FOR THE FANS

Guster formed back in 1991 after the members met during freshmen orientation at Tufts University, a college in Boston. These artists received college educations and graduated prior to going pro. Once the diplomas were distributed, Guster (Ryan Miller, Brian Rosenworcel and Adam Gardner) hopped in a van and began touring. \nPlaying the streets in Harvard Square and then moving to larger venues, Guster has developed a substantial fan base. To some, Guster may have appeared to have just recently popped up on the mainstream music radar. However, they have happily been rocking out just beyond the reach of mainstream's claws. \n"Whenever I do interviews, people always ask, 'Well, what do you think of your sudden success?'" Rosenworcel says. "Well apparently it hasn't been anything like that. It's just been a constant progression since we started touring when we graduated from college. We did four years in a van and we've been in a bus for five years, and over the course of nine years on the road … the fan base has just grown and grown to where it is now. So it never felt like anything (happened) overnight."\nThe last time Guster visited Bloomington was two years ago. Now Guster returns to Indiana University April 21, playing at Phi Delta Theta in honor of the annual Little 500 bike race. \n"In the backs of our minds we're all pretty excited about it, cause it gives us an excuse to drink and play," Rosenworcel says, and then corrects himself. "It's never happened, we're always sober on stage."\nRosenworcel's favorite memory from his past visits to Bloomington is performing with fellow rockers Flickerstick. \n"(They) opened for us and they behaved like rock stars, but who could blame them -- they're Flickerstick," he laughs. \nRosenworcel hopes to create some new memories on the road and looks forward to taking advantage of his visit to Bloomington. \n"We do have bikes now on the road, so if it's warm, which it should be next week in Indiana, I hope we might bike around," he says. "We do like to see the local hot spots."\nJunior Zach Wyckoff, a member of Phi Delt, says he is looking forward to Wednesday's show.\n"(Guster is) a well-respected band coming to a well-respected place … they'll put on an awesome show. Overall, I'm pretty excited," he says. \nThe buzz around campus is perpetually growing, and fans are gearing up to see this self-proclaimed, hard-working band. \n"Guster is the best band since Styx," says sophomore Tommy Fecarotta. "'Guster is for Lovers' ... and that's damn right," he claims, of the popular slogan printed on some of the band's T-shirts.\nA band which has built a fan base from its live shows, Guster has developed some traditions along the way, from counting down "4… 3… 2… 1…" during the chorus of "Barrel of a Gun," to hurling ping-pong balls on stage at the conclusion of "Airport Song." Rosenworcel will always remember one particular show. \n"We played somewhere recently where we had to be really close to the front of the stage and there was no sort of security or any sort of boundary between the stage and the people, so it was pretty much someone holding a ping-pong ball point blank taking a shot at me," he says. "I'm like five feet away from them and they drilled me right in the head, but it was cool … I felt like I was Henry Rollins in Black Flag in the '80s and people were throwing bags of puke at me or whatever happened back then, but not really. It was just some suburban kid throwing a ping-pong ball."\nEven after this incident, Rosenworcel still feels good about the fan interaction. \n"You know participation is key to our show," he says. "That's clever enough because it's based off a ping-pong match in the background of the track." \nAt its inception Guster was a trio, but it has recently acquired a new pseudo-member who has accompanied the original three in the studio as well as on tour. Joe Pisapia is the guy on stage playing the keyboard and the bass who has given Guster's vibrations more capacity for euphoria. \n"We got this friend of ours playing with us for the last year or so," Rosenworcel says. "He's a great musician and a great producer and I think he'd have a lot to add to the recording process and maybe the writing process … I think he'll help us amp it up."\nThroughout the years Guster has put out four CDs from Parachute to Keep it Together -- and now fans will finally be able to throw their ping-pong balls from the comforts of home. Guster will also be releasing a DVD on May 18. \n"It was recorded in Portand, Maine, so it's called 'Guster on Ice,'" Rosenworcel says. "It's got wintery images throughout. It came out really well; there's a lot of fun extras, and it's really creatively shot, so we're pretty excited about it."\nThe DVD can be pre-ordered at www.guster.com. Along with the new DVD, after the summer tour is completed, Guster will return to the studio to generate a new record.\n"I think that we want to keep things up-tempo in the next record," Rosenworcel says. "We don't really know where else its gonna go except that we want to keep the energy up, 'cause we find ourselves hitting the age of 30 and getting a little mellow, so we want to be conscious of that."\nOn April 21 the gates open at Phi Delt at 5 p.m. Mike and Joe, a cover band which frequents the Bloomington scene, will be opening the show. Tickets are $15 pre-ordered and $20 at the door, and are currently still on sale.