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FUZZ HUZZI
FUZZ HUZZI 14 DAY CHALLENGE
Drinking a beer is easy,” says Fuzz-Huzzi singer-guitarist Allen Camp. “Writing, recording, and releasing a song is not. But we’re not letting covid stop us. Fuzz-Huzzi has been busier than ever in the studio. We are creating, writing, recording, and releasing a song on Spotify every 14 days, then we’re celebrating with a beer.” The band, which has seen an almost complete roster turnover and announced multiple hiatuses since forming in Imperial Beach circa 1994, plays Southern California rock with an indie feel and a classic-rock approach, specializing in a funky, bluesy alt-vibe. Their previous album Ghosts came out in September last year, promoted with singles such as the immodestly titled “I Am Rock N Roll.” Their current 14-day Song Challenge kicked off September 4 with “Let It Shine,” including a two-fer of Christmas songs on November 27, “Angels Heard on High” and “Little Drummer Boy.” The most recent track debuted December 25: “Today,” a listener-suggested acoustic version of a previously released song. “We had so much fun that we recorded nine unplugged tracks for an album called Lost Dog that we’re releasing in January with an outtake reel,” says Camp.
FUZZ HUZZI: The Story
HISTORY
Based in Imperial Beach, Fuzz-Huzzi's first lineup included Allen R. Camp (vocals, guitar), Andy
White (guitar), Cliff Barton (bass), and Mike Kamoo (drums). Kamoo was later replaced by Chuck Chaffin, aka Chuck-O, and other stickmen to go through the band over the years include Todd Woolsey and Tim Duff.
"We play Southern California rock with an indie feel and a classic-rock approach, with a funky, bluesy alt-vibe," says Camp, whose old band Misguided Children spent a lot of time in a van eating peanut butter in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The high point for his hardcore punk band was when Eddie Vedder booked them. (Before Pearl Jam, Vedder organized shows in San Diego.)
A debut full-length Release Me was recorded in 1996, in the El Cajon space that later became Mike Kamoo’s Earthling Studio, followed by the release of Rock and Roll Ain't Easy in 2003.
One of Camp's day jobs has been serving as music program director for the City of Imperial Beach where he oversaw a 32-track digital recording studio located at I.B.'s Sports Park on Imperial Beach Boulevard. The studio -- with microphones, guitar amps, and a drum set -- was made available for the use of any local teens that want to record. Through that program, in 2005, Camp recruited teen whiz Adam Baez for the band. Also soon to join were Lewis Hernandez (bass) and Chuck Chaffin (drums), with guitarist Phil Griebel joining in 2007.
The following year, during a performance at 4th and B, Fuzz-Huzzi drew the attention of Manager Randy Spencer. Through Spencer, the band was given an opportunity to record an EP with P.O.D guitar player Marcos Curiel producing the four song Smell the Streets of Hollywood EP.
Baez decribes their music as "Kinda like ice cream, only you eat it with your ears."
After Lewis Hernandez, Chuck Chaffin, and Phil Griebel left the band in 2009, they were replaced by Ivan English (bass) and Pete Abdou (drums).
"In summer 2009, our rhythm section quit after our first two-week tour," says Camp. "It was amazing how quickly we hooked up with our current lineup. We toured about six months and got offered to do a record with Kings Ransom Studios in Lakeside."
Fuzz-Huzzi's 2011 album Revival was produced by Jeff Sers, tracked by Eric Deland, and mixed and mastered by Jeff Sers at Kings Ransom Studios. The Lakeside facility also released the album on its own Kings Ransom Records label. The group has opened up for Modern English, the Rugburns, the Addicts, Tom Mac and the Strangers, the Dead Sixties, Chrome Cranks, the Dragons, and Unsteady.
As of 2012, Camp was the sole founding member, accompanied by Adam Baez (guitar), Ivan English (bass), and drummer Pete Abdou, though he left the band in 2012 to be a drum tech for the Danish band Volbeat.
Abdou was replaced by Tim Duff, who had been with the band off and on. “Duff filled in during a 2009 tour when Chuck Chaffin quit, so Duff was familiar with the Fuzz-Huzzi material,” says Baez. Then, during the troubled 2012 tour, “Allen’s uncle drove Duff from Phoenix AZ to Durango CO to fill in for a show, and urged Duff to join the band for the entire eight hour drive.”
Camp says touring isn't always the adventure they'd hoped. "We once had three dates canceled in a row in Medford and Eugene, Oregon, during a three-month tour. I just remember us being in a Laundromat with a local mag, looking for places to play. We wound up playing at a club in downtown Eugene during their bar-bingo night. We won all the bingo money and scored a gig for the next night, too. The downside is that we were on a budget and spent the night in our Astro van outside the Walmart, where it was about 25 degrees."
"Oh, yeah, and that time our drummer almost got us shot in Texas was pretty gnarly."
The band played what was billed as its final gig in late 2012, with Camp, Baez, Tseng, and Duff forming Freak the Mighty. By 2016, however, Fuzz-Huzzi returned to the stage. Another hiatus was announced after a July 2017 performance at the Boys and Girls Club of Imperial Beach.
Summer 2019 saw the release of "I Am Rock N Roll," the second single released in advance of their full-length Ghosts, released September 27.
