Mike: I’m sitting here with Ari Herstand at The Meridius, which is a place of legendary significance in Minneapolis for those of you who know the music scene (Ari laughs). Ari is actually going to be moving to LA very shortly at the end of summer, and we’re all sad to see him go. So we had to sit down with Ari and talk to him at least one last time, just to sort of get a few words and talk about the history of what Minneapolis, the music community, and really the culture in general has meant to Ari being here. Really, speaking of where we’re at right now, we’re sitting on your patio at The Meridius, this house that you’ve lived in for the past three years. Can you tell me a little bit about being here?

Gabe Douglas

Ari: Yeah, well I was living alone before this—right near the Electric Fetus—for a couple years, and I loved living alone. But a couple of the Roster McCabe guys were living here and they were using the basement as their rehearsal space. They needed to find someone to fill a room. I wasn’t really thrilled about moving in with other people again. I had kind of a not-so-fantastic experience in the previous place I was in with other people. But the guys convinced me that it’d be a lot of fun and I’d have a rehearsal space, which was a big plus. So I moved in, and The Meridius—the name given by our roommate Gabe [Douglas, from The 4onthefloor, The Fontanelles and more]—turned into the hangout, I guess.

We’ve had I think eight or nine different people who have gone through this house in just the last three years that I’ve been here, and all of them have been musicians or artists of some sort. This is the place where we had after-parties after the shows and parties in general. Gabe hosted a basement concert series. There was a meat raffle, a cake shot walk, and in the basement the bands played. It was fun; just been a great hangout for all of us and a lot of friends and musicians. After shows we’d all come over, get drunk, and jam out in the basement, and I remember one night—I think it was after The Unknown Order—that we all just traded off jamming and freestyling. One of my more embarrassing moments, but it’s just been a great time.

Mike: One of your more embarrassing moments? What was that? (Ari laughs)

Ari: No, no, no, I don’t get embarrassed. (Laughs) It was fun, I freestyled.

Mike: So you’ve been here for three years, and you said you moved in with the Roster guys. How well did you know them before you made that jump?

Ari: I didn’t really know them that well. We played a few shows together. We’ve been relatively close I guess in some form since they started as a group and I started playing out [circa 2004]. And of all the musicians in Minneapolis, Roster McCabe and I have been consistently the closest. I mean I didn’t really know them as friends that well originally, we were more acquaintances that played shows together. Since I kind of had a year head-start on what they were doing, they brought me over to their old place some times and asked me my opinion or advice on their demos, and we kind of worked together a little bit in that respect. We weren’t nearly as close as we are obviously now, or even a year into it. But we were friends, it was, I think in ’07 when I moved in. We started getting to know each other in ’04 when we played at The Steak Knife [in Dinkytown; now Tony's Diner]. In ’04/’05 Roster and I were doing a lot of Steak Knife gigs, and it just happened that we were placed on the same bills cause we both just played there all the time. We got to know each other better and then chose to play more shows together.

Alex Steele and Drew Preiner from Roster McCabe with Ari Herstand at The Varsity Theater, 9/28/06

Mike: You’ve been playing around town for the past six years since you got to college at the U of M, but one of the most influential or biggest places you’ve gotten to play over the years is The Varsity Theater. You’ve literally played there more than anybody else, I mean I’ve seen you play there like 24 times! (Ari chuckles) So if you could tell me a little about you and your history with The Varsity Theater, because you will be playing your big farewell show at The Varsity on August 12th. So it’d be cool to go into a little about how you know the place, how you remember the place, how it’s changed over the years, the people… tell me a little about that.

Ari: I remember when I lived in Dinkytown ’04/’05, and I was working at Erbert & Gerbert’s in it’s former location where I think there are apartment buildings going up now. I’d walk from 15th and 4th Street down to my place, which was on 12th and 4th Street, and I’d pass The Varsity every day. I’d also pass Know Name Records and CD Warehouse where I spent way too much money every day. But I think I remember seeing a banner up in the window [of The Varsity] that Feist was coming. This I think was early ’05 or something like that, and I didn’t even know that they had concerts there. And then right around that time, I think it was late ’04/early ’05 they were having auditions for a play, for “Closer”. [i.e., the movie "Closer"] I was in theatre all through high school and I did a little theatre outside of high school in my first year of college. So I was intrigued, and I actually didn’t know what the space was like inside. I went in and talked to anyone I found in there, which happened to be Jason [McClean], the owner, because he’s extremely hands-on. I mean he built that place from the ground up, literally, with his hands. I talked to him about the auditions for “Closer” and what he was envisioning for the space.

