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'Modified' Save Ferris brings unique sound to Rialto Theatre

In the constantly changing world of pop-alternative music, the tastes of the masses are always shifting.

T-Bone Willy, aptly named because he plays the trombone for Save Ferris, a self-defined ska band, knows this all too well. These days, he and his Save Ferris bandmates have moved away from the ska-swing movement of the mid-90s in favor of a fresher sound.

T-Bone now launches ska into the air like it's a clay pigeon.

"Pull!" yells out bassist Bill Uechi, who then points to lead singer Monique Powell, who whips out her shotgun, aims high and blasts ska to smithereens.

Save Ferris' new CD, Modified, which was released yesterday, follows a major change in musical stylings. The band will play a show tomorrow at the Rialto Theatre to promote the CD on their second leg of a nationwide tour.

The new CD is packed with anything but ska, although band members T-Bone and Uechi swear that they're still a ska band.

"We'll always have ska in us," T-Bone says. "It's in our roots."

The only true ska song on the new CD is "Turn it Up." It demonstrates Powell wails and the band's traditional horn-blasting glory.

But "Turn it Up" isn't the song that the band is pushing to sell its new CD. "Mistaken" - a smooth-sounding guitar-driven groove that is sure to hike a smooth path up the alternative charts - will be the first single released, Uechi said.

Ferris Needs Savin'

It all started off as a joke. It turned out to be a very profitable joke. Brian Mashburn, who would become the band's guitarist-singer, noticed the phrase "Save Ferris" carved in a desk at one of his classes at Cal State-Fullerton - obviously in homage to 1980's "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."

Mashburn thought it would be a funny name for a band, so he convinced a couple of his buddies to start a ska band as a joke named Save Ferris. Then they met Powell, a vivacious 19-year-old sophomore at Fullerton, and found their new lead singer.

The band members gathered their resources and released the single "The World Is New" off an independent record label. They dropped out of school and soon were picked up by Epic Records. Under Epic, they released the album "It Means Everything," which sold more than 400,000 copies.

Four years after the "joke," they're a big-time band releasing their second CD.

Itinerary

After an appearance Monday night on the radio version of "Loveline" in Los Angeles -Řin which the band revealed that hosts Adam Carolla and Dr. Drew Pinsky would be starring with the band in a future music video - the band hopped in the tour bus and headed to Phoenix, where they will play tonight.

After a show at the Nile Theater in the evil devil-city of the north, they planned on getting into town sometime tomorrow morning.

Before the show, they will play at Zia Record Exchange, and afterwards it's back on the bus for a show at UC-San Diego on Friday. The band will hit 18 cities between now and mid-November and plans on touring more as other singles off of "Modified" are released.

"We've toured before, so we kind of know what to expect," Uechi said. "We won't see our families for a year and a half. It's cool, though."

T-Bone, however, is just a bit nervous.

"This is the CD that we've always wanted to make," he said. "I don't know how people will take it - either they'll like it or they'll think we totally screwed up, but I'm excited."