Katchafire

Katchafire is a New Zealand roots reggae band from Hamilton in the Waikato region.

Katchafire formed in 1997 as a Bob Marley tribute band and later began writing and performing their own songs. They have released three albums: Revival (2003) which featured the highest-selling NZ single of 2003, "Giddy Up"; Slow Burning (2005) and Say What You're Thinking (2007).

The band's original lineup consisted of Grenville Bell (guitar), Haani Totorewa (keyboards, vocals) Tere Ngarua (bass guitar), Thompson Hohepa (guitar, vocals) Logan Bell (guitar, lead vocals) and Jordan Bell (drums).

Katchafire has been through many changes over the years with Tere Ngarua replaced by Ara Adams-Tamatea on bass and the addition of Jamey Fergusson (keyboards, sax, lead vocals) and Leon Davey (vocals, percussions).

For the second album Slow Burning the band was augmented by horn section Le Sexion with Feal (saxophone), Mols (trumpet) and Thomas (trombone) from reggae band Mr Gang of France.

There were further lineup changes in 2006: Adams-Tamatea left the band to become the group's booking agent and original bass player Tere Ngarua re-joined the group as bassist, Thompson Hohepa also left the band.

Katchafire began recording their third album, Say What You're Thinking, as a seven-piece at Auckland's York Studios toward the end of 2006.

The band has toured Australia, the UK, Europe, the USA and New Caledonia and has played at festivals with international reggae acts such as Mr Gang, Horace Andy, Moonraisers, Gentleman and was the only Pacific act to tour with artists Arrested Development, The Wailers, Maxi Priest and UB40 as part of the 2008 Raggamuffin.

Their name was inspired by the Bob Marley and The Wailers album Catch A Fire.

Discography

Date of Release	Title	Charted	Country
2003	Revival	-	-
2005	Slow Burning	-	-
2007	Say What You're Thinking	-	-

Featured appearances

Katchafire have appeared on a number of compilations since 2002 in New Zealand. The following is a list of these albums that have featured tracks by Katchafire.

(2002) - Simply The Best Reggae Album (Warner Music) - Bounce
(2003) - The Reggae Collection (Universal Music) - Collie Herb Man & Giddy Up
(2003) - Off The Hook 3 (Sony Music) - Get Away (Remix)
(2004) - Conscious Roots (Capitol Music) - Get Away
(2005) - Conscious Roots 2 (Capitol Music) - Frisk Me Down
(2006) - More Nature (Sony BMG) - Giddy Up
(2007) - Conscious Roots 4 (EMI) - This World

Singles

Year	Single	Album	NZ Singles Chart	Certification
2002	"Giddy Up"	"Revival"	1	-
2002	"Get Away"	"Revival"	-	-
2002	"Who You With"	"Revival"	-	-
2003	"Colour Me Life"	"Revival"	-	-
2003	"Bounce"	"Revival"	-	-
2003	"Seriously"	"Revival"	-	-
2004	"Rude Girl"	"Slow Burnin"	-	-
2005	"Hey Girl"	"Slow Burnin"	-	-
2006	"Frisk Me Down"	"Slow Burnin"	-	-
2007	"Say What You're Thinking"	"Say What You're Thinking"	-	-