Orange County Ska band, Reel Big Fish count the moment the were dropped from
their major label record deal with Jive Records as one of the best times in
their career. “That was the most excited the band has been in 10 years,”
vocalist Aaron Barrett says of the phone call telling them the news. “I’ve
never seen the guys smile so big.”
The band’s first independent release on their own label followed, a
full-length three disc CD/DVD live album licensed through Rykodisc/CD Baby
titled Our
Live Album Is Better Than Your Live Album.
The 30-song disc includes a cover of The Cure’s “Boys Don’t
Cry.” Reel Big Fish had to release the songs as live recordings because
their former record label, Mojo/Jive, still owns the rights to all their previous
songs. According to Barrett, the band made no money from Jive's greatest hits
compilation, Greatest Hit...And More, released by the label after their departure.
Aaron Barrett is now the only remaining founder of Reel Big Fish, formed in
1992 in Huntington Beach, CA. The band counts 20 former members. Bass Player
and founding member, Matt Wong left the band in June 2007 to spend more time
with this family after the birth of his son. He was replaced by Derek Gibbs,
formerly with Aaron Barrett's side project, The Forces Of Evil. Gibbs had
filled in for Wong on tour dates since 2002. Horn player Dan Reagan appears
on every Reel Big Fish albums and trumpet player Scott Klopferstein appears
on all but Everything Sucks.
Everything Sucks, the band’s first in-dependent album, was an underground
hit, leading to their deal with Mojo/Jive and their next album, Turn The Radio
Off. Why Do They Rock So Hard? came next in 1998. They appeared in the film
BASEketball in 1998. They are best known for their 1997 single, “Sell
Out.”
Reel Big Fish released Duet All Night Long, a 6-song split EP w/Zolof the
Rock and Roll Destroyer in 2006. Each band does three 80s wave cover songs
on the album, with the vocalist from each band singing on the other band’s
songs.
Reel Big Fish released Monkeys For Nothing And The Chimps For Free, their
first studio album since leaving Jive, in July 2007 on Ridge Rock Records.
By Frances Brennan
REEL BIG FISH