Veterans of the Victoria music scene, premiere emo pop-punk band poor sport blend catchy pop punk riffs with emotionally-charged lyrics and melodic harmonies.
The Zone @ 91-3’s August 2024 and final Band of the Month for the year is poor sport. The band is fronted by guitarist and vocalist Noah Edwards, guitarist Eric Paone, bassist Jon Graves, and drummer Mike Battle.
After the Rocktographers photo shoot, Tyson Elder caught up with poor sport frontman, Noah Edwards, to share Lactaid and Canadian stereotypes while chatting about the band.
And with that, the 2024 season comes to an end — well, for The Zone @ 91-3’s Band of The Month (sorry, we had to sneak in one sports reference).
Tyson Elder: Noah Edwards, frontman of poor sport – welcome and congratulations on being August 2024’s Zone Band of the Month.
Noah Edwards: Thanks!
TE: It’s really exciting to having a heavier and more melodic band like poor sport as a Band of the Month, especially to round out the year of great music. It just shows the diversity of sounds in our local music scene, with pop-punk, garage rock, singer-songwriter, indie, folk, and every other genre represented this year. 2024 might be our favourite year of Band of the Month yet.
Noah: Thank you, we’re really stoked to be included among some really great artists! It’s been an incredible line up this year; we have a lot of talent in this little city.
TE: Before we get too far into this interview, Noah, I have to confess something and I hope you don’t take it to personally… I love the band’s music almost as much as I love Mike, Eric, Jon and you but I’ve been avoiding taking pictures at your concerts…
A long time ago, at one of your early shows, someone in the crowd threw a beer at me and killed my camera. It sucked a big one and I held the grudge a little too long. I still came to your shows for fun but not to photograph… you could say I was a bit of a poor sport myself. Sorry.
Noah: Sorry to hear that that happened! If we’d known we would have kicked that SOB to the curb.
TE: After our Band of the Month photo shoot downtown, you sent me a picture of you holding a pack of Lactaid. I had this vision during our shoot in my head of the four of you standing around eating ice cream and all the boys were really excited about the idea as it was like 30C out. Little did I know – much like myself you are lactose intolerant. Sorry.
I feel like I’m going to be apologizing this whole interview but this is the last one – I swear!
Noah: With all these apologies this has to be the most Canadian start to an interview ever. You know what they say: anything for the shot!
TE: Okay, now that all my confessions and apologies are out there for the world to see, let’s talk about poor sport. The band has been grinding away for the past few years and even before that, the four of you were all very established musicians in Victoria. Where does poor sport find itself in the city’s music scene and beyond?
Noah: We’re all veterans of the Vic music scene at this point, that’s for sure. There seems to be a resurgence of pop punk and emo music fueling a new wave of angsty music and we are here for it. COVID really hit venues and the live music scene hard, but it’s been really cool seeing it bounce back, and people coming up with creative ways of putting on shows. We’ve been developing friendships with bands in Vic, Vancouver, and in the interior of BC. We’re hoping to expand that to Alberta and beyond and are excited to be playing with Edmonton lads Calling All Captains at the beginning of next month.
TE: There was once a thriving emo and pop punk scene in Victoria, but it seems to have scaled back. Folks like Ben Wittrock from Razorvoice have been keeping the scene alive with his celebratory Pop Punk Nights. Personally, I’ve been circling back to more and more of the pop punk and emo music of my youth lately, and same can be said for many of my friends. Maybe it’s nostalgia, or maybe it’s because we connect with the honesty of the lyrics of the songs more. Have you been seeing a renewed interest in the genre and people wanting to connect to genuine music like poor sport?
Noah: Absolutely, I think with anything in pop culture there are ebbs and flows. There have been some bands leading a new wave of pop punk/emo/midwest emo like Hot Mulligan, Free Throw, Youth Fountain, and The Story So Far who are pushing the genre forward. We’ve been finding folks at shows and online that have been connecting to our sound. It’s an exciting time to be putting out new music.
TE: Last Call is not only your Zone @ 91-3 Band of the Month single, but also poor sport’s first single since the release of your 2023 EP, apartments. What can people expect from the new song?
Noah: This one feels a little more fun and tongue-in-cheek compared to the emotional heaviness of the EP. We wanted to write something that felt like a party as well as a **** you. I think the way I described the song to Jenny West was a mix of twinkly emo guitars, scream-along-in-your-car vocals, and chaotic drums.
TE: A lot of work goes into producing a band’s first album or EP. Did you find approaching your your follow up to apartments different?
Noah: The apartments EP felt more like painting in broad strokes – we were trying to define what kind of sound we wanted to have. A lot of the final details on the songs came together as we were recording them. This one was a lot more rehearsed before going into record, and we had a more finished idea in our heads before we recorded it. We were excited to get Zach Tuch’s take on them, he mixed and mastered last call. He’s worked with some really great bands like Movements, Heart Attack Man, and Knocked Loose so we knew we were in good hands.
TE: Can we expect more new music from poor sport to follow the release of last call?
Noah: Absolutely, we’ll have a few followup singles this fall, and are working on our next EP!
TE: You’ll be playing the Pop Punk Party on September 1st at Lucky Bar and — for the uninitiated — let’s just say that poor sport puts on one heck of a live show. It’s hard not to leave one of your gigs with a sore voice from singing along, being sweaty from moshing, and maybe . . . covered in someone else’s beer. What’s been your favourite moment of connection with an audience as a band?
Noah: Honestly it’s the whole reason we do all of this – that 30 to 45 on stage is when all the work we’ve put in comes together and we can just have fun. We’ve had a lot of special moments in Victoria, but some of the last shows we did in the interior were wild – we played some cities we’ve never performed in and were stoked to see some people singing along. I love having those little moments on stage and feeling that energy come back at you.
TE: Thank you for taking the time to chat with me, Noah. It’s been great catching up with you about poor sport. Congratulations on being 2024’s final Zone Band of the Month.
I’m sorry I made you eat that ice cream.
Noah: Thanks so much Tyson, as they say forgive but never forget. I sincerely hope no one throws beer at your camera again!
August 2024’s Band of the Month, poor sport, will be blowing out your speakers with their single, Last Call, on The Zone @ 91-3 all month long. The song is available for download, along two other songs, and more photos from Rocktographers, on their Band of the Month microsite.
Rocktographers is a proud supporting sponsor of The Zone’s Band of the Month program.