Interviewed: Mr. Varsity
Originally posted 08.03.03

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Driving around the parking lot, looking for a spot for ten minutes, I remember why I don't go to malls anymore. I wonder why I asked Mr. Varsity to meet with me at the Coral Square Mall in Coral Springs. Maybe I was watching the Tiffany episode of "Behind the Music" at the time.

The Coral Square Mall experience can be best summed up by the kids who wait outside for their parents to pick them up. They're all dressed in the latest, coolest outfits, which right now is oversized jerseys mixed with gold chains or carefully torn black clothing, which can either be goth or punk, depending on what kind of sneer is on your face.

In some ways, the mall is a lot like the South Florida music scene. People obsessing with what they've been told is cool, quick to despise something that gets popular and with no one really venturing out to separate from the crowd.

"Kids should just come out to the shows and try to enjoy themselves and not worry about who they're trying to impress and just have a good time," says Mr. Varsity bassist Rich O'Toole. "That goes for [local] bands too. Just try to play music and try to put on good shows and have a good time. If you're not doing that, then what's the point?"

Mr. Varsity joined the South Florida music scene in May 2001. "[The band has] never been about impressing people," says drummer Dan. "It's just been about going out and having a good time with your friends."

Drew Bonds, guitars and vocals, explains, "It was Dan and I in the beginning. We got together and knew we wanted to play music together. I just moved down here and he was pretty much the first friend I had. He played drums and I played guitar. We started out just jamming a lot of BTO covers and REO Speedwagon. Then we wanted to play original music." Bob McKnight, guitars and vocals, joined soon after. The band would undergo a few line up changes before O'Toole joined.

The most recent of those line up changes was the July departure of former singer Nick "Spaz" Malara. "He's a really good friend and we love him but he wasn't progressing as much as we wanted [him to]. We really thought we could go a lot farther if he wasn't part of the band," explains Dan.

Bonds and McKnight will be taking over Malara's former vocal duties. The band debuts as a four piece on Sunday, August 10th at a show at the Pompano Indoor Skatepark. "It's a combination of excitement and nervousness," Bonds says of how the group feels about the upcoming show.

If you do a yahoo search on the name Mr. Varsity, in addition to the band's website and reviews it has gotten, Breakfast Club quotes and references to an elderly bartender come up. That isn't where the name comes from, however.

"Our old bass player [Aaron]he played varsity football and it was a nickname I had given him before we even started the band," says Dan. "When we were coming up with names, Aaron's best suggestion was Sliced Bread, so we can say we're the best thing since Sliced Bread, after we got rid of the name. I said, how about Mr. Varsity? We were pretty indifferent."

"We're still indifferent about it," Bonds adds, laughingly.

The band is definitely not indifferent when talk turns to the local music scene.

"I think the general consensus of everyone in the band is that [the scene] sucks. The kids come out [to shows] and they sit in the back and try to be cool. If they don't know you, then they don't show support and they don't like you," Bond says. "No one's really into hearing new bands. They want to hear what they know and if it's not what they know and if they don't think you're cool, they don't like you. It's this whole mentality of being cool down here that we absolutely hate."

McKnight adds, "I think all the kids who just sit there with their arms crossed [at shows] they're really just jealous that they're not up there, that they don't have the ability to do it. So, they're just going to sit there. And you know what? Tough shit. We're going to rock out every time and we're going to put on a good show. If people just let their guard down and not worry about what their friends think, they'd have fun."

Another point the band brings up is the frequent backstabbing of bands, amongst other bands and local fans.

"The thing I hate about the scene down here the most is a band like A New Found Glory. [They] came up and they're huge now. If New Found Glory came by right now, [everybody in Coral Springs] would kiss their asses, but as soon as they're gone, they'd be calling them sell outs. It's like, you don't even know them, you don't know anything about them. They just happen to be from your hometown. Have some pride," Dan says.

"You've got to give them props 'cause they came from your hometown. They came up from playing Club Q and now look what they're doing. People just talk so much trash down here," says Bond. "The term 'sell out,' we never really understood anyway. Basically, selling out means getting your music to more people and making money. What's wrong with that? If it's going to be your job, at least make it a good one."

Regardless of some of their experiences with the scene have been, the group is quick to point out the good.

"[The scene] is pretty bad but there are exceptions," says McKnight. "It has it's ups and downs."

O'Toole adds, "There are a lot of cool people and cool bands. There's so many cool kids who make being in a band and playing shows fun."

The group stays focused on the positive while planning for the future.

"Hopefully within the next year, we'll get a few tours together and we want to have a CD ready by then. So, soon we're going to start to get our shit together to record a new CD," O'Toole says.

The group did record an EP two years ago, but you won't hear any of that material at their live shows.

"They were good songs. They were well written songs. They were just a different style than what we do now. We kind of grew up, as songwriters and musicians and people. So our music grew with us. [The old material] was more a poppy punk rock, but now it's more serious rock and roll," says Bond. "We're just ever evolving."

"If anybody hasn't seen Mr. Varsity in quite awhile, [they should] definitely check us out sometime soon. A lot of people base their opinion [on the band] on our older stuff," says O'Toole.

"It's been a huge change in the past two years and I only see it changing more and with change, I only see it getting better." Bond explains the current sound of the group. "[The music] is becoming more mature. We've been listening to a lot of different styles of music over the past two years. We're taking a more serious look at it. Right now, it's starting to sound like Strung Out, NOFX, Thrice, that kind of stuff."

It is apparent just in conversation that the band really does listen to a variety of music. Call it ageism on my part, but with the band ranging in ages from 18 to 21, I don't expect them to know about half the bands they reference. I can't believe it when they make a Captain and Tennille reference when speaking about McKnight and Bond handling the band vocals. "We just have band meetings were we get together and watch VH1," says Bond when I mention my disbelief.

I have seen the band live and heard some of their recorded stuff. I know they're great musically, otherwise, I wouldn't be interviewing them. However, for a group that constantly speaks of how nice they are, I am impressed that they really are nice. Polite, even.

"We're really all about being nice kids and playing rock and roll. That's just what we do," Bond says.
That niceness and the band's genuine talent have been rewarded, earning the band several impressive shows. They have shared the stage with bands like the Suicide Machines, Glasseater and the Spitvalves, to name a few.

"[Playing with] Stretch Armstrong was especially great because that's one of our favorite bands, all four of us," says O'Toole.

The band also won a spot on the Ernie Ball local band stage at Warped Tour 2002's South Florida stop. "It's definitely when I look back one of my favorite shows," says Dan.

For now, aside from plans for a new CD, the band is scheduling more shows, including a possible East Coast tour.

"We're definitely going to be booking a lot of shows in the fall. Not a lot down here but mainly around Florida. We want to play a lot more [outside of South Florida] because we've gotten a taste of what it's like," Dan says. "We've played in Tampa and Orlando and we really like going to other places and playing besides the places we've played the past two years."
          
The band is refreshingly upbeat and it is obvious that they won't lose that focus, even when surrounded by some of the negative aspects of the scene.

Bond sums up the attitude behind Mr. Varsity. "We play and write music and that's what we love to do so that's what we're going to do. No matter where it takes us, if it doesn't take us anywhere, it's still a passion."

Pics from the Mr. Varsity interview


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Interviewed: Mr. Varsity
Originally posted 08.03.03