Save Ferris Overview

Save Ferris was a ska punk band formed circa 1995 in Orange County ^{Orange County, California} , California. They are believed to be named after the reference in the 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

 

The band formed in 1995 after the dissolution of a number of Southern California third-wave ska bands. Los Pantelones members Brian Mashburn (guitar/vocals), Bill Uechi (bass), Eric Zamora (saxophone), and José Castellaños (trumpet) joined with Larry ^{Larry (band)} vocalist Monique Powell, Nuckle Brothers trombonist Brian "T-Bone Willy" Williams, and drummer Marc Harismendy to form Save Ferris.

The band released their debut EP Introducing Save Ferris in 1996. Later that year, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences gave the band a Grammy showcase award for best unsigned band, earning them a recording contract with Epic Records. The band released their debut full length for the label in 1997. It Means Everything featured several re-recorded tracks from the EP, several new songs, and a cover of Dexys Midnight Runners' "Come on Eileen," which the band released as a single and was a minor hit.

Winter 1998 saw the departure of drummer Marc Harismendy. Evan Kilbourne joined shortly thereafter, and the band began writing their follow-up to It Means Everything. The appropriately-titled Modified ^{Modified (album)} was released in October 1999, approximately one year later. The album saw the band moving away from their ska-punk roots and into pop-rock territory. It was largely panned by critics and fans alike, with fans unhappy about the drastic change in the band's sound. The band toured with fewer ska-punk and pop-punk bands as a result, opening for bands like Lit ^{Lit (band)} .

José Castellaños left the band in June 2000, citing a desire to return to school. He was replaced by T-Bone Willy's former bandmate from Six Feet Deep and Nuckle Brothers, Oliver Zavala.

The band continued to tour in support of Modified throughout 2000 and 2001.

In August and September of 2001 the band did a short tour of the U.K. playing with the bands Lightyear and Jesse James.

In June 2002, the band's website announced they were working on a new album, but later that year, the site began redirecting to Powell's own website.
On March 29th 2003 at Ska Summit 2003 in Las Vegas, "Monique Powell formerly of Save Ferris" played the old Save Ferris songs on the main stage to a thunderously positive response. .
Powell self-financed what she called a "For the Fans" tour, featuring some of the members of Save Ferris, and some non members later in 2003.

Powell later joined the band "The Mojo Wire". She has stated that the "Mojo Wire is nothing like Save Ferris", but "still so much fun".Since the breakup, Monique Powell has focused her efforts on her studio career. Her work can be heard on albums by The Used, Lostprophets, Hilary Duff, Goldfinger ^{Goldfinger (band)} and others. Her new band, The Mojo Wire began headlining shows in the LA area after an overwhelming response to the four demos posted on MySpace in 2008. Consideration of the songs for TV and film have been coming in and a national tour and album were planned in April 2009.

In 2003, Bill Uechi, Brian Mashburn, T-Bone Willy, Eric Zamora, and Oliver Zavala started the band Starpool with Alan Meade on vocals and Phil Hanson on drums. The band took their name from trombonists T-Bone Willy's house where the band used to rehearse. They released an EP in 2003 titled STRPL E.P.0001 before going on hiatus for two years. The band started to play once more in 2006.

In addition to Starpool, Brian Mashburn plays guitar for Power Serge and PopBritannica. Bill Uechi also plays in Red Panda ^{Red Panda (band)} with John Tran of Home Grown.* Monique Powell - Vocals (1995-2002)
* Bill Uechi - Bass (1995-2002)
* Eric Zamora - Alto & Tenor Saxophone (1995-2002)
* Brian Mashburn - Guitar, Vocals (1995-2002)
* T-Bone Willy - Trombone (1995-2001)
* José Castellaños - Trumpet (1995-2000)
* Marc Harismendy - Drums (1995-1998)
* Evan Kilbourne - Drums (1998-2002)
* Oliver Zavala - Trumpet & Backing Vocals (2000-2002)