Fuzzruckus is one of those acts that I’ve been meaning to interview for a while. I started following them a couple of years back when I was just getting into the independent underground music scene that I eventually came to think of as #Tweetcore, and I think it was either the LaLaLettes or Thee Rakevines that turned me on to Fuzzruckus. Which speaks to the power of the movement, since the other two bands are based in Wales and Fuzzruckus is based in Dayton, Ohio. In any case, I’ve been a fan for a while now, so I figured it only made sense to drop them a line…

First off, I have to say that I’ve always thought “Fuzzruckus” was the perfect name for your act because, well, you really lean into the fuzztone as you make a pretty cool ruckus. How and when did the name come to you?

Thank you! For many years, I really wasn’t particular about my tone as a guitarist. I was just looking for loud and distorted. A few years ago, I started really concentrating on the differences between “overdrive,” “distortion” and “fuzz.” While similar, all three are actually different. Fuzz is what I felt expressed what I wanted to on guitar. With fuzz in mind, I went to a random band name generator online. I entered “fuzz” and it came up with “Ruckus Fuzz.”  I love Cameron Crowe movies, and in my favorite movie of his, Elizabethtown, a character had a band named Ruckus. I liked that connection, so I took the words and flipped them, combined them into one word – Fuzzruckus. I thought the name was perfect too!

How long have you been recording as Fuzzruckus?

Like so many people in early 2020, I lost my job due to the pandemic. I was depressed, feeling lost and scared about the future. Thankfully, I received unemployment benefits. With the money and time on my hands I figured it was the right time to record some songs I had written over the last few years. I wasn’t really sure what I was even going to do with the songs, but I had the time and resources to record them.  I released the first few under a different name on Bandcamp, and nothing! I was pretty discouraged, but for whatever reason, I decided in early 2021 that I was going to swing for the fences, go all in, one last try to get my music heard.

Who’s involved in the project?

I’m Aaron, the guitarist and songwriter. Fuzzruckus is my brainchild so to speak, but it’s not really a solo project. The drummer/bassist, D.B., I worked with on a pre-Fuzzruckus project. A real character I guess you could say.  A man of mystery, he probably doesn’t want me talking too much about him! Our current singer Christian, has a pop punk background, a great voice, and was exactly what I needed for our current EP,  Standard Rock And Roll Disaster. On the 2022 EP Paranoia Baby, we worked with Tim – he was the voice I wanted for the power pop vibe I was going for. The first Fuzzruckus EP, Murrary was on vocals. His voice worked for how I imagined my early alternative pop rock songs sounding. I don’t like to sing, so I’ve always had to find good singers. I suppose I could if I absolutely had to, but I don’t enjoy it.

You’ve recently been working on what’s going to be a tetralogy—four songs linked by a common theme and story. Is that right? What’s the story you’re telling with these songs?

Correct. Standard Rock And Roll Disaster. It’s a short story of a lonely guy. He hates his job, and to get through the day with as much of his sanity intact as he can, he daydreams about having a “Rockstar Girlfriend.” About playing a rock show. About all of the things that come along with that kind of lifestyle. He’s got a band. He meets a girl, she is great at first, but then breaks his heart. The band falls apart, and he’s right back where he started.

Was it always going to be a tetralogy? I ask because I can imagine it going a couple of ways. For example, you could write one song as a stand-alone and then realize there was more of a story to tell, or you could have planned on developing a story through four songs from the beginning.  How did you decide that you needed more than one song to tell the story?

It all started with “Rockstar Girlfriend,” I described that as a fantasy within a daydream. Then I thought, “It would be fun to continue the story with the next single.” To contrast the fantasy in the first single, with disappointing reality in the second. And at that point I started wondering if anyone had ever done a rock opera EP. Not a full length album like Green Day – American Idiot, or Butch Walker’s American Love Story. But just an EP.  I figured, why not? There are short films. There are short stories in books. So why not a rock opera EP? And even though the songs tell a story together, and I certainly hope people will take the time to listen to them together – they also work as stand alone songs. You won’t hear song three and think “What? Am I missing something?”

What’s the inspiration for the story you’re telling in the tetralogy?

