Perhaps the only daily newspaper pop music critic in Southern California who doesn't know how to drive, Varga began writing professionally about music at the age of 15 in Frankfurt, Germany, where he grew up. He also spent 10 years drumming in jazz and rock bands in Germany and California.

Varga has written about pop music for The San Diego Union-Tribune since 1982.

His work has also appeared in Jazz Times, Billboard, Spin and other publications, and he has written the liner notes for more than a dozen albums by such artists as Michael Brecker, Larry Carlton and the band Happy The Man.

He has done in-depth interviews with, among others, Miles Davis, Ravi Shankar, the Rolling Stones, Chris Rock, Alison Krauss, Mos Def, Hugh Hefner, Paul McCartney, Dizzy Gillespie, Johnny Rotten, Diana Krall, Rage Against The Machine, Afro-pop pioneer Fela Kuti, Waylon Jennings, Memphis Slim, Frank Zappa, and -- over a game of chess -- Ray Charles.

Varga's 1990 review of a Madonna concert was the first anywhere to expose her extensive lip-syncing, and led to his being interviewed by Rolling Stone magazine.

He recently taught a course on modern jazz for the University of California at San Diego.