Indie rock band eyes first CD release

"The Band Fuzty" is an indie rock/funk band out of IU, Bloomington. The band plays upbeat music that keeps a level of energy that has grown them into an exciting emerging band throughout Bloomington and Indianapolis.

Their first single, "Little Johnny", was released on September 28, 2014 to hype up the release of their first CD. They are releasing the CD, "For What It's Worth" on October 23, 2014 at The Bluebird down Bloomington, IN.

The band is made up of Carmel-native Brian Collings (Carmel HS '12), John Zupancic (Cathedral HS '12), Michael Birk (Ritter HS '12), Joe Schweitzer (Lawrence Central HS '11), Matt Parks (York Community HS, IL '13).

For more information about the band and links to their music go to their website thebandfuzty.com or find them on Facebook at "The Band Fuzty" or on Twitter at @thebandfuzty . With a mix of their own music, James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, and The Black Keys, you will for sure find yourself dancing when Fuzty comes town.

Lead guitarist Michael Birk and drummer John Zupancic founded The Band Fuzty in the summer of 2013 after playing in bands together throughout grade school and high school.  Michael recruited friend and fellow IU student Brian Collings (lead singer/guitarist) to play with them on stage at a show for Welcome Week 2013.

The three loved the sound and groove that they had together, and with that the role of lead singer was filled. Three hours before a show in October of 2013, the band received a call that the keyboardist/guitarist who had been playing with the band would not be able to make it due to a work conflict. As this news broke, Matt Parks texted Michael Birk asking if we were playing that evening. We replied with, “Do you play an instrument?” He said yes and we replied with, “We will pick you up in twenty minutes, we go on stage in three hours.”

Matt showed up to the show, ended up playing the keyboard for the band, singing background vocals, and even played the harmonica on a few songs. Matt Parks instantly became a part of Fuzty. Following this, the four members played periodically until approached by future bassist Joe Schweitzer, who replied to a Craiglist post about Fuzty looking for a full time bassist. Joe came to play and has been a part of Fuzty ever since.

The first full shows that the band put in together was in the spring of 2014 where they played different shows at both IU and DePauw University for their Little 5 weeks, respectively. The following week, the band booked a show at local venue Rachael’s Café and have been booking house shows around town ever since.