Light Tour, Anthems For Worship & next album (2010 - Present )
In Autumn 2010 the band embarked on their latest tour called The Light Tour, and first officially titled since The Faithful Tour in 2004 - 2005. More recently concerts have been titled "Phatfish Live" or "Phatfish and Lou FellinghamPhatfish and Lou Fellingham
Phatfish and Lou Fellingham is the title of a series of ongoing concerts being played by Christian band Phatfish, and their lead singer Lou Fellingham....
Live". They have raised so far £3,000 for Hope HIV, a charity they are supporting throughout the tour.
The band are recorded Kate Simmond's new EP "Grace", and have just appeared at Together On A Mission. Lou Fellingham
Lou Fellingham
Louise "Lou" Fellingham , , is a Christian worship leader, singer and songwriter from Brighton in East Sussex, England. She is a founding member of the British band Phatfish and has also pursued a solo career....
was not present due to the birth of her baby boy Jude. They have played at Keswick Convention with Stuart Townend
Stuart Townend
Stuart Townend is a British Christian worship leader and writer of hymns and contemporary worship music. His songs include "In Christ Alone" , "How Deep The Father's Love For Us", "Beautiful Saviour" and "The King Of Love".As of 2008, CCLI lists the "In Christ Alone" in its Top 25 CCLI Songs...
and appeared at Newday
Newday
Newday, established since August 2004, is an annual Christian youth festival organized by the Newfrontiers family of churches. The event is aimed at young people between the ages of 12 to 19, either Christian or non-Christian....
with Matt Redman and are due to appear on the album "King Of Nations" due in November. They also feature on Keswick's "Christ Centered".
Phatfish have continued their The Light Tour with Nathan Fellingham, drummer, calling it "one of their most successful tours in the band's 15 year history". It will be continuing into 2011 with more dates added for next year. Some of the dates have been sold out.
In December 2010 Phatfish announced a new compilation album titled Anthems For Worship
Anthems for Worship
Anthems For Worship is a compilation release from Christian band Phatfish, released early by the band in December 2010 and officially released by Kingsway Music in February 2011...
, which is a collection of their most popular worship songs that are suitable for congregational use. The album has 14 newly remastered tracks from their previous albums, including new remixed versions of "Awake Awake O Zion", "Here Is The Risen Son" and "Come Let Us Worship" from the album Faithful. It also has the versions of "Faithful" and "There Is A Day" found on 15 - The Anniversary Collection, two new recordings; "O God Of Love" and the hymn "Here Is Love" and two live versions "Holy Holy (Lift Up His Name)" and "Amazing God". As with the other tracks taken from Faithful, the song "The Cross" has been slightly remixed to bring out Lou Fellingham's vocals to the foreground. The band are releasing the album through their new label Kingsway Music in February 2011 but are selling a number of limited edition versions in December 2010 prior to Christmas.
Phatfish confirmed on Facebook in October 2010 that they will be releasing a brand new album, due to be the 2nd with the current lineup, in 2011. Two new songs were premiered on The Light Tour, and they may feature. They are songwriting at the moment and recording is due to start early 2011.
Musical style
Phatfish has always been composed of a drummer, keyboardist, bassist and lead vocalist with backing singing from various members of the band. Until 2003, there was an electric guitarist present, and in recent years that place has been filled by guest musicians, namely Dan Wheeler, Alan Rose or Martin Cooper. More recently Ben Hall and Jos Wintermeyer have played with the band. The band's general musical style consequently consists of a rock/pop sound, utilising the keyboards and guitars and upfront vocals of lead singer Lou FellinghamLou Fellingham
Louise "Lou" Fellingham , , is a Christian worship leader, singer and songwriter from Brighton in East Sussex, England. She is a founding member of the British band Phatfish and has also pursued a solo career....
. The band are said to have always strived for musical creativity and play tight in a live setting. Phatfish use programming in both a worship, concert or studio setting, often organised by Michael Sandeman.
