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Reel Big Fish
Reel Big Fish performing at The Catalyst in Santa Cruz, California on March 27, 2008.
Background information
Origin	Orange County, California, United States
Genre(s)	Ska punk, alternative rock, third wave ska
Years active	1992–present
Label(s)	Mojo, Jive, Rock Ridge Music
Associated acts	The Littlest Man Band The Forces of Evil The Scholars Jeffries Fan Club Spring Heeled Jack USA Suburban Rhythm Nuckle Brothers
Website	http://www.reel-big-fish.com
Members
Aaron Barrett Scott Klopfenstein Derek Gibbs Dan Regan Ryland Steen John Christianson
Former members
Ben Guzman Zach Gilltrap Lisa Smith Robert Quimby Adam Polakoff Andrew Gonzales Grant Barry Tavis Werts Carlos de la Garza Tyler Jones Justin Ferreira Matt Wong

Reel Big Fish is an American ska punk band from Huntington Beach, California, best known for the 1997 hit "Sell Out." The band gained mainstream recognition in the mid-to-late 1990s, during the third wave of ska with the release of the album Turn the Radio Off. Since the band's founding in 1992 and their demo In the Good Old Days..., the only original member remaining is Aaron Barrett.

Career

Early

The band's debut album, Everything Sucks, was an underground hit and led to a deal with Mojo Records. The album Turn the Radio Off established the band in the ska punk scene, and they began touring throughout the United States. After the single "Sell Out" began breaking into the mainstream, including MTV, the album made an appearance on the charts. However, the ska revival was short-lived, and their 1998 album Why Do They Rock So Hard? did not lead the band into the mainstream. In 1998, the band appeared in the movie BASEketball, performing in the stands to pump up the crowd. Why Do They Rock So Hard? was the last album for three members of the band. Trombonist Grant Barry and trumpet player Tavis Werts were either fired or left the band voluntarily, depending on the source. Drummer Andrew Gonzales left the band to spend more time with his family. Reel Big Fish then had a rotating cast of drummers and trumpeters over the next six years.

2000-Present

In 2002 the band fared much better on the rock charts, particularly because of the single "Where Have You Been?", which did not prominently feature the horn section. Former Suburban Rhythm drummer Carlos de la Garza played drums and ex-Spring Heeled Jack U.S.A. Tyler Jones tracked trumpet for two songs on Cheer Up! (because Werts had already done the majority of recording before his departure). De la Garza's last concert with Reel Big Fish was on June 20, 2003 at the House of Blues in Anaheim. That concert was later released as the DVD The Show Must Go Off!. Jones played live in Reel Big Fish for some further time before being fired by Barrett for his excessive drinking. He was replaced by former Forces Of Evil trumpet player John Christianson.

On April 5, 2005, Reel Big Fish released their fourth album on Mojo Records; We're Not Happy 'Til You're Not Happy. Justin Ferreira (who replaced De La Garza) was on drums for the recording, but left before the album's release to join the Orange County band Takota (Island Records) and subsequently is listed as an additional musician on the CD. He was replaced by Ryland Steen.

Aaron Barrett has stated that We're Not Happy 'Til You're Not Happy was "the third record in a trilogy" that began with Turn the Radio Off. "The first one was about being in a band and trying to make it. Then Why Do They Rock So Hard? was like, 'we've made it, we're rock stars'. Cheer Up we made because we had to make it. But We're Not Happy 'Til You're Not Happy is about us being old and jaded now."¹

While on tour in early 2006, Reel Big Fish received a call from Jive Records, informing them that they had been dropped from the label, much to the band's delight. The band formed their own label and released a 3-disc live performance CD/DVD set, Our Live Album Is Better Than Your Live Album. This package became available on July 18, 2006 on the Internet and in retail stores on August 22. Jive later released a Reel Big Fish greatest hits album, Greatest Hit...And More, because they owned the rights to all previous songs. The band did not approve of, or make any money from the album, and have spoken out against it. On February 20, 2007, the band released Duet All Night Long, which is a split EP with Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer. It features six cover songs (three from each band), with the vocalist of each band performing in the other band's songs (except in the case of Scott Klopfenstein singing in the song, "Say Say Say".) Reel Big Fish announced on their MySpace profile that they would be playing a summer tour in 2007 with Less Than Jake as their headlining partner along with support from Streetlight Manifesto and Against All Authority.

