Reel Big Fish Artistfacts

1991-
Aaron BarrettLead vocals, guitar, keyboards
Scott KlopfensteinTrumpet, keyboards, vocals1995-2011
Dan ReganTrombone1994-2013, 2024-
Matt WongBass1991-2007
Andrew GonzalesDrums1991-1999
Grant BarryTrombone1995-1999
Reel Big Fish are best known for their 1996 hit "Sell Out," which sounds like a dig on bands that compromise their musical integrity to boost sales, but it's actually a sly commentary on fans who whine and complain about their favorite bands "selling out," expecting them to keep playing small venues and reject major labels.
At the peak of their popularity in 1997, they had seven members all packed into one tour bus along with a few other functionaries. It was like a rolling dorm room, with dirty laundry all over the place and a video collection with dumb movies like Dream A Little Dream, starring Corey Haim and Corey Feldman on VHS. "Corey and Corey movies always put us in a good mood," Aaron Barrett told MTV.
Reel Big Fish have returned to the Warped Tour several times over years. They first joined the tour in 1997, which was a thrill because many of their members had been attending those shows for years. After that first trek, they embarked on their first headlining tour.
Like many in the ska-punk scene, they were influenced by Operation Ivy, a Berkeley, California-based band that broke up in 1989 after releasing just one album, but had a huge impact on the scene (two of their members later formed Rancid). Reel Big Fish covered the Operation Ivy song "Unity" for the 1997 tribute album Take Warning - The Songs of Operation Ivy.
They released their album Turn the Radio Off (the one with "Sell Out") on Mojo Records, but they weren't signed to the label. After the song took off, Mojo gave them a deal and capitalized on the publicity with a press event where they gave the band a big check with the payment list as "for selling out."
Reel Big Fish play a lot of cover songs at their shows, with "Brown Eyed Girl" and "Kiss Me Deadly" among their favorites. Their most famous cover is "Take On Me" by a-ha, which they included on their 1998 album Why Do They Rock So Hard?
Reel Big Fish never broke up but did go through a bunch of lineup changes, with Aaron Barrett the constant.
They show up in the 1998 movie Baseketball, where they're the halftime entertainment at a baseketball game. The film stars South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.