Phatfish's studio albums, however, vary, depending on the producer and members of the band at the time of recording. Purple Through The Fishtank has an acoustic driven sound; it was recorded in Nashville, whilst Heavenbound makes more use of electric guitars in a heavy rock manner, accompanied by vocals described by Cross Rhythms
Cross Rhythms
Cross Rhythms is a Christian media organisation based in Stoke-on-Trent, England.-History:The roots of what was to become Cross Rhythms go back to two separate sources which merged in 1991. In 1983, broadcaster Chris Cole started a 30-minute weekly Christian music radio show on Plymouth Sound FM, a...
magazine as "soaring". Nothing But The Truth is pop rock, with a slightly jazz feel toward the latter part of the album, pointing to the band's earlier acid jazz days with We Know The Story. It was produced solely by Nathan Fellingham, and the electronic sound that fairs popular with his productive style is noticeable. On Faithful - The Worship Songs, Alan Rose is no longer with the band and producer Julian Kindred, who worked on Delirious?'
Delirious?
Delirious? were an English Christian rock and worship band. For the majority of their career, the lineup featured Martin Smith on vocals and guitar, Stu G on guitar and backing vocals, Jon Thatcher on bass guitar, Tim Jupp on keys and piano, and Stew Smith on drums and percussion...
World Service album, brought forward the keys and synthesisers more, similar to Phatfish's live worship where the keyboards are noticeably prominent. Phatfish have recently honed a more worship orientated sound on their more recent studio album Guaranteed; the latter focusing on Luke Fellingham's driving bass, with the addition of strings and hammonds to give the album "brooding soundscapes". The band pull the different styles they have worked through over the years together in their live settings, changing renditions and compositions and sounds to suit the song. The latest album In Jesus features more of a tight rock sound, mainly due to the introduction of the two new guitarists.
The band are currently working on a new album where it is reported they will be developing the modern rock/new indy influences as well as producing classic congregational worship songs. The band also hope to produce an album that is more accessible to fans outside the Church by including lyrics/themes that explore truths of the bible.
Touring
Phatfish have toured Europe, USA and Canada extensively. The most recent 'Light Tour' has been the most successful, with many thousands attending gigs across the UK. Truth Tour in 2002 and 2003, also took the band all over the United Kingdom, supported by Cathy Burton. The Faithful Tour took place in 2005, with session player Dan Wheeler supporting and large attendance for the band. More recently, concerts have been titled under Phatfish and Lou FellinghamPhatfish and Lou Fellingham
Phatfish and Lou Fellingham is the title of a series of ongoing concerts being played by Christian band Phatfish, and their lead singer Lou Fellingham....
, with songs from Lou Fellingham's debut album Treasure and Phatfish's recent Guaranteed
Guaranteed (Phatfish album)
Guaranteed is the 2007 studio album from Phatfish. It features the vocals of Lou Fellingham, and consists of 10 new tracks written by various members of the band...
being played as well as older songs. As well as organising their own tours, Phatfish regularly perform in one-off appearances at different events around the world. The largest so far has been Festival:Manchester in 2003, where 50,000 delegates attended the week, and other notable concerts have been performed at Stoneleigh Bible Week in the 90s and early 00s, at Newday
Newday
Newday, established since August 2004, is an annual Christian youth festival organized by the Newfrontiers family of churches. The event is aimed at young people between the ages of 12 to 19, either Christian or non-Christian....
, Soul Survivor, events organised by radio and magazine Cross Rhythms
Cross Rhythms
Cross Rhythms is a Christian media organisation based in Stoke-on-Trent, England.-History:The roots of what was to become Cross Rhythms go back to two separate sources which merged in 1991. In 1983, broadcaster Chris Cole started a 30-minute weekly Christian music radio show on Plymouth Sound FM, a...
and other Christian organisations like Greenbelt Festival
Greenbelt festival
Greenbelt Festival is a festival of arts, faith and justice held annually in England since 1974. Greenbelt has grown from a Christian music festival with an audience of 1,500 young Christians to its current more secular festival attended by around 20,000 - Christians and non-Christians.The festival...