Reel Big Fish released their first studio album since leaving Jive Records; Monkeys for Nothin' and the Chimps For Free worldwide on July 10, 2007, on the Rock Ridge Music record label. On June 26, 2007, shortly before its release, the band announced in a Myspace blog that Matt Wong was leaving the band to spend more time with his wife and newborn child. He was replaced by Derek Gibbs who played bass in Jeffries Fan Club and Aaron Barrett's now defunct side project, The Forces Of Evil. Since Matt Wong was very popular with fans, some are skeptical of the new bassist's ability, but the band has stated that Derek is "Matt Wong Approved" and fans have nothing to worry about. Gibbs had been filling in for Wong on various tours since early 2002.

On December 19, 2007, the band announced that they would play the entire Warped Tour 2008.²

Reel Big Fish have announced that they will release a new studio album on January 20, 2009.³ The name of the album will be Fame, Fortune and Fornication, and it will consist of 10 cover songs.⁴ Another album, with original material, is planned for late 2009.⁵

Band members

Current members

• Aaron Barrett - guitar, lead vocals (1992–present)
• Dan Regan - trombone, backing vocals (1994–present)
• Scott Klopfenstein - trumpet, guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1995–present)
• John Christianson - trumpet, backing vocals (2004–present)
• Ryland Steen - drums (2005–present)
• Derek Gibbs - bass guitar (2007–present)

Past members

• Ben Guzman - vocals (1992–1994)
• Zach Gilltrap - keyboards/synthesizers (1992–1994)
• Lisa Smith - guitar (1992–1994)
• Eric Vismantes - trumpet (1994)
• Stephan Reed - saxophone (1994)
• Robert Quimby - trombone (1994–1995)
• Adam Polakoff - saxophone (1994–1995)
• Grant Barry - trombone (1995–1998)
• Andrew Gonzales - drums (1992–1998)
• Tavis Werts - trumpet (1994–2001)
• Carlos de la Garza - drums (1999–2003)
• Tyler Jones - trumpet (2001–2004)
• Justin Ferreira - drums (2003–2005)
• Matt Wong - bass, backing vocals (1992–2007)

Left to right: John Christianson, Dan Regan, Aaron Barrett, Ryland Steen, and Scott Klopfenstein. Derek Gibbs is not visible behind Klopfenstein.

Left to right: John Christianson, Dan Regan, and Aaron Barrett.

Trombone player Dan Regan.

Discography

Main article: Reel Big Fish discography

Studio albums

Live album

Band members' other projects

• Scott Klopfenstein and Dan Regan were also members of The Littlest Man Band.⁶

• Aaron Barrett, Derek Gibbs and John Christianson were also members of The Forces of Evil, along with former members of Jeffries Fan Club and other Orange County ska musicians. This band broke up in early 2005.^{citation needed}

• Before they were members of Reel Big Fish, Aaron Barrett, Scott Klopfenstein, and Grant Barry were members of a band called The Scholars.^{citation needed}

• Scott Klopfenstein was also a member of a ska band called the Nuckle Brothers.^{citation needed}

• Dan Regan has a techno project called Black Casper. Notably, he remixed Reel Big Fish's cover of "Talkin' Bout A Revolution", incorporating different sound bites, including Ali Tabatabaee from Reel Big Fish's live DVD, You're All In This Together.^{citation needed}

References

External links

• Official website
• Official Myspace profile
• Reel Big Fish at Music Brainz
• Reel Big Fish at Allmusic