Big D and the Kids Table is a ska punk band formed in October 1995 in Boston, Massachusetts when its members converged in college.[1] Their first release was on their own Fork In Hand Records label,[2] but have since teamed with Springman Records and SideOneDummy. The band has been noted for its strict DIY work ethic,[3] such as engineering, producing, and releasing their own albums and videos and self-promotion of their own shows.[1]
In 2000 the band recorded a gangsta rap album, Porch Life, and distributed it unofficially via cassette tape. In 2003 the album was officially released on CD through Fork In Hand.[2] They have also recorded splits with Melt Banana, Brain Failure, and Drexel.
Big D and the Kids Table have played 200 shows a year, on average,[1] in support of such bands as Less Than Jake, Streetlight Manifesto, Catch 22, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Dropkick Murphys, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Mustard Plug, The Pietasters, Rancid, Alexisonfire, Reel Big Fish, and Anti-Flag and have become a regular performer on the Warped Tour. The band has also performed in the Summer of Ska Tour 2006 and the Ska Is Dead tour.
In the fall and winter of 2007 the band embarked on their first-ever large scale headlining tour, The Steady Riot Tour, named after the 2007 release.
Name origin
Different stories exist about the band name's origin, especially about running over pets named Big D. However, lead singer Dave McWane has said that the band actually got their name when a friend told him that if he ever started a band he should call it Big D and the Kids Table, so he did.[4]
Band history
Early Years (1995-1998)
Big D and the Kids Table was founded in 1995 when members converged at Berklee College of Music in Boston.[5] Despite a frequently revolving lineup, the band built up a large local following almost immediately, packing clubs, halls, dorms, and basements in and around Boston. The band formed their own label, Fork in Hand Records, to put out their first album, Shot By Lammi, a split with Boston punk band Drexel, a side project of several Big D members (under assumed names).[5] Soon, their label was releasing albums by a stable of popular Boston-area bands, building a vibrant punk/ska scene around them. Following Shot By Lammi, the band released a Live EP. Early on, they also began their tradition of holding an annual Halloween concert at home in Boston.
Good Luck, How it Goes, Strictly Rude (1999-2009)
In 1999, Big D signed on to Mike Park’s Asian Man Records and released their first full length album, Good Luck.[5] Big D picked up the award for Outstanding Ska Band at the 1999 Boston Music Awards.[5] The band returned in 2002 with The Gipsy Hill EP and continued with their busy show schedule (playing an average of 200 shows a year), as a split EP with Japanese noise rock act Melt Banana appeared in 2003. Also in 2003, the band released a gangsta rap album of their songs recorded in 2000 on their own Fork in Hand Records. Fueled by a D.I.Y. work ethic since early on, the band's small but loyal fan base kept growing through incessant grassroots touring and promotion, all with little label support and money. Big D hooked up with part of the summer's Warped Tour and played at Vegas' Ska Summit.
In 2004, the band signed to Springman Records and released How It Goes.[5] They headed out across North America in 2004 on the Ska Is Dead tour with Catch 22, Mustard Plug, and the Planet Smashers. Following the release of How It Goes, Big D released several music video variations of their cover of The Specials’ “Little Bitch”, taking place in Montreal, St. Pete, and on Warped Tour. While continuing to tour with bands such as Suicide Machines, Reel Big Fish, and Streetlight Manifesto, the band released a limited edition EP entitled Salem Girls for Halloween 2005.[5] This was the first recording featuring new drummer Jon Reilly. Also in 2005, “You Lost, You're Crazy” from How It Goes appeared on the Warped Tour 2005 Tour Compilation as Big D toured with Warped Tour again.
In March 2007, Big D released Strictly Rude and proceeded to tour with Anti-Flag, Alexisonfire and Set Your Goals in the Spring of ’07. That Summer they were on the Vans Warped Tour and followed it with a Fall US Headlining tour. In the summer of 2008 they were a part of the Shout It Loud tour along with Less Than Jake, Goldfinger, Suburban Legends and Westbound Train. In early 2009, they did a short east coast tour with The English Beat.
Fluent In Stroll, and For The Damned, The Dumb and the Delirious (2010-2012)
Fluent In Stroll was released by the band on July 7, 2009. They spent the summer promoting the album playing the entire 2009 Warped Tour.
Following the conclusion of the Warped Tour, they embarked on their 2nd headlining tour, which took place throughout the fall of ’09, called the “Not Fucking Around tour.” It was named after the track on the new album (in the same way “the Steady Riot tour” supported Strictly Rude). illScarlett served as direct support for the majority of the tour.
Sean P. Rogan departed the band in 2009, with Suburban Legends' Brian Klemm replacing him on guitar through 2010, when Nick Pantazi joined. It was also around this time that Chris Lucca (also of Suburban Legends) joined the band on trumpet.
On June 25, 2010 Big D played the Carson, California stop on Warped Tour. This was the only stop on the tour the band would go on to play that year. In an interview done on the same day for thepunksite.com, McWane stated that the band is set to release their next studio album entitled, "The Damned, The Dumb and the Delirious" in 2011. On January 5, 2011 the band announced on their Facebook page they would be playing the entire 2011 Vans Warped Tour.[6]
In late November 2011, the band announced they were cancelling the remainder of their European tour in support of For The Damned, following lead singer Dave McWane's diagnosis with thyroid cancer.[7] After surgery and radiation, McWane was declared cancer free, and the band went back on tour in April 2012.[8]
Tenth and Eleventh Studio Albums (2013-present)
In early February 2013, it was announced that the bands' next release would be two separate records, one ska/punk album, and another reggae/stroll/dub record. The band is currently accepting donations to the records via Kickstarter. Within an hour of being online, the kickstarter had already raised more than 20% of the $20,000 pledge. During this process, Alex Stern joined the band on Guitar. Trumpet player Chris Lucca and Guitarist Nick are no longer listed as members on the bands Facebook page.