, Newfrontiers
Newfrontiers
Newfrontiers is a neocharismatic apostolic ministry network of evangelical, charismatic churches founded by Terry Virgo. It forms part of the British New Church Movement, which began in the late 50s and 60s combining features of Pentecostalism with British evangelicalism...
, Keswick Ministries, New Wine
New Wine
New Wine is the largest UK network of charismatic churches and Christians. It originated in 1989 as a Christian festival run by two Anglican clergy from St Andrew’s Church Chorleywood: Bishop David Pytches and the Rev. Barry Kissell...
, Bognor Regis Bible Week, New Word Alive
New Word Alive
New Word Alive is an annual conference originated by a partnership of the UK Christian organisations UCCF and Keswick Ministries. The conference is focussed on Bible teaching, corporate worship, and family time. The conference is a continuation of the former Word Alive event which ran within...
, Spring Harvest
Spring Harvest
Spring Harvest is an inter-denominational Christian conference and gathering in the United Kingdom. Its "Main Event" takes place annually at the Butlins resorts in Minehead and Skegness over the Easter school holiday period....
and Souled Out
Souled Out
Souled Out was a professional wrestling pay-per-view promoted by World Championship Wrestling in the month of January from 1997 through 2000. It was originally started as an nWo PPV but it did not generate the revenue it hoped for so it was turned into a WCW and nWo co-promoted PPV...
, and conferences overseas such as Worship Together and YC Newfoundland. Moreover, the band often conduct worship seminars and teaching at various events or Churches throughout the world.
Songwriting
Mike Rimmer of Cross RhythmsCross Rhythms
Cross Rhythms is a Christian media organisation based in Stoke-on-Trent, England.-History:The roots of what was to become Cross Rhythms go back to two separate sources which merged in 1991. In 1983, broadcaster Chris Cole started a 30-minute weekly Christian music radio show on Plymouth Sound FM, a...
noted in his review of Faithful - The Worship Songs that the "influence of the Phatfish guys on the British worship scene should not be underestimated. Whether as songwriters or as part of the Stoneleigh worship band, they have played a major part in the last 10 years." Phatfish have contributed many worship songs into the modern Church, nationally in Britain and internationally around the world.
Nathan Fellingham is the principal worship songwriter of the band, his works including Holy Holy, There Is A Day, Awake Awake O Zion, Jesus Christ Holy One, Amazing God, To You King Jesus, and O God Of Love; written with wife Lou
Lou Fellingham
Louise "Lou" Fellingham , , is a Christian worship leader, singer and songwriter from Brighton in East Sussex, England. She is a founding member of the British band Phatfish and has also pursued a solo career....
. Michael Sandeman has also contributed with his compositions The Cross, Jesus Loves The Church and Here Is The Risen Son. Before his departure in 2003 (though he regularly makes guest appearances with the band), Alan Rose wrote hits such as Heavenbound and Oh Our Lord and King. Despite calling herself a "new to songwriting" in 2006 on Phatfish's There Is A Day - The Video Collection, Lou Fellingham
Lou Fellingham
Louise "Lou" Fellingham , , is a Christian worship leader, singer and songwriter from Brighton in East Sussex, England. She is a founding member of the British band Phatfish and has also pursued a solo career....
is rapidly increasing her contribution to songwriting in the band, especially with the release of her debut album Treasure and second album Promised Land. Her compositions You Give Rest To The Weary (I Will Say), Sing To The Lord, Amazing Love and Build This House are growing in popularity.
The band are also known for their potent contemporary songs, not necessarily designed to be used in a congregational setting. Some are written to be used in performance for concerts or for personal pastoral use, or written to tackle issues of the modern world. These include Stepping Out, Rise Up, What Would I Do?, This Year, Best Thing, Annoy and Lou Fellingham's
Lou Fellingham
Louise "Lou" Fellingham , , is a Christian worship leader, singer and songwriter from Brighton in East Sussex, England. She is a founding member of the British band Phatfish and has also pursued a solo career....