The story, which by the way, can be followed in the “News” section on fuzzruckus.com, is loosely   based on a period of my life in my mid-20s. “Rockstar Girlfriend” was my fantasy. Once again, a Cameron Crowe movie- in Aloha, Bradley Cooper’s character says to Emma Stone’s- “Nobody wants to live where they are. They all want to be in a fantasy.”  My fantasy was, and still is, the mythology of rock and roll. The “sex, drugs, and rock and roll” thing. I was a teenager at the tail end of the hair band era. To me, C.C. DeVille from Poison was the coolest guy in the world. I wanted to be in the Warrant “Cherry Pie” video with those guys. A very formative time for me, and it’s still my “go to” fantasy when I want to escape the world. Which is quite often! The problem is when the fantasy becomes an expectation and clashes with reality.  I’ve often told people that for a time in my 20’s, I somewhat lived out all those cliches. On a much smaller scale, it didn’t reach Motley Crue The Dirt levels! Thank God! But I had my band, I had my fun, I got to drink tequila with Jani Lane from Warrant. But it wasn’t groupies, endless parties, playing in front of screaming fans. It was a crowd of ten with someone screaming out “pretend to play!” when someone can’t tune their instrument. It was loading all the gear by yourself because someone else was too busy playing “rock star.” It was the girl who was screwing everyone in the band, and breaks your heart because you thought you had something special with her.  Fantasy versus reality.  That’s the theme, wrapped up in a rock and roll story.  The story is based on my life then, but some details are where the fiction comes in. For instance, I did play at Sudsy Malone’s, referenced in “Everything She Never Wanted,” but I did not meet a girl there. The girl in the story is actually a composite character of  two different girls I was involved with during those years. Which I refer to as the “hard lemon day,” due to my mass consumption of Mike’s Hard Lemonade and Jack Daniels Lynchburg Lemonade during those years. That’s where the band in the story, Hard Lemon Days, gets its name from. Basically, the story is all about the dichotomies of fantasy/reality, self/idealized self.

How does each song fit into the story, and how does the music of each song help to tell that story?

The songs tell the story in chronological order. “Rockstar Girlfriend” introduces the main character, Jimmy and the song is his fantasy. The music is really upbeat, which fits the joy he finds in his escape. The second song, “Everything She Never Wanted” is a little more chill, he’s feeling the balance he’s trying to find in his life. The song introduces the female character, Whatsherface.  The third song, “I Should Have Cheated On You” (Like You Cheated On Me) rocks a little harder, it’s been described as “vengeful” which is exactly right. The title says exactly what the song means and the music fits the song. The final single describes his disillusion and will wrap everything up perfectly. In lyric and style. I’m really looking forward to unleashing that one on the world!

The cover art for the tetralogy is eye-catching. Who created the design?

It’s actually an album cover template from a website called postermywall.com.  I’ve used them for some artwork as well as canva.com in the past.  Both of those websites are good resources for recording artists with little or no budget for artwork.  I feel like the cover art really captures the vibe the EP is going for. The “devil girl” is very symbolic. The color scheme works out really well too. Total early Poison “glam punk” era vibes.

And speaking of covers, I love the dog on the cover of your EP “Paranoia Baby.” That’s less of a question than an observation, I suppose.

The cover girl is my doggie Speedy, and she is the love of my life. (It’s ok, my wife knows!) She’s still sassy about being on the cover, she doesn’t like the attention. She’s convinced that when the boy dogs bark at her when we’re on a walk that it’s because they recognize her from the cover! True story – when I say the words “Paranoia Baby” her ears perk up, and sometimes she even will give a sassy side eye or a sigh! My wife made that cover, based on my idea.

When can we expect the final installment of the Tetralogy?

The fourth single, “Working Class Zero” will be streaming everywhere on June 2. I’m really excited about this one. Not only does it wrap the up story perfectly, the bridge is the 20-ish seconds I’m proudest of as a writer in the whole time that I’ve been writing songs. And it features not only the most amazing vocal of any Fuzzruckus song, but seriously one of the best vocal moments I’ve ever heard. I’m really looking forward to everyone hearing it. 

Then what?

This summer, probably in early July, there will be a bonus track to the Standard Rock And Roll Disaster EP.  It’s a song by Hard Lemon Days, the band in the story, and it features Fuzzruckus and a couple other Tweetcore artists. This one is a fun one, it was great to collaborate with the other artists. I can’t really give you the scoop on that one yet. Too early to reveal who is on the mic and bass.  As for Fuzzruckus – I’m not sure. I might take a break. It can be a grind, the ups and the downs as an indie artist. And I’ve been going two years straight through right now. I do have some songs in mind that I’d like to put out, but I’ll have to see what happens.

Thanks for taking the time to talk to me!

Thank you Marc! I appreciate the opportunity to talk about my music. My music, and my dog, are my favorite things to talk about! I appreciate all that you do for the #tweetcore community! And thank you to all my tweetcore friends!