Members
"Doped Up Dollies"
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Brianne Finn — backing vocals
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Sirae Richardson — backing vocals
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Hayley Jane — backing vocals
Former members
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Nick Pantazi — Guitar
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Chris Lucca — Trumpet
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Marc Flynn — vocals, trumpet, valve trombone (Shot By Lammi, Good Luck)
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Sean P. Rogan — guitar, keys (Shot By Lammi, Good Luck, Gipsy Hill EP, How It Goes, Strictly Rude, Salem Girls, Beijing to Boston, Fluent in Stroll, For the Damned, the Dumb & the Delirious)
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Max MacVeety — drums (Shot By Lammi, Good Luck) (reunited with Big D for six shows in February 2009)
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Dan Stoppelman — trumpet (Shot By Lammi, Good Luck, Gipsy Hill EP, How It Goes, Strictly Rude, Salem Girls, Beijing to Boston, Fluent in Stroll, For the Damned, the Dumb and The Delirious)
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Gabe Feenberg — trombone (Shot by Lammi, Good Luck)
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Chris Bush — tenor saxophone (Shot by Lammi, Good Luck, Gipsy Hill EP, How It Goes)
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Chris Sallen — tenor saxophone (Shot By Lammi, Good Luck)
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Jon Lammi — guitar (Good Luck)
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Jason Gilbert — drums (Gipsy Hill EP, How it Goes)
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Jon Reilly — drums (Strictly Rude, Salem Girls, Beijing to Boston)
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Brian Klemm — touring guitarist (2009–2010)
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Nicole Oliva — backing vocals (Fluent in Stroll)
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Simone Oliva — backing vocals (Fluent in Stroll)
Discography
Studio albums
EPs
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Live EP (1998, Fork In Hand Records)
1. Introduction
2. Fatman
3. Draw the Line
4. Hey
5. Tommy
6. 51 Gardner
1. Salem Girls
2. She's Lovely
3. Oo Ie Yah
4. Baby Don't Cry
5. Salem Girls [Dub Remix] Hidden Track
6. She's Lovely [Stripped Down] Hidden Track
7. Salem Girls [Instrumental] Hidden Track
8. (Untitled) Hidden Track
1. Noise Complaint
2. Shining On
3. Halfway Home
1. Wicked Hardcore Christmas
2. Wicked Hip-Hop Christmas
3. Wicked House Christmas
4. Wicked Hallicinogenic Christmas
5. Wicked Hip-Hop Christmas [clean version]
1. Lash Out (1:29)
2. Not Our Fault (1:44)
Splits
Music Videos
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Jeremy (1997)
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The Difference (2002)
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L.A. X (2004)
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My Girlfriend's on Drugs (2004)
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Little Bitch (2005)
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Noise Complaint (2007)
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Shining On (2007)
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Have Yourself a Wicked Hardcore Christmas (2007)
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Fluent in Stroll (2009)
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We Can Live Anywhere (2010)
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It's Raining Zombies on Wall St. (2011)
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Flashlight (2012)
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One Day (2012)
Remix albums
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Strictly Mixed and Mashed (remix album with dj BC) (2008, Fork In Hand Records)
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Rude Remix Revolution (remix album with various artists) (2009, Silver Sprocket)
Compilation appearances
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Skarmageddon 3 (1997, Moon Ska Records)
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Mailorder is Still Fun!! (1999, Asian Man Records)
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Club Zed (2001, Headcore Records)
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A Far Away Place (2002, Robot Racket Records)
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The Giant Rock 'N' Roll Swindle (2002, Fork in Hand Records)
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The Rocky Horror Punk Rock Show (2003, Springman Records)
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State of the Union Volume 2 (2003, Union Label Group)
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Danger Zone Records Presents: A Call for the Underground (2004, Danger Zone Records)
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2005 Warped Tour Compilation (2005, SideOneDummy Records)
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Pucknation Dot Com: The Album II (2006, Little Heart Records)
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Ska is Dead (2007, Asian Man Records)
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2007 Warped Tour Compilation (2007, SideOneDummy Records)
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2009 Warped Tour Compilation (2009, SideOneDummy Records)
References
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^ a b c "Strictly Rude - Bio" (web). bigdandthekidstable.com. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-10-28. Retrieved 2007-11-24.
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^ a b "Strictly Rude - Disco" (web). bigdandthekidstable.com. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-11-01. Retrieved 2007-11-24.
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^ "Warped Tour 2007: Big D and the Kids Table" (Web). warpedtour.com. 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-10-10. Retrieved 2007-11-24.
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^ "Interviews: Big D & the Kids Table". Punknews.org. November 8, 2003.
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^ a b c d e f http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p437557/biography
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^ Vans Warped Tour
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^ Big D and the Kids Table on Facebook
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^ http://www.punknews.org/article/46402
External links