God Of Mercy (Prayer Song).
Nathan Fellingham's Holy Holy is described by himself in an audio interview at New Word Alive
New Word Alive
New Word Alive is an annual conference originated by a partnership of the UK Christian organisations UCCF and Keswick Ministries. The conference is focussed on Bible teaching, corporate worship, and family time. The conference is a continuation of the former Word Alive event which ran within...
as being their most popular tune that has "travelled furtherst around the world". It also featured on Tim Hughes'
Tim Hughes
Tim Hughes is a British worship leader and singer-songwriter. He is currently Director of Worship at Holy Trinity Brompton, an Anglican church in central London, and heads up Worship Central, an international worship training and resource centre.- Personal life :Hughes is the son of an Anglican...
When Silence Falls and The Livingstone Collective's Portrait Of Worship. The band's songs feature on many compilation, live, studio and instrumental albums that are available internationally, with non-Phatfish versions of songs such as There Is A Day, Amazing God, and Awake Awake O Zion being available on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
.
The band's most critically acclaimed song is There Is A Day. Featuring on dozens of live worship albums, and three Phatfish releases, the song talks about the day of "Jesus' return", and it's potent theological content is a talking point for many Christian musical lovers and reviewers.
Worship leading
Since their formation, and even before, Phatfish have been called upon as a worship band to lead and assist others at conferences and their local church CCK. Their largest crowds were at the Stoneleigh Bible Week, where in its final year of 2001 it had a record 26,000 delegates in attendance. More recently, the band regularly lead worship alongside high profile worship leaders like Matt RedmanMatt Redman
Matt Redman is an English Christian worship leader, songwriter and author based in Brighton.He has worked with Newfrontiers, Passion Conferences, Hillsong London, Soul Survivor, is an artist for Sixstepsrecords and is a member of Compassionart a charity founded by Martin Smith.He appeared with...
, Kate Simmonds and Stuart Townend
Stuart Townend
Stuart Townend is a British Christian worship leader and writer of hymns and contemporary worship music. His songs include "In Christ Alone" , "How Deep The Father's Love For Us", "Beautiful Saviour" and "The King Of Love".As of 2008, CCLI lists the "In Christ Alone" in its Top 25 CCLI Songs...
at Newfrontiers
Newfrontiers
Newfrontiers is a neocharismatic apostolic ministry network of evangelical, charismatic churches founded by Terry Virgo. It forms part of the British New Church Movement, which began in the late 50s and 60s combining features of Pentecostalism with British evangelicalism...
organised conferences Together On A Mission and Newday, where crowds of up to 6,000 are gathered. They have also appeared at events such as Spring Harvest
Spring Harvest
Spring Harvest is an inter-denominational Christian conference and gathering in the United Kingdom. Its "Main Event" takes place annually at the Butlins resorts in Minehead and Skegness over the Easter school holiday period....
, Soul Survivor, Keswick Convention, Bognor Regis Bible Week, Radiant, Women Walking With God, Kingsway Children's Ministry, Cheltenham Bible Week, Mission:Worship, Festival Manchester, New Word Alive
New Word Alive
New Word Alive is an annual conference originated by a partnership of the UK Christian organisations UCCF and Keswick Ministries. The conference is focussed on Bible teaching, corporate worship, and family time. The conference is a continuation of the former Word Alive event which ran within...
and Worship Together in America and Canada. Lou Fellingham
Lou Fellingham
Louise "Lou" Fellingham , , is a Christian worship leader, singer and songwriter from Brighton in East Sussex, England. She is a founding member of the British band Phatfish and has also pursued a solo career....
either leads herself or is a backing vocalist to the main worshipper, often harmonising or using her voice as an instrument rather than just singing the melody. The technical skill of Phatfish in a live setting is why they are regularly called on to lead worship. In addition, they offer practical advice about Christian music and leading worship on their recently released Working As A Band double-disc CD. They teach this material at worship seminars and one-day events, as well as the annual Mission:Worship conference in Eastbourne
Eastbourne
Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...
