Article Contributed by Color Red
Published on 2026-05-21
Photo: Courtesy of Color Red
You Know The Reason is the new sophomore album by Fuzz Collective, available now via Color Red. The band recorded the twelve-song set in a day and a half at 2200 Studios in Sausalito with guitarist and producer Eddie Roberts — founder of the long-running soul-jazz group The New Mastersounds — at the helm.
Watch “I Can Tell” Official Video
They 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.
Fuzz Collective 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. “There’s less posturing. Less urgency to prove anything.”
All five members hold leadership roles across tech and finance. Yasuda is the founder and CEO of Feed.fm, 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.
As a working musician, he understands the value of that structure from both sides. Rehearsals happen at night, after work and family obligations. “We don’t have time,” Yasuda says. “We make time.”
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. The band committed to complete passes and let the pocket do the work.
“I Can Tell” opens the album with a steady pulse and a cascading, mod-era keyboard figure from Jason Tavano — reminiscent of The Who — that anchors the track. The vocal circles a dawning realization — suspicion giving way to clarity.
“Does It Feel Alright” grew out of Yasuda reading Louise Erdrich’s The Round House, a novel centered on jurisdictional injustice and the failure of legal systems to protect vulnerable communities. The groove stays grounded while the lyric repeats its central question, allowing the tension to linger.
The title track, “You Know The Reason” feat. Eddie Roberts, rides a tight boogaloo feel. Each verse stacks small inconsistencies until the line “I can sense the treason” lands. Roberts adds a Wes Montgomery–inspired octave solo — melodic, clean, and deeply pocketed. He played Yasuda’s Gibson 339. “Sheesh,” Yasuda recalls thinking, “why can’t I get my guitar to sound that good?”
“Selma” draws from the lineage of protest soul, referencing the march from Selma to Montgomery and the promises embedded in American rhetoric. The bridge drops into half-time, shifting the weight without adding density. “Farewell to the Elephant” leans into chant sections and psychedelic looseness, using the elephant as a symbol of recurring division.
“We Won’t Be Together” opens harmonic space between guitar and keys while stating plainly: “I’m not on your side / You’re not on my side.” “Messed It Up,” inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window, jumps directly into its chorus and rides clipped ’70s funk while asking, “Is my vision always true?” “Run” uses horror imagery to reflect the instinct to avoid what feels overwhelming.
“We The People” settles into a collective cadence. Yasuda ties the song to his family history: his father’s family was relocated during World War II. “Everything was taken from them. They started from zero.” That experience informs how he hears phrases like “We the People,” and the song carries both belonging and doubt. “Global Divide” keeps the arrangement tight while addressing polarization and environmental strain. “This Life” pulls inward, leaving more air between parts and focusing on what remains within individual control.
“Sons & Daughters” closes the record with a steady ballad loosely inspired by the chord movement of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” Yasuda recently dropped his oldest son off at college — “It destroyed me,” he says. “I was a wreck.” The song sits with those complex emotions inherent to parenthood.
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.”
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,” he adds. “We’re just trying to make the best music we can with the time we have — together.”
