Article Contributed by Color Red
Published on 2026-03-01
Photo: Eva Blue
San Francisco-based retro rock group Fuzz Collective has announced their forthcoming album You Know The Reason, out May 15 via Color Red, and shared a brand new single, “We Won’t Be Together.” The band recorded the 12-song set in a day and a half at 2200 Studios in Sausalito, CA, with guitarist and producer Eddie Roberts — founder of the long-running soul-jazz group The New Mastersounds — at the helm.
“We Won’t Be Together” is a tribute to the acid jazz style of the Brand New Heavies, featuring complex jazz chords that entice listeners. The song is about a friend working through a troubled relationship, and the challenge of putting up a facade that everything is going just fine while hiding the reality of a problematic situation.
Fuzz Collective tracked in Studio B at 2200 Studios (formerly The Record Plant), where Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Wonder, Sly and the Family Stone, and the Grateful Dead recorded during the studio’s heyday. Fuzz Collective features guitarist and vocalist Jeff Yasuda, bassist and vocalist Ethan Beard, harmonica player and vocalist Pete Chung, drummer and vocalist Tim Fisher, and keyboardist and vocalist Jason Tavano.
The group formed in the early 2000s, simply as Fuzz. Some members have known each other since the 1990s — through different cities, careers, marriages, kids, and decades of shared reference points. “The band isn’t something that brought us together,” Yasuda says. “It grew out of already knowing and trusting each other.” That familiarity shapes the sound: the rhythm section locks without overplaying, parts leave space, and there’s “less posturing” and “less urgency to prove anything.”
All five members hold leadership roles across tech and finance. Yasuda is the founder and CEO of Feed Media Group, a company that helps fitness, retail, and connected-device platforms license music properly — connecting businesses that want music with the labels and rights holders who create it. “We make it easy for people to license music and make sure artists and songwriters get paid,” he says.
Roberts kept the sessions focused on full performances. Known for building records around live groove and minimal overdubs, he pushed the band toward simplicity. Drummer Tim Fisher set up inside the studio’s circular “drumbrella” mic rig, and the band ran the instrumentals start to finish without stitched rhythm sections or comped takes. “We hit record. We played it,” Yasuda says. Roberts set a boundary of three takes, and the band committed to complete passes, letting the pocket do the work.
Additionally, Roberts encouraged the band to remove more than they added. “What Eddie brought wasn’t flash — it was restraint,” Yasuda says. The band left small tempo shifts and imperfections intact. “It makes you less concerned with perfection and more concerned with capturing something real.”
On collaborating with the band and producing their sophomore release, Roberts offered high praise: “From the moment they hit the first track I knew this album was going to be in a different league from the first. They should be really proud of what they created. You Know the Reason captures the band taking a real leap forward.”
Recently, Yasuda played one of the tracks for jazz guitarist Rodney Jones. Jones listened and asked, “Do you like peaches?” Yasuda said yes. Jones smiled. “I don’t like peaches.” Then he added, “Some people are going to really like your music. Some people aren’t. It’s like peaches.” Yasuda took the point. “You have to have the guts to push it out there.”
“We’re not trying to ‘become’ something,” Yasuda adds. “We’re just trying to make the best music we can with the time we have — together.”
Track List – You Know The Reason
1.) I Can Tell
2.) Does It Feel Alright
3.) You Know The Reason (feat. Eddie Roberts)
4.) Selma
5.) Farewell To The Elephant
6.) We Won’t Be Together
7.) Messed It Up
8.) Run
9.) We The People
10.) Global Divide
11.) This Life
12.) Sons & Daughters
