Mr. Rogers inspired a generation of America's youth to get along with each other, respect their elders and eat three full meals a day. But he did more than just that -- he gave Eddy Crichton, a psychology senior, a name for his new band.
"The one time I watched television, it was Mr. Rogers," says Crichton, 22, who plays drums and sometimes guitar in the band. "There were a lot of friends who started a soccer league, but they got too competitive and weren't friends anymore." Mr. Rogers suggested the two groups form a Reindeer/Tiger Team, and inspiration for a band name was born.
Two years after the band formed the Team is going strong. Formed by Crichton and Steven Reker, 23, a dance senior who sings and plays guitar, the band has toured the West Coast and released a self-titled EP. After friend Greg Campanile joined the group, the Team is now more ready than ever to go.
Crichton says, Reindeer/Tiger Team plays its music simply because "it never occurred to us not to."
SPM: All three of you are students. Is it hard to handle the tension between being in school and also finding time to be a musician?
Crichton: The reason I'm in school is because I don't really know what else to do right now. All I really want to do is play music, but I don't have the guts to drop out and do that. That's pretty much the reason I moved back here after going to school in Portland -- I didn't have anyone to play music with there.
Campanile: You could've done a drum show.
SPM: Reindeer/Tiger Team is typically listed as an indie rock band. What does that even mean?
Crichton: For me, indie rock is confined by noodley guitars and showoffy drums. My mom's seen us, and she actually likes us. My dad thinks we're troubadours.
Reker: He thinks we play ballads.
Crichton: We're the balladeers!
SPM: At your last show, you were spotted wearing cut-off jean shorts. SPM ran an article the week before about fashion, which included an ASU heartthrob wearing cut-offs. Any connection?
Campanile: I don't personally have any cut-offs.
Crichton: We used to have a band uniform, but then we got rid of them. We wore blue jeans, a butterfly belt, and a shirt that said "Reindeer" and "Tiger."
SPM: If one of you was Reindeer and one of you was Tiger, how would the roles be assigned?
Reker: Yeah, maybe they match our musical temperaments.
Crichton: Reker's really stoic and majestic. One time Reker was looking at a horse in a magazine and he was just blown away by how majestic it was.
Campanile: You're more like a tiger because you're fierce on the drums.
Crichton: I do have certain tiger-like qualities.
Reach the reporter at benjamin.horowitz@asu.edu.
