Save Ferris’ Monique Powell on the longevity of ska and 10 Things I Hate About You ahead of their Saturday Bottleneck show
Photo Courtesy of Save Ferris
In the last five years, we’ve seen a veritable resurgence and reappraisal of ’90s-era third-wave ska, with multiple books written on the subject and a slew of bands taking their influence from the likes of Operation Ivy and Reel Big Fish. For every new act, though, there’s a band from that era still touring and releasing new music to a fanbase both new and old.
Save Ferris is one of those, and whether you were there for their first single, “The World is New,” or their inescapable cover of Dexy’s Midnight Runners’ “Come On Eileen,” you’re familiar with their canny blend of ’80s pop, big horn lines, and guitar upstrokes. Although the band was on hiatus for the better part of a decade, frontwoman Monique Powell revived Save Ferris in 2013, and they’ve been going strong in the years since, releasing the Checkered Past EP in 2017 and several singles in the intervening years, with last year’s “Lights Out in The Reptile House” their most recent.
Save Ferris brings their Get Dancing tour to The Bottleneck on Saturday, May 3, and we hopped on the phone with the band’s Monique Powell to discuss all things ska, their fans, and 10 Things I Hate About You.
The Pitch: There have been so many books that have come out in the last few years about ska and the time when Save Ferris came up. It seems to be the genre has finally shed any sort of negative connotations it might have had. What’s it been like for you, navigating that over the last decade?
Monique Powell: There’s been so many ups and downs—I mean, challenges, triumphs, accomplishments, perceived failings, so many things. Overall, I’ve just felt very lucky to have a career this long, to be able to bring back the band and then continue having a career doing it, which has been pretty cool.
For as much seemingly negative press or distaste that there seems to be out in the public perception, there’s just as much—if not even more—love for this band. I didn’t realize that until I got out there and started playing shows and I was like, “Whoa, this is surprising.” I didn’t even realize it. It’s been a really like pleasantly surprising experience for me.
Save Ferris and a lot of your contemporaries are at the point where you’ve got folks like myself, who were teenagers or in their early 20s when you first came out, who now have the ability to take their kids to go see you. How is it getting to now see multiple generations of fans in the crowd?
It’s pretty cool. It’s daunting. I feel a large responsibility to not offend anybody, but our fans are so cool that they raise their kids in a way that’s just very open. I mean, that’s the way it has appeared to me when I’ve apologized to them profusely for whatever inappropriate gyrations on stage or nudity or whatever it may be.
Their response is always like, “Man, you know, my kid loved it.” They’re all raising their kids with a love of art and music and expression, so that’s kind of cool.
What has the response been to the new music? Do people just want to come in, hear the hits, or is it that people just want to come and hear Save Ferris?
Well, at first I thought they just wanted to come and hear the hits, but then what I realized is that they just wanted to be at a Save Ferris show. We’ve just always put on a great show and, over the years, the show has become more developed, refined, and entertaining than it’s ever been. Particularly since COVID, people are just so appreciative and excited to be around their peers who also have a shared love of music. It’s always so cool, so awesome, so positive, so fun to be at a show together, all of us.
What have those refinements of the show been?
More emphasis on playing, I think, and entertaining, rather than just performing. There’s more of a connection to the audience, more refinements in the way the show flows, more recognition of the audience members when we’re putting together a set and planning a setlist or planning a show and how the show is gonna flow.
There’s just a better understanding after all these years of why we’re doing what we’re doing and we really use that in everything we do when it comes to hopefully presenting ourselves as a band live.
One of the reasons we’re talking is because 10 Things I Hate About You is having its 25th anniversary and the band performs in that film. What was that experience like for you? Not only are you performing your songs, you’re performing covers, and you’re performing with Kay Hanley from Letters to Cleo. It’s a little bit more than most bands would have to do for a prom scene in a film. Where did that begin for you all?
We were on Warped Tour. I kind of remember us being on Warped Tour and getting a sort of a last minute call and then flying on our one day off out to film the scene in the movie where we’re in the prom, and ’cause we had never done anything like that before, not really knowing what to expect—just sort of showing up and being like, “Okay, tell us where to go and what to do, please. We have no idea.”
I just remember there being a lot more waiting around than I imagined but, overall, it was cool. We got to meet the crew of the film—all the actors and filmmakers, and it was one of Heath Ledger’s first American films and there was a lot of buzz around him. It was interesting to see how the movie ended up. Seeing it in its entirety gave me so much more respect for the art of making films and everybody involved in that.
I had no idea that it was so last minute. I have to imagine that would make having to do that cover of “Shout” especially difficult. How do you learn that enough to where you can mime it on stage for something that will be filmed and shown to tens of thousands of people?
Honestly, one of our songs we had already—a song called “I Know”—there’s a breakdown in that song where pieces of the original “Shout” song is played in our song, so they just had us play a song we already knew.
Did it bring new fans to your shows?
I’m not sure, although we could literally mention 10 Things I Hate About You in any country that we’ve been to so far in this world, and they may not speak English, but when I say 10 Things I Hate About You, they know what I’m talking about. They freak out when I say we’re gonna play that song. So, maybe.
What can folks expect when you come to Lawrence?
I mean, to some degree, I feel like it’s gonna be like a reunion because it’s been so long since we’ve been to Lawrence. Since we started touring again in 2015, every show has been like the audience has been full of old fans, new fans—the demographic is broad and varied, and every show is a different surprise.
When I look out there in the audience and I see all those faces, I think, “Some of you, I totally remember, but wow, so many of you are new to seeing Save Ferris live.” It makes me feel so happy that we’re able to bring these shows out to people who have been fans for a long time, who haven’t been able to see us play live.
Save Ferris plays The Bottleneck on Saturday, May 3, with Keep Flying and Gametime. Details on that show here.
