Mike "Prince Fatty" Pelanconi

Mike Pelanconi – better known by the musical alias Prince Fatty – is an Anglo-Italian record producer and audio engineer.

Early life and career

Pelanconi was born in the South East of England, to an English mother and Italian father. He spent much of his childhood in Italy, before moving to Brighton and then London as a teenager, ultimately working as a recording engineer in the music studios of Soho.

In the late 1990s, then in his 20s, he moved to Los Angeles and worked with various hip-hop and soul acts, before returning to work in Europe.

Origin of the Prince Fatty name In 2005, Stüssy created a clothing line inspired by the vivid styles of Jamaica to celebrate their 25th anniversary. They hired musicians to create a limited-edition musical single to complement it.

Pelanconi was part of this group, which included Nasser Bouzida and Trevor Harding of Big Boss Man. They chose the new artist name Prince Fatty as a reference to King Tubby.

The instrumental track they wrote and recorded for Stüssy, Nina's Dance, was unexpectedly successful, getting airplay on BBC Radio 1. It was named after Pelanconi's then-partner, the mother of his child.

Survival of the Fattest Subsequently, Pelanconi used the name for a full-length album, produced by him, called Survival of the Fattest.

For this, he assembled a "supergroup" of reggae greats, including afrobeat saxophonist Bukky Leo, drummer Style Scott from the Roots Radics, Nostalgia 77's horn section, and Hammond organ by Bubblers from Ruff Cut Band.

Supersize This was followed in 2010 by the album Supersize, featuring vocals from Little Roy, Dennis Alcapone, Natty and Winston Francis.

Prince Fatty vs The Drunken Gambler In 2012 album Prince Fatty Versus the Drunken Gambler included a guest appearance from Dennis Alcapone.

Use of technology Prince Fatty is noted for his use of interesting and often analogue studio equipment. In an interview with audio and music publication MusicnGear, Pelanconi said that the primary DAW he works in is Pro Tools; stating 'I love the vari-speed function as it works like a tape machine – speeding music up and down can yield interesting results'. He also said that his favorite plugins so far are SSL plugins. Bubblers from the Ruff Cut Band, Albums The Best of Prince Fatty (2005), Anvil Survival of the Fattest (2007) Mr Bongo Supersize (2010), Mr Bongo Return of Gringo! (2011), Mr Bongo Prince Fatty Versus the Drunken Gambler (2012), Mr Bongo Prince Fatty vs. Mungo's Hi-Fi (2014), Mr Bongo In The Viper's Shadow (2019), Evergreen Artikal Intelligence (2024), Lovedub Limited

Singles Nina's Dance – 7″ (Stüssy, 2006) Milk & Honey ft. Hollie Cook – 7″/CD/MP3 (Mr Bongo, 2007) Milk & Honey 100% Dubstepper vs Moodyboyz – 12″/MP3 (Mr Bongo, 2007) Scorpio / Roof Over My Head – 7″/MP3 (Mr Bongo, 2008) Shimmy Shimmy Ya / Gin & Juice – 7″/MP3 (Mr Bongo, 2009) Insane in the Brain – 7″/MP3 (Mr Bongo, 2010) Christopher Columbus ft. Little Roy / Dry Your Tears ft. Winston Francis – 7″ (Mr Bongo, 2010) Sliver/Dive ft. Little Roy (covers of Nirvana songs) – 7" (ARK, 2011) Black Rabbit with Shniece McMenamin ( A cover of White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane )