Jose “Villain” Nevarez

As long as he can remember, Jose “Villain” Nevarez has had a deep and eclectic love for music. A child of separated parents, his father was a DJ for hire who frequently played all types of events from backyard parties to weddings and even nightclubs and more! To keep his customers happy, Villain’s dad kept a wide variety of music in his record crates. Villain recalls MANY weekends at his dad’s house wherein his father made mix tapes as a side hustle, thus exposing Villain to a plethora of genres of music.

In the summer between eighth and ninth grade, Villain discovered an acoustic guitar in the garage of his family’s home; his mother was holding it for a friend who entrusted it to her. Villain would sneak it down from the rafters while his mom was at work and began teaching himself how to play. When he felt confident that he could do well with a newer guitar, he gathered up all his courage and asked his mom for a guitar of his own. Her reply was, “why don’t you just keep playing the one in the garage?” Busted!

From then until about the age of 17, he would beg, borrow and barter his way through several more guitars hoping to find the one that would unlock his skills. Instead, he was approached by two young men - each of these young men were dating one of his two older sisters. They had a band and they needed a drummer. Villain was open to the idea, but didn’t have a drum set. After convincing one of the band members to loan him his set, everything changed.

Villain would spend the next year fervently trying to play all his favorite songs instead of seeking lessons and learning basic techniques, but felt he was learning well on his own. However, his life took a drastic turn when he decided to join the United States Marine Corps. Through all of his training and follow-on schools, he tried his best to at least keep a guitar handy; he even borrowed money from a fellow Marine to buy a secondhand (possibly third or fourth-hand) guitar while deployed to the east coast of Africa.

It wouldn’t be until Villain was about 26 years old that he would meet Justin Lee Fox - the frontman for a local band out of Riverside, California. Villain would follow that band until they dissolved due to conflicts of interest. Being aware of Villain’s musical background, Justin offered Villain a spot as a lead guitarist in a new project. Villain declined the offer, asking to play drums for the startup instead. Even though Villain had no resume to speak of OR a drum kit of his own, Justin gave him a chance and lent his personal kit to the cause.

It was a rough start at first, with Villain struggling to rediscover his decade-old chops. Eventually, he would convince himself that he was “just good enough” to help the newly formed band hold a rhythm and write songs until they found a more competent drummer.

But the new drummer never came. And that band became Fox & The Red Hares.

Villain was now fully locked in and committed - he bought a used drum kit and began amassing a collection of mismatched cymbals and hardware. This did not satiate him for long though, as he had learned from the Marine Corps to constantly seek improvement.

Without ever breaking stride with Fox & The Red Hares, and to challenge himself, Villain would join another local band from Redlands, California called “What.” for a few years until members moved away and full collaboration was no longer possible. It was during this time of overlap, in the early months of 2019, that Villain would become a part of the Soultone artist family. Which is, to this day, one of his proudest achievements as a musician.

As of 2023, Fox & The Red Hares has released two full albums (independently from any label) and is presently working on releasing two EPs by the end of 2024, with a full album to follow soon after. Villain still plays guitar and various other stringed instruments in his spare time, but feels the most pride when playing drums with his band Fox & the Red Hares or at any open mic night that will have him.

“I still don’t consider myself a great drummer, by any measure - but when people see my kit with my name emblazoned on EVERY cymbal…their reactions do make me feel like kind of a badass!” -Jose “Villain” Nevarez

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