.
The band often appear on BBC1's Songs of Praise
Songs of Praise
Songs of Praise is a BBC Television programme based around traditional Christian hymns. It is a widely watched and long-running religious television programme, one of the few peak-time free-to-air religious programmes in Europe Songs of Praise is a BBC Television programme based around traditional...
, leading worship or performing worship songs. Stuart Townend
Stuart Townend
Stuart Townend is a British Christian worship leader and writer of hymns and contemporary worship music. His songs include "In Christ Alone" , "How Deep The Father's Love For Us", "Beautiful Saviour" and "The King Of Love".As of 2008, CCLI lists the "In Christ Alone" in its Top 25 CCLI Songs...
has been present at some of the recordings, although Lou Fellingham
Lou Fellingham
Louise "Lou" Fellingham , , is a Christian worship leader, singer and songwriter from Brighton in East Sussex, England. She is a founding member of the British band Phatfish and has also pursued a solo career....
performed his In Christ Alone in 2005 when it featured in the "10 most popular hymns in Britain" list.
The band have featured on three albums which have won the coveted CBC Praise & Worship Album of the year award; two Stoneleigh albums Ruach and Beautiful Saviour, and Stuart Townend's
Stuart Townend
Stuart Townend is a British Christian worship leader and writer of hymns and contemporary worship music. His songs include "In Christ Alone" , "How Deep The Father's Love For Us", "Beautiful Saviour" and "The King Of Love".As of 2008, CCLI lists the "In Christ Alone" in its Top 25 CCLI Songs...
Best Of Stuart Townend Live.
Live appearances
The band have appeared leading worship or performing at the following events, and usually more than once- Stoneleigh Bible Week
- Newday
- Soul Survivor
- New Word Alive
- Mission:Worship
- BigChurchDayOut
- Forum UCCF Conference
- Salt and Light Conference
- re.vive
- YC Newfoundland
- Worship:Together
- Spring Harvest
- Greenbelt
- Souled Out
- Radiant
- Kingsway Children's Ministry
- Together On A Mission
- Mobilise
- Soul By The Sea
- Bible By The Beach
- Keswick Convention
- Bognor Regis Bible Week
- Women Walking With God
- Mandate
- Cheltenham Bible Week
- Festival Manchester
- Together at Westpoint 2011
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.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: The Worship Songs
- 2006 Trinity (compilation with other artists)
- 2006 Working As A Band (Music resource for Church musicians)
- 2006 There Is A Day – The Video Collection (DVD)
- 2007 GuaranteedGuaranteed (Phatfish album)Guaranteed is the 2007 studio album from Phatfish. It features the vocals of Lou Fellingham, and consists of 10 new tracks written by various members of the band...
- 2008 15 – The Anniversary Collection15 (Phatfish album)15 is the two disc "Fifteen Year Anniversary Collection" collection from Phatfish, released in 2008. It contains 32 songs from the collection of Phatfish albums and EPs spanning back to 1994...
- 2009 In JesusIn JesusIn Jesus is the eighth and most recent studio album from Phatfish, released 4 June 2009. The album has been described by Cross Rhythms Christian magazine and radio as having "a slightly rockier edge than recent albums" that sees them "closer to the classic sound of their best selling albums...
- 2010 Anthems For WorshipAnthems for WorshipAnthems For Worship is a compilation release from Christian band Phatfish, released early by the band in December 2010 and officially released by Kingsway Music in February 2011...
Other albums/discography Phatfish have featured in
Note: This is a list of recordings in which the band 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)
See Lou Fellingham
Lou Fellingham
Louise "Lou" Fellingham , , is a Christian worship leader, singer and songwriter from Brighton in East Sussex, England. She is a founding member of the British band Phatfish and has also pursued a solo career....
article for more Phatfish contributions