Fat Digester

🎷 FAT DIGESTER TOP TRUMPS – DAY 19 🥔
CARL LARDEN – Sax & Potatoes

Carl Larden – the Del Boy of the Fat Family.

Carl could always be relied upon to take a slight detour on the way to a gig .... via a rural barn to pick up a few spuds, or perhaps a disused pub in search of some completely random piece of cooking equipment.

You never quite knew what Carl would arrive with.

But when he did eventually arrive, he brought energy and enthusiasm in abundance – along with his sax – and was a vital part of the Fat Digester visual makeup.

Sadly, Carl couldn't make our 30th Anniversary gig this year… but he still managed to play via WhatsApp. A true story, and as always with Carl, quite how he managed that is probably best left unexplained.

Carl continues to blow on a regular basis in and around France and still travels everywhere with his horn in hand – an innuendo he would, I'm sure, be extremely proud to make himself.

So salute to you, Carl! 🫡🎷🥔

Keep travelling. Keep cooking. Keep blowing that horn.

STAY FAT!

🎷 FAT DIGESTER TOP TRUMPS – DAY 18 🎩🌱
TOM ALCOCK – Sax, Hats & Beards

The ever-elegant and sophisticated Dr Tom, who could quite happily solo all night if permitted.

Tom is committed to two contrasting thought processes:

1. The pursuit of the funkiest horn lines and the silliest hats in the band.

2. Uncovering the mechanisms by which plants can increase the uptake of micronutrients from the soil and transfer them to edible tissues.

So, for me, there’s only one winner…

But who am I to pass comment? 🤷‍♂️

Tom also possesses that rare and highly valued ability to balance just the right amount of musical flair, with having the good humour and self-confidence to stand on stage with the Fats without ever looking remotely embarrassed by what is going on around him.

And that, frankly, is a rare art.

Whether he's exploring the mysteries of plant nutrition, discovering a previously unknown level of funk, or simply turning up in yet another magnificent hat, Tom brings intelligence, musicianship, good humour and a healthy dose of sophistication to the Fat Family.

So salute to you, Dr Tom! 🫡🎷🎩🌱

Now… back to the soil.

STAY FAT!

🎸 FAT DIGESTER TOP TRUMPS – DAY 17 🦜
EL C aka CHRIS aka CLIVE aka… whoever he wants to be...

Guitars • Mandolins • Production • Occasional Vocals

Chris recently proposed on stage at our 30th Anniversary concert with a parrot on his head, which probably tells you everything you need to know about the man.

Eccentric. Romantic. Charismatic. Hilarious.

And, when required, capable of keeping a remarkably cool head and playing a pretty mean guitar – which, as it turns out, comes in rather handy when you're in Fat Digester.

Chris has also cemented his place in Fats history by producing the EP that featured both Trippin' Out and Foxy Brown – all from the comfort of his own front room. Proof, if any were needed, that you don't necessarily need a fancy studio to harness the funk. Just some decent gear, a musical brain and possibly a parrot.

Never afraid to speak his mind or take a slightly different path, and never afraid to harness the funk and bend it to his own ends, Chris brings his own particular brand of musical mischief to the Fat Family.

So, whether he's El C, Chris, Clive, or whatever incarnation he's currently operating under…

Simply put: This Ice-Man is a Nice-Man. 😎❤️

Salute, AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Chris! 🫡🦜🎸

STAY FAT - my friend!

🎹 FAT DIGESTER TOP TRUMPS – DAY 16 🎤
DAVE CHEESEMAN – Keys & Occasional Rapper (honest)

Dave Cheeseman – a lover of the avant-garde, the obscure and all things weird and wacky.

And yet, despite his obvious credentials as a musical explorer, Dave was always the first to suggest that perhaps we should borrow an idea from Justin Timberlake.

Again… true.

Dave could play pretty much any style and thrived – although he may disagree with that assessment – on being thrown in at the deep end with new music, figuring it out on the hoof and improvising accordingly. Somehow, out of all that musical uncertainty, he would regularly create something rather special.

He brought curiosity, creativity and a healthy disregard for musical boundaries to the Fat Family, and was never particularly interested in doing things the obvious way.

These days, Dave is still there in the shadows, contributing to recordings and occasionally reminding us that he hasn't completely escaped the Fat Digester gravitational pull.

But most of his life is now spent reporting from far-flung sporting events on behalf of the BEEB, bringing his own particular brand of (musical and journalistic) adventure to places considerably further afield than the Maze on Mansfield Road.

One day, Dave shall return…

Until then, salute Dave! 🫡

🎹🎤🌍
STAY FAT!

Thank you Off The Tracks Festival ..... Love the energy!!!

🎸 Fat Digester Top Trumps – Day 15 🎸

Today's card belongs to a man whose sound remains, frankly, impossible to categorise...

Ian Marshall – aka E-Man
🎸 Guitars & general cool vibes

Brother of co-founder Fish, but very definitely his own man, Ian has been part of the Fat Digester story from day one, bringing an effortless cool demeanour and a wonderfully warped sense of musical humour to the proceedings.

As for his signature sound?

Nobody has quite managed to define it.

It's kind of mixture of jazz, soul, funk, rock, reggae, Afrobeat, Soukous and metal, with a soupçon of prog... ...probably.

Whatever it is, it works.

Ian has always been one of those people who can quietly slip into the Fat machine, add something completely unexpected, make it sound brilliant and look like he hasn't really done anything at all.

And whenever the 'Fat Signal' is launched, E-Man has been there to answer the call.

Wherever there is injustice, wherever there is suffering, wherever liberty is threatened, Ian will be there... well, as long as there's a bar and a decent amp.

The definition of fusion, cool and charm – and another essential ingredient in the ever-expanding Fat gumbo.

We salute you, E-Man! 🎸❤️

**STAY FAT!**

Eddie George t shirt says it all ..... We don't take no prisoners.... Ho ho!

Thanks Newark.... It was wet, but you were there .... And yes we did play it!