Fistah was born thanks to a naked ass. Back in 1994, Northampton’s legendary Unband—guitarist/singer Matt Pierce, drummer Eugene Ferrari, and bassist/singer Mike Ruffino—were at the height of their collective powers. Yet nothing could save the local hard rockers from a lifetime ban from their home base, The Baystate.
One fateful night, Pierce sported spandex while Ferrari drummed nude. As they revved up the crowd, a couple of “normal-looking guys” were peering into the window behind them.
“They were kind of gawking at Euge’s naked ass,” recalls Pierce. “So I decided to press my buttocks up against the window pane and spread my butt cheeks a little bit, and they just kind of nodded and laughed a little.”
Post-gig, the two normal-looking dudes—who turned out to be undercover policemen—were in the bar, and proceeded to serve the musicians a court summons for their playful stunts. The Baystate was punished for violating various permits, and The Unband was banned.
“Fistah was born out of a need to perform,” says Pierce. “We thought it would technically be a different band if we changed the name and added a new member. We added Mike Flood and Jeff Halpin, and we just kind of made up songs on the spot. It kind of sounded the same, because we had this innate thing going on, but it was sort of free-form hard rock. I was listening to a lot of Ornette Coleman and free jazz and stuff like that, and I applied it to Motorhead and AC/DC, and that’s what we came up with.”
Fistah played a number of shows, but went quiet when the Unband left town and signed with TVT. After things fell apart on that front, Fistah was reborn. The group has played sporadically over the years, with various incarnations including Pierce and usual mainstay Ben Licata on bass, along with the likes of Ferrari, Dave Keating, Kurt Fedora and Mink Rockmoore. The current lineup features Pierce, Licata and Ferrari along with newcomer Chris Croteau on guitar. The band’s sets are generally more structured affairs now, but still feature some menacing jams. Pierce, an avid record collector and walking music encyclopedia, always promises a few “surprise” covers for each live set. An album has been in the works for some time as well, which the group would ideally like to release on vinyl with a digital download. Fistah would love to gig more, but life and its responsibilities have proven distracting. A side benefit of this reality is that they’ve stored up a lot of energy in their dormancy which they are determined to unleash at their first show of the year at The Elevens on July 30.
“The hammer of adulthood has come down on us—kids, jobs, houses,” Pierce says. “But the rock on Friday will be even fiercer, for us and the fans. We’ve got to fit a year’s worth of rocking into one night.”
Fistah plays The Elevens in Northampton July 30 at 9 p.m. along with The Brought Low (NYC) and Sun Gods in Exile (Boston). For songs and more information, visit: www.myspace.com/fistah.
