Reel Big Fish

Listen to Reel Big Fish's Song, "Party Down," Here:

Their 1997 hit, “Sell Out” thrust the California Ska/Punk band Reel Big Fish, into the mainstream spotlight and landed them a major label contract with Jive/Mojo Records. Sixteen years after forming, there’s only one original member left standing vocalist/guitarist Aaron Barrett.

Battled-scarred and wiser, Barrett is a survivor who’s enjoying success on his terms on indie label, Rock Ridge Music and at this summer’s Vans Warped Tour with bandmates Dan Regan (trombone/ vocals), Scott Klopfenstein (trumpet/ vocals), John Christianson (trumpet/ vocals), Ryland Steen (drums) and Derek Gibbs (bass/vocals). Barrett took some time out to give Atlas Plugged the lowdown on the ‘08 festival circuit and his assessment of the current live music scene.

AP: Reel Big Fish sounds just as fresh as it ever did – what’s your secret sauce?
AB: Fun, exciting, energetic, danceable music [for] everybody who likes to have fun, dance or be entertained.

AP: RBF has been successful for quite sometime, do you have a team in place to handle your day-to business?
AB: We have a professional for each job; manager, booking agent, accountant, tour manager etc. so we can concentrate on the music. So glad we have people to do the business stuff for us!

AP: How long will you be touring this summer?
AB: This summer we'll be all over the country [in a bus] mostly the same cities we hit every summer and later in the year we'll be all over the world.

AP: Did higher fuel prices affect your budgeting at all?
AB: It is in the budget and it definitely affects our spending but we are still able to cover our usual expenses.

AP: Do you think the economy is affecting show attendance?
AB: Not noticing it as much on the Warped Tour but we have friends on tour with other bands that have noticed slower ticket sales than usual.

But I think live music is still going strong, there is no DVD or CD or mp3 or computer program or video game that can even come close to the experience of being at a show and seeing a band play live. I think live music will always be something that will be very popular and in demand and never replaced by anything else.