Band: Big D & The Kids Table Member: Dave McWane Label: SideOneDummy Records Location: Carson, California Date: June 25th, 2010 Interviewer: Bobby Gorman

On the 2010 Warped Tour, Big D & The Kids Table only played one show - a major departure considering they did the full tour the year before and a good portion of it the years before that. This year they wanted a break and opted to only do the one show, the tour kick off show in Carson, California. An hour before they hit the stage, I saw front man Dave McWane wandering around back stage and asked him for an interview before he had to run away. He was gracious enough to give me a few minutes before going to get ready for their set and we talked about the tour, how punk The Millionaires are and, most importantly, their new album.

Bobby: Starting with the basics, you guys are only playing the one show on Warped Tour right?

Dave: Yeah.

Bobby: Do you wish you could do more?

Dave: Not this summer. We did last summer and two summers in a row is kind of hard. I think it’s kind of fun to just visit. See all your old friends and then be able to go off on your own. But I think we’ll probably do it next year.

Bobby: So you did the tour last year, do you have any advice for anybody who hasn’t done it?

Dave: I would say don’t do it in a van. At least get an RV, if you can’t afford it, do it with another band in a RV; because it’s just not healthy to do it in a van.

Bobby: Why not?

Dave: It’s just too hot. It’s just literally physically unhealthy. It’s not like a “yeah. go in a van and tour” – you can do that; but not “go in a van and do Warped Tour.”

Bobby: Yeah, not 41 cities in 53 days. It’s too intense.

Dave: Yeah, yeah.

Bobby: Did it do it in a van past tours?

Dave: Right now we’re in a van. We did it in a van once and then we did it in a RV and then we’ve done it in a bus.

Bobby: I remember reading an interview that you did with PunkNews last year that I really liked. Because last year, with Brokencyde and the Millionaires, there was the whole debate that Warped Tour should only be punk; and you said basically “what people don’t get is that there’s a whole bunch of piles of poop on here and everyone’s just pointing and going ‘look at that green pile of poop’ what they don’t understand is it’s all shit.”

Dave: [laughs] It’s true; and you know what people don’t understand is that the Millionaires, it’s a punk tour and they’re more punk than any of the bands on it. People are getting confused because the beat isn’t traditional punk. But they’re these gnarly girls doing gnarly things; they’re more like the Sex Pistols than half the bands.

Bobby: It’s kind of like Reverend Peyton, I was talking to him earlier and what he said – it was a great quote too – he said “In a world of margarine, I’m butter.” You just want to be real, that’s what matters.

Dave: I agree.

Bobby: Do you think, so far, that this year’s Warped Tour is going to have the same problems with people saying “oh, this band sucks.”

Dave: No, because Kevin knows the score. If he does a Warped Tour that’s too much of this or that, he’ll hear that and he’ll make the proper alterations. He’s smart and he has good tastes in music. If the kids ever wanted anyone to be in charge, he’s awesome.

Bobby: So what’s your take on the whole “Warped Tour should only be punk?”

Dave: I don’t think that’s a good idea because you want to get turned onto different styles, you want a broader spectrum.

Bobby: At the same time, how would you describe punk? Would ska be allowed then? Or would it only be GBH and Adolescents?

Dave: I think punk isn’t so far as the drum beat, meaning a punk is just a mean person – well not a mean person like “that kids a punk, that girl’s a punk” – just someone who’s a little gnarly. So The Millionaires could be punk; I always just think it’s more of the attitude. You know what I mean?

Bobby: That makes sense. One thing that’s cool about the Warped Tour is that there’s a unique atmosphere. There is the music, but there’s also the skate ramp, the midget show this year. It’s a pretty unique atmosphere.

Dave: Yeah. It’s like a circus. I always say it’s the modern day circus. All these people are modern American gypsies. I mean it’s great, I always want more of it. Sometimes they have to downsize the fun stuff so that things don’t go too crazy; but as long as there’s things to entertain us all. I mean, they used to be a water balloon fight area.

Bobby: Well normally – at least in Calgary where I go to the show – someone will dump over the water filled tank and there will be mud everywhere. So it’s cool but at the same time it’s like “don’t touch me, I don’t want to be covered in mud.”

Dave: Then your drive home is horrible.

We also have a new record coming out soon called the Damned, The Dumb and the Delirious.

Bobby: Oh really?

Dave: Yeah, it’s going to be total ska-punk and it should be out in the fall.

Bobby: Is it going to have the same feel as Fluent in Stroll?

Dave: No, I think this is going to be really fast, loud; I don’t think there’s going to be any slower songs on it. It’s going to be really balls to the wall. We just wanted to do that because we realized those songs are more kind of fun to play live.

Bobby: Like, LAX, to hear that live is the best.

Dave: Yeah. Fluent In Stroll we love as a record and we love playing the song but we want to write a record that makes every night for us, on stage, charged. You know what I mean?

Bobby: Yeah. One thing I wanted to talk about a bit about Warped Tour is how, like you said you come here to say hi to all your friends, so you do become friends with everybody you hang out with. It’s a tough tour but you have the backstage area, you have the barbecue, you have the poker tournaments. Do you think Warped Tour’s good for strengthening the punk community, building friendships and making future touring partners?

Dave: Yeah, I always had a joke that fans would get really pissed off if they saw the bands backstage. Because a lot of kids define themselves by “I like Gallows” or “I like All-American Rejects” or “I like Rancid” and “you don’t like this so I don’t like you.” What they don’t understand is backstage everyone pals around and everyone’s friends. NOFX is friends with 3Oh3!. So the bands get along, the bands don’t care but the fans sometimes define themselves by the bands. I think Warped Tour at least does that for the bands; the kids still might draw a line in the sand but the bands learn to get rid of that judging.

I’ll go on tour and I’ll be like “man, I hate that band so much” but then in a week I’m like “but they’re the nicest guys I ever met.” You know what I mean?

Bobby: You can still dislike the music but enjoy them as people.

Dave: You can still get along. Just stop being a hater.

Bobby: Yeah, exactly. Otherwise you get things like – I think it was two or three years ago – people were saying how the younger bands were having a lot of attitude towards the old school punk bands. I think Fat Mike was saying there were some bands who sold twenty-thousand records so they thought they should be headlining.

Dave: Yeah, yeah. There’s a lot of younger bands where their outlook is fantasy. They haven’t seen the world enough to see how the world works yet.

Bobby: But I guess Warped Tour’s a quick way to get that education and real life experience.

Dave: Exactly. And/or at the same time it will feed into their fantasy but it will only last a little longer.

Bobby: Also with all the bands becoming friends, there’s always a bunch of really cool collaborations on the tour. What would be one collaboration that you would love to see happen at Warped Tour?

Dave: Oh, a collaboration? Andrew WK and us [laughs].

Bobby: You’re the third person today to say “I want Andrew WK to sing with us.”

Dave: Well, Andrew WK – when I went on the Warped Tour when he first came, Andrew WK had to be really good with fans but he also had to be really good with bands. Meaning bands would come up to him as fans – like all of us. I’ve never seen this. There’s no other artist that all the bands love like Andrew WK. It’s funny; we’re all like geeky fans when he comes by.

Alright, I might have to get going because I often get scared before the show.

Bobby: No worries, thanks a lot for doing the interview.