The Profits

And then in September, I saw that guys I knew—The Profits, from Madison—had a show at The Varsity. I talked to them about opening for them. I’d already kind of built up a little following, a University of Minnesota draw just from playing The Steak Knife and some other coffee shops around campus. So I told them I could bring some people. So they let me open the show and that was my first experience at the Varsity. And already, in its earliest stages, there was an incredible lighting and sound system. Erik Stromstad was working there; he’d been there from the beginning. I think he had been hired probably right around that time, so he was on that show as the tech manager and the general manager at The Varsity.

From that very first time that I played there, I completely fell in love. I mean it was absolutely the best venue that I had played up until that point—which didn’t really say much at the time—but still, to date, after playing hundreds and hundreds of shows around the country, it remains to be my favorite venue. It’s really Jason’s artist vision; he is an artist. And it took him being an artist to build up an incredible artist hub, an incredible headquarters for artists of all different sorts. I’ve seen dance productions there. I’ve seen theater productions there. Now they’re having a lot more weddings and Bar Mitzvahs… but it became most musicians’ favorite venue in Minneapolis, at least in my circle.

They really took care of the artists and took care of the things that are important to us. Like working equipment, which a lot of venues—especially around the cities—can’t say that they have. A tech manager that was friendly and who—in his early stages of being a studio engineer—had a great ear for music, was down to earth, and very atypical when it comes to sound engineers. I mean your typical sound engineers are usually assholes with giant chips on their shoulders, but Erik was very cool, very down-to-earth, and extremely friendly. Just having a venue where you basically look like rockstars performing up there! They had fog and kickass lighting, which not many venues in Minneapolis have. And in it’s early stages they had—on occasion they’ll still put it out—beds with quilts on them, couches and candles. You were transformed when you walked into The Varsity Theater. It was unlike any other place, any other music venue.

So we all really liked that as artists; we connected on a very personal level with that space and what they did there. It was more than about just giving us a place to perform; we could find places to perform, that wasn’t an issue. But having such an incredible venue, stage, and setup to perform in. And every opportunity I got I tried to perform there. I talked to Jason after that Profits shows and had my [first] CD release [Baby Eyes] there in December ’05. Right after that, I was just like, I don’t really care to perform anywhere else, except The Varsity Theater. It would be nice to experience the other venues of Minneapolis from a performer’s standpoint, so I still will. But at the same time, it’s very difficult to top what The Varsity Theater offers.

I pitched to Jason starting a monthly series, and we came up with the idea of Happy Hour Happenings. It was one Friday a month, and I hosted a different opener each month with different drink and food specials. So we tried that for the second half of ’06, and then for the first half of ’07 we turned it into a weekly series to try to get something more regular going. I think that was every Monday late afternoon/early evening.

Ari Herstand’s Happy Hour Happenings at The Varsity Theater, 6/9/06

That’s really how I got to perform at The Varsity more than any other artist. I think I’ve counted over 40 shows that I’ve performed at The Varsity, and every time I’ve had a big Minneapolis show over the last 5 years, I’ve chosen to hold it at The Varsity Theater first. And if The Varsity wasn’t available, then I’d move to a different venue.

So The Varsity has been my home, and I’ve gotten to know the staff there. People have changed over the years, but bartenders Carrie and Todd have been there from the beginning. Erik, he’s no longer there unfortunately, he just left last summer. And I helped get some of my friends jobs at The Varsity cause I knew people there so well. It’s been a nice spot, so I felt it only fitting to hold my farewell concert at the place where basically it all started. And really the place that I fell in love with as a musician and as an artist so early on in my Minneapolis experience.

Ari Herstand at The Varsity Theater for the CD release of Whispering Endearments, 9/12/08

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posted August 11th, 2010 at 7:50 pm MN Rock Ari Herstand