Katchafire


Katchafire are a New Zealand roots reggae band from Hamilton, New Zealand.

History

Katchafire formed in Hamilton in 2000, originally as a Bob Marley tribute band. The band's name derives from Catch A Fire, The Wailers' debut album. They have released five albums: Revival, which featured the highest-selling New Zealand single of 2002 "Giddy Up", Slow Burning Say What You're Thinking, On the Road Again, and the compilation Best So Far.
The band has toured Australia, the UK, Europe, the United States, New Caledonia and Brazil and have played on the same bills as The Wailers, The Marleys, Steel Pulse, Third World, UB40, Shaggy, Lauryn Hill, Fiji, and Horace Andy.
In 2020, Katchafire performed alongside several other New Zealand music acts at Hoani Waititi Marae in West Auckland as part of the Waitangi @ Waititi event.

Band members

The band's original line-up consisted of Grenville Bell and his two sons Logan and Jordan. The lineup expanded to include eight members, including Jerry, Thompson Hohepa, Hani Totorewa, and Tere Ngarua. Due to work and schooling commitments Tere Ngarua was replaced by Travis Te Hau, and Hani Totorewa was replaced by James Ferguson.
As a result of commitments with other bands, family and religion, lead singer Jerry and bass player Travis Te Hau left Katchafire and the band reformed as a five-piece band with Logan becoming the band's new lead singer, with Thompson Hohepa taking over on guitar and lead vocals, Jordan Bell on drums, John Kennedy on bass, James Ferguson on vocals, keyboards, saxophone and guitar, under the management of Grenville Bell.
The addition of Ara Adams Tamatea on bass/band management and Leon Davey on percussion/backing vocals and reunion with the now qualified high school teacher Hani Totorewa on keyboards allowed Grenville Bell to step out of the management role and into his present role as lead guitarist and the brand "Katchafire Enterprise LTD" was realized.
Ara stepped down from his role as manager/bass player, with original bass player Tere Ngarua returning and Logan taking over the band management and leadership until Ms Mikki Sellon became the manager in 2012.
The current lineup consists of Logan Bell, Jordan Bell, Wirremu Barribal, Tere Ngarua, Roy Kaiki, and Leon Davey with a few great Horn players in different part of the world.

Discography

Albums

YearAlbumLabelPeak chart
positions
YearAlbumLabelNZ
2003RevivalShock/BMG5
2005Slow BurningMai/Shock12
2007Say What You're ThinkingEMI5
2010On the Road AgainEMI/Lion House Records3
2013Best So Far VP/Greensleeves3
2018LegacyUniversal NZ/Zojak Worldwide8

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.
ReleaseAlbumLabelTrack
2002Simply the Best Reggae AlbumWarner Music"Bounce"
2003The Reggae CollectionUniversal Music"Collie Herb Man" and "Giddy Up"
2003Off the Hook 3Sony Music"Get Away"
2004Conscious RootsCapitol Music"Get Away"
2005Conscious Roots 2Capitol Music"Frisk Me Down"
2006More NatureSony BMG"Giddy Up"
2007Conscious Roots 4EMI"This World"

Singles

YearSinglePeak chart positionsAlbum
YearSingleNZAlbum
2002"Giddy Up"4Revival
2002"Get Away"8Revival
2002"Who You With"10Revival
2003"Colour Me Life"—Revival
2003"Bounce"—Revival
2003"Seriously"—Revival
2004"Rude Girl"—Slow Burning
2005"Hey Girl"—Slow Burning
2006"Frisk Me Down"—Slow Burning
2007"Say What You're Thinking"—Say What You're Thinking
2008"Love Letter"—Say What You're Thinking
2009"Working"—Say What You're Thinking
2010"Slow Down" feat. Rebel Souljahz—Bring Back The Days
2010"Just You & Me" feat. Na Wai—Non-album single
2010"On The Road Again"—On The Road Again
2010"Groove Again"—On The Road Again
2016"Burn it Down"—