Formed in 1994, drummer – Rich Thair, double bassist – Ali Friend and guitarist – David Ayers, released three EPs on Rich Thair and Dean Thatcher’s label Flaw Recordings. The first EP ‘Snapper’ featured Beth Orton on vocals.
Over the initial years the band released the sonically pioneering albums; Reeled and Skinned, Prince Blimey, Making Bones and Our Aim Is To Satisfy Red Snapper (Warp records), touring globally and supporting the likes of Massive Attack, Bjork, The Prodigy, De La Soul and The Fugees. They also acquired a reputation for innovative and expansive remixing – reworking tunes by Trouble Funk, David Holmes, Sabres of Paradise, Garbage, Lamb, S-Express, Edwyn Collins amongst others.
After a break, in 2003 the band released the eponymous ‘Red Snapper’ and then A Pale Blue Dot on Lo Recordings, at which point Tom Challenger joined on Saxophone and Clarinet.
The album ‘Key’ was released on V2 Records in 2011 and featured vocals by Eliza Carthy and Gavin Clarke (Clayhill and Unkle).
In 2013 Red Snapper composed a new soundtrack to the 1970’s Senegalese, psychedelic road movie ‘Touki Bouki’ which had been restored by Martin Scorsese. The band toured Europe performing the soundtrack live to the film, culminating in the celebrated sell-out show at The Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s Southbank.
In 2014 the album ‘Hyena’ was released on Lo Recordings featuring all the music from their original film score.
