It’s been awhile but Big D and the Kids Table have finally posted an update about how life is going on Warped Tour. They include some info about about their new album “Fluent In Stroll” which came out about a month ago on Side One Dummy and some band member changes. You can check out all the details straight from the source right here.
Tour Update 08/05/09
It’s been too long since my last tour update, way too long. Sorry about that. We are in the second half of the Vans Warped Tour and it’s just not reality, it’s Warped Tour. As our good friend Jon Cheese says, “There are three parts of my life. Being home, being on tour and Warped Tour.”
The most exciting news is that Fluent In Stroll, our new record, our baby, our favorite thing that we’ve all ever done, has been out for about a month now. We all couldn’t be happier with it. It’s different, but it’s honest. It’s not Ska music, it’s Stroll music! We never want to make the same record twice, and this one has definitely never been made before.
We spent the winter huddled up in our rehearsal loft/living quarters in Roxbury, Massachusetts writing the record. It was an interesting process to say the least. We noticed some separation happening between our drummer, JR, and us while we were in the early stages of Fluent In Stroll. JR ended up leaving the band. It was his decision and he did what he needed to do. We wish him the best and have so many great memories of him being a part of Big D.
Luckily, our singer, Dave, happens to play the drums…and he plays them very well. So Dave picked up the slack and wrote the record behind the drums. It was fun writing like that. He was pulling double duty by creating the songs with the band, then taking the demos home to write lyrics. It worked.
We collaborated with Joe Gittleman from the Mighty Mighty Bosstones again and he always manages to get the very best out of us. With studio time booked and no drummer, we just kept writing and fixing, writing and fixing. Oddly enough, we got a random message sent to our MySpace account from a drummer looking to tour.
Adding a new member to Big D is not an easy decision. But an obvious one came when we met Derek Davis. He’s a fantastic drummer and has become a great friend. He learned the whole record in a matter of days and is the drummer on Fluent In Stroll. He’s on tour with us and is now part of the family…and it’s great.
If you’ve been out to Warped Tour this summer, you will have certainly noticed some other additions to our line-up. The Doped Up Dollies are our new back up singers. We wanted a new element to our songs, that sound that Ray Charles and Bob Marley capture so well with their back up singers…we wanted that.
We have four girls singing on the record. There are two groups of two. The first group is Nicole and Simone from the band, Tip the Van. They spent the first month of Warped with us. These girls have such a great sound, making two voices sound like one. They have perfect harmonies and a positive vibe.
The second group, who are on the road with us now, have a different sound from the Tip the Van girls. Hayley Jane and Sirae are two individual solo artists from Boston. They hit it off the very first day. They bring a spice and attitude to Big D that is captured on the record as well as the stage. They are quite the team.
So the record is done and now we’re playing some of these songs live…and it’s great. One of the coolest feelings in the world is seeing people sing new songs. We love that. If you’re interested in seeing photos from the studio, check out the Big D MySpace page and there is a whole album of studio photos.
Now we’re on tour. We are having a great time and making a lot of new friends, seeing some really cool bands, and planning our next tour for the fall. We’re also trying to help out the Eco Initiative again this year and want you to help too. If you’d like to help, follow our Twitter @BigDStroll. Steve has been navigating that ship and loves getting new friends.
That’s all for now. Come say hi to us on this last half of Warped Tour and be sure to wear your sun block! Oh yeah, congratulations to our trombone player, Paul E. Cuttler. He got married to his main squeeze, Jen, before tour. Two Cuttlers is better than one. And a couple of weeks after Warped Tour, yours truly, Sean P. Rogan, will be following suit with MY main squeeze, Emily.
Things are good in the world of Big D and the Kids Table. We have so much exciting stuff coming up that I can’t talk about yet…you’ll just have to stay tuned until next time.
Thank you for the support.
sean
bigd