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There's a song in Save Ferris' repertoire that is a succinct description of the band's current state of affairs. That would be "Holding On," with its optimistic tone and lyric that "better days are coming." Fun, hard work Save Ferris
By Gary C. W. Chun
Gchun@starbulletin.comThe fun and friendly SoCal band makes its third Honolulu appearance tonight, after first arriving as the replacement band for the then-disintegrating Breeders at the 1997 Big Mele, then following as openers for a Dance Hall Crashers/Hepcat bill at Andrews Amphitheater.
But that was then and this is now. Sporting a more mature outlook on life in both onstage appearance and music, Save Ferris still plays its hits such as "The World is New" and its upful cover of "Come On Eileen," but the "modified" version of the band is looking to regain a little industry respect.
Gone is its two-man horn section, so lead singer Monique Powell, bassist Bill Uechi, lead guitarist Brian Mashburn, drummer Evan Kilbourne and guitarist Eric Zamora carry on (although Zamora doubles up on saxophone, and the band tours with trumpet player Steve White, who, coincidentally, won a scholarship to USC at last year's Hawaii International Jazz Festival).
"The split was totally amicable," Powell said by phone Sunday from the band's San Francisco tour stop. "It was in response to our songwriting nowadays, where it's less with horns and more guitar-driven."
After being let go by Epic Records after 1999's "Modified" album, Powell admits to "being a little hesitant to go back to a major label," reflecting the been-there-done-that feeling. "Our new album is not finished yet, still in demo stages. But we've learned the ins and outs of the industry; we knew what we wanted to be as a band, and Epic, I guess, no longer wanted to be on our side. So this will be our first album on our own."
With local opening band Pimpbot SAVE FERRIS
Where: World Cafe, 1130 N. Nimitz Highway
When: 7 p.m. today, doors open at 6:30
Admission: $17.50
Call: 599-5764
In spite of it all, Powell says, the band's persona is "still totally fun and crazy. That'll never change. We'll never be serious on stage."
But Uechi's trademark fuzzy-bear winter cap is no longer part of the band's look. "That got stolen a while back," said the Hawaii-born bass player by phone from his L.A. home the day after the Bay area gig.
"Some of the demos we've done is close to what we'd really like the finished product to sound like; others need the help of an outside producer." Along the lines of the "Modified" album, Uechi also said that "some of the songs are more rock; others follow the punk/ska feel we started at the beginning of the band. It'll be more fun than 'Modified' and pretty reminiscent of our first, independent album.
"While Epic gave us a good push to promote our first album, the label didn't for 'Modified,' probably because it was going through some big staff changes at the time. In the meantime, some of the band members' musical tastes were branching out because we noticed that the bands we toured with favored a harder sound." (The songwriting contributions have spread out as well, no longer dominated by Mashburn.)
"It's all been positive," Powell said. "The transition's been easy. We don't change because we have to."
Through it all, Save Ferris has kept busy touring. Their biggest gig recently was playing on an outdoor stage next to the snowboard half-pipe venue at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. "We felt like we were part of history," said Powell, "playing before 20,000 people that were watching us in the snow."
"It was the first time the Olympics included live music following the day's competition," Uechi said, "and while it was kinda funky, it was still, overall, a good experience for us. It was pretty intense -- one of the few times we got nervous -- and you got these TV camera guys running across the stage, getting up in your face," grabbing close-up shots for the Jumbotron screen.
Uechi said that they play some of the better songs from "Modified" in concert. "We do 'Mistaken,' 'Angry Situation,' 'Turn It Up' and 'Holding On,' plus newer songs that include 'Why Do You Look So Mean' and 'Rockit'" (not the Herbie Hancock hip-hop/jazz tune, but one written by Powell and Zamora).
"We always change and progress as a band," said Powell. "I get bored easily, and I think the Hawaii audiences (the band completed a couple of Maui gigs before arriving yesterday in Honolulu) should be pleasantly surprised."
"I had to admit, though, I was trippin' out looking at old pictures of us from six years ago," said Uechi. "While I know image is everything, everyone still looks the same to me after playing with them for all these years."
After the shows here, Uechi said he'll be enjoying some downtime with his family, who moved to Kauai, his father's home island, three years ago.
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