Nearly a decade ago, ska legends Save Ferris coined the term “ska now more than ever”—and well, we kinda do need ska now more than ever.
Thanks to tireless work in the mid-late ’90s spent crafting their upbeat sound, Save Ferris became mainstays of the ska scene, helping to popularize the genre and grow a global fanbase for their mix of punk rock, horns and feel-good jams. You’ve likely heard-their ska-riffic version of “Come on Eileen” on the radio or in a dance club.
But Save Ferris is out to save more than just ska. They’re touring through some lesser-played markets in an effort to support venues, and the band is making a stop in Reno on Saturday, Dec. 6, at Club Underground.
“It’s sort of a rare appearance (in Reno) for us,” said frontwoman Monique Powell during a recent phone interview.
Powell said she wants to support smaller and mid-size venues “as much as possible.”
“There’s been this goal to hit as many mid-size clubs as we can on our tours, because I find that that market is starting to die off,” Powell said. “There aren’t many of these venues open, so we want to support them in any way that we can.”
The ska music genre would be nothing without mid-sized clubs filled with skanking (a popular ska dance move).
“COVID really hurt the industry a lot, and we lost a lot of venues then,” Powell said. “The economy doesn’t help, and inflation doesn’t help. It’s not easy opening a business, a brick-and-mortar, nowadays, and keeping it open. There’s a lot that goes into it.”
Instead of dropping albums, Save Ferris is doing what a lot of bands are doing these days: slowly releasing singles over time. It’s a way to meet music fans where they are, and it helps bands to have something new to promote every few months. The band has been using this strategy since 2023’s “Xmas Blue,” which was followed by 2024’s “Lights Out in the Reptile House.” This year saw the release of both “Get Dancing” and “Ooh Ooh Rudi,” which, just like the last two singles, will be released on a 7-inch record in December.
“All of these songs, except for ‘Xmas Blue,’ are going to be on the full-length album that’s hopefully coming out early next year,” Powell said. “They’re all just part of the big picture, and we’re introducing them into the consciousness slowly, one little song at a time. When the full-length comes out, hopefully people will be at a place where they want to hear more.”
The highly anticipated Save Ferris album will be the band’s first LP since 1999.
“I started writing this album years ago, and then totally scrapped what I had,” Powell said.
Powell wants the upcoming release to be as current as possible, even if the singles for the record are spread out over multiple years.
“Times change; the social climate changes. So where we’re at now, I feel we need something a little different than what we needed five years ago,” she said. “Michael Bradford (a producer) and I put this album together, and it’s been virtually done for about six months, but there are about two more songs I want to write to put on the album. We’re just a writing machine. He’s a producing and writing machine, and we just pump stuff out really quick. I want the right album to come out. I don’t want to just put stuff out to put stuff out.”
Dropping singles here and there doesn’t give Powell the same amount of excitement as releasing an album, but the delayed release cycle allows more time for fun music videos and dedicated artwork for each single.
“The excitement is more of a trickle rather than a bang,” she said. “… We used to just record a video in a day, and spend copious amounts of money on it. Now you have to learn to be creative with little to no budget. It’s fun, because I have full creative control, and then I get to make videos with my boyfriend, who’s a filmmaker, which is super convenient and also very fun.
“I get to come up with the concepts, and then my partner, Ashley Kimmet, and I work out how we’re going to see it come to fruition. Our first video together was the video for ‘Xmas Blue,’ and it’s hilarious. We had so much fun. It was just the two of us recording things around the house. We had a blast, and we had so many laughs. For ‘Get Dancing,’ that was a really fun concept, because we wanted there to be choreography that everybody could do. There are choreography instructionals on our YouTube page. Some people come to the shows and do the choreography with the song, and it’s adorable. … I have all of these visions that may not have anything to do with the song, but it makes for a beautiful picture. The video for ‘Rudi’ is going to be super-cool.”
Save Ferris would release music on a more consistent basis if not for their love of touring.
“We’re busy,” Powell said. “We could probably release singles faster, but we’re on the road a lot, so that kind of gets in the way. When it’s one woman in charge of the entire destiny, I can’t be in 25 places at one time, and I’m not a young girl anymore. When I’m touring, every day, I’m like, ‘God, give me strength.’ I’m not a religious person—but boy, do I pray.”
Save Ferris will perform at 8 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 6 at Club Underground, 555 E Fourth St., in Reno. Tickets are $27.27. For more information, visit clubundergroundreno.com.