Big D and the Kids Table: A Nightmare Before Halloween

After the 2005 Warped Tour, Boston's Big D and the Kids Table were ready to record an album of "chilled out, tripped out" dub songs, as frontman David McWane describes them. But before they went into the studio they were contacted by SideOneDummy Records, who were drawn to the band's uncommon combination of strict DIY work ethic (hundreds of fliers and stickers plastered everywhere at each show on the tour) and debauchery (their infamous series of "Little Bitch" beer-chugging videos became a huge hit amongst bands and crew members), not to mention their dynamic take on ska music and the fervent cult following they had amassed over a decade-long career. "SideOne called us up and said, 'You need to do a ska record. You need to do the record that ska needs,' " explains McWane. "So we decided to do it, and it's awesome."

Big D came together ten years ago when the members converged at college in Boston. Thanks to the insane live show they put together, the band built up a huge local following almost immediately, packing clubs, halls, dorms, basements - you name it - all over New England. They formed their own label, Fork in Hand Records, to put out their first album, Shot By Lammi, in 1997, and before long they were releasing albums by a stable of popular Boston-area bands, building a vibrant punk/ska scene around themselves.