NintendObs Asks: Mustin on the history of The OneUps and videogame music cover bands.
"I'm pretty sure we're the first band to do visuals of the game along with our live performance." A NintendObs Dailies exclusive interview.
Luther from NintendObs Dailies:
To begin with, can you tell me your history of The OneUps, from when it all started? You mentioned at PAX West 2016 how the members have changed over the years, how there used to be a saxo player — who then came back on your latest album — and you also mentioned how you quit but ultimately came back too. I want to know the story, the drama, the ups and downs (pun intended) of The OneUps within the range of what you're comfortable sharing, and how all through the years they made you a better and better band. Because as much as I love your entire discography, your eighth and most recent studio album, Volume 4, really is a testament to your combined experience.
Mustin from The OneUps:
It's a little fuzzy, because it was so long ago, but I believe it all got started in the fall of 2000. William Reyes (guitarist and longest permanent member) and Nathan McLeod (alto saxophone and flute) approached me. They had recently transcribed Super Mario Kart's "Koopa Beach" to play together as a duo and thought it would be cool to make a band. At the time, I was arranging and releasing video game music arrangements on the site OverClocked ReMix so it made sense that I'd be the guy they'd come to (I've been great buds with William's cousin and with Nathan since we were 13). I got together with William and Nathan in a University of Arkansas music practice room and we brainstormed the whole thing. They knew a local Jazz drummer by the name of Chris Strom (who was 50 at the time and had no idea what we were really doing), and we all knew trumpet player David Embree. I asked my then-recent collaborator and friend Dale North (now a video game/media composer) to join on the keys. I picked up a bass guitar and figured out how to play it and we were off to the races.
The first gig wouldn't be until September 28, 2002 in Roanoke, Virginia for the first MAGFest, but we performed a lot of local gigs over the next couple of years following that first show. David had a health issue and we lost our trumpet player. Chris needed to look after his aging mom so we lost our drummer. Dale was busy with an infinite number of things, and Nathan was busy playing gigs everywhere, along with his schooling in Kansas City (3 hours away), so we needed a new lineup. Somewhere in there for a good while, we had a real(!) bass player by the name of Matthew "Moose" Bridges join the fray. I only have recordings of him practicing in the garage with us, but he was with us during the 2003/2004 era. He left for the Navy, but he would be back. William was out of town in Chile where much of his family lives when I received an email from a Tim Yarbrough asking if he could jam with the band sometime. I initially said something along the lines of, "the last thing I want in this band is another guitar." (Because I infamously have a love/hate relationship with guitars). But with William in Chile, I needed a guitar player for a project I was producing at the time on my OneUp Studios label, "Xenogears Light." I had Tim come in, he nailed it, and I enjoyed his company. He ended up being a permanent member of the band, along with being down to do guitar stuff for me when needed. Greg Kennedy reached out to me from the OCReMix forums when he saw me using a University of Arkansas email address (I worked there for a while) in a message board post. Greg said he was attending the U of A. I told him I could see his dorm from my window. I asked him to record some violin for the same project, and he knocked it out. I invited him to join the band. William tipped me off in a very spy kind of way that there was a saxophone player in the U of A Jazz band that would sometimes quote the Super Mario Bros. theme in his solos and that I might want to do some reconnaissance. I attended a concert, was blown away by him, and went up to him after the concert to say, "Hey, I have a video game music cover band - do you want to join?" And Anthony Lofton laughed and said, "Yeah." The last thing we needed was a dummer. I went to my friend with whom I had been making music since 10th grade and asked him to join as a drummer. It took some convincing but he joined and has been a permanent member. This was the lineup that lead to the first album in 2005, Volume 1. Eventually, Greg left after Volume 2 for family, and Anthony did the same after the third album, Super Mario Kart album, so we've been rockin' a four-person band with X number of guests when possible.
But! Sometimes we will put out the TOU symbol and recall guests and former members. I left the band for family somewhere in 2012 but the guys put together an amazing group for both touring and for an album - Songs for the Recently Deceased (2014). Along with bringing Moose back into the fold on the bass, they called back both Nathan McLeod and Anthony Lofton to contribute, with a slew of new faces. I rejoined in 2015 when Moose moved away for work - just in time for me to help curate and produce the album Part Seven (2016) despite not having played on it, and the four of us have been going strong since.
With nearly 20 years of comradery between William, Tim, Jared, and myself, we are like brothers. We can anticipate each other's next move and can groove forever. Like brothers, we have our disagreements, but our nine albums to date are a testament to working together and the direct result of a strong friendship.