David McCormack: ‘I’m not down with the Taylor Swift haters’
The Custard frontman — and voice of Bluey’s dad — on questionable live music trends, taking his daughters to see Taylor Swift, and bringing joy to the world while playing a cartoon dog on TV.
David McCormack, 55, is a screen composer and frontman of indie rock band Custard. He is arguably better known as Bluey’s dad, Bandit.
I’m not a pot guy. I don’t think I’ve smoked pot in, like, decades. It just used to make me paranoid; I’d get too freaked out. I wasn’t one of those ‘Get up in the morning, have a bong or two’ people. Some people can function like that; I’m full of admiration for them. But that’s not me; it would only be an accidental drag on a joint, and then, ‘Oh man, how could anyone do anything when you’re stoned?’
Live music today is a totally different world, isn’t it? Everyone’s so much more aware of consequences. Back in the ’90s, there were no consequences. There was no public liability insurance; there weren’t even security people. Remember stage diving was the thing? There would be this conga line of people going up the side of the stage, onto the stage, jumping back into the mosh pit, then back again. It was a real thing in the early ’90s – even bands like us, who didn’t really deserve it, you’d have people doing that. No one could do that now; the security people aren’t gonna let it (happen), because if someone jumps off and they break their neck, the venue is gonna be sued.
Most live sets are way too long these days. My sweet spot is, like, 45 minutes – and then, if everyone is really happy, we’ll do an encore for 10 minutes, then ‘See you later’. Sometimes you look at these worksheets and it’s like, ‘You’ve got to play for 90 minutes, plus encore’. What are you talking about? How can anything be interesting for that long?
I’m not down with the Tay-Tay haters, man.I went to Taylor Swift with my daughters, and it was great. I said to my daughter Rose that it was maybe an hour too long; she was like, ‘No way, dude, you couldn’t have lost one of those songs’. I know a lot of people of my generation are like, ‘It’s just the same song over and over again; it’s just the same chords’. They can’t stand it. It’s like, dude, have you heard of the blues? That’s the same chord progression for a million years!
The chances of me being noticed as the voice of Bluey’s dad in a big crowd like that are… none. No chance. The only time I’ve been noticed is at Bluey’s Big Play; it’s this live action (stage show) thing they do with puppets. I took my kids to see the premiere in Sydney. Walking out, I was talking to them, saying, ‘Hey, what did you think? That was pretty cool, right?’ And that’s when all the other kids were looking at me weird, going, ‘Wait, that guy sounds like Bandit Heeler – what?! ‘ But no, I never get recognised anywhere, which is great.
When it comes to my role in Bluey, my daughters… love it. They don’t watch the show anymore – they’re 10 and 12 – but they did when it started, they were about four and six. Every morning they’d get up and we’d watch Bluey, and they’d be enamoured. But nah, they’re past that; now it’s just TikToks about skincare and beauty treatments and stuff. Can’t compete with it.
We did watch (28-minute episode) The Sign together, though. I had an early copy, so I was flexing my dad cred by letting them see it a bit early. I wasn’t emotional when we were doing it, because I only read my bit, so I don’t really get much of the whole entire story, because you’re just reading it dry. But yeah, I did get a bit emotional; we all did. It’s a big deal, moving house. I guess from a canine point of view, it’s just a show about humanity, isn’t it? We all go through the same stuff, whether you’re a parent or not.
Becoming best known as Bandit Heeler is… bizarre, isn’t it? And it’s bizarre how easy things can happen; you might smash your head against the wall trying to get known in America. I’m sure in the ’90s, I would have jumped at any publicity avenue – but unless there’s something like a Custard record coming out, then I’m not really that vibed on it. I’m not what you would affectionately call a ‘fame whore’, you know. ‘Do you want to go to the Logies?’ Nup – not interested.
What brings me more joy – screen composing, Custard or acting as Bluey’s dad? That’s tough. I couldn’t pick a favourite. The easiest one is probably being Bandit, because it’s not really a creative thing; someone else has done all the thinking, I’ve just got to perform it. Whereas the other two – Custard and the screen composing stuff – are equally enjoyable, but take more effort.
As for what brings the most joy to others? That’s definitely Bandit. It’s really obvious when you meet people who are so affected by the show. It’s had such an impact, and it’s so across the world – whereas the screen composing stuff is very much behind smoke and mirrors. Rarely would anyone ever stay to the end of a show to watch who did the music. I did five series of that Rake show for the ABC but no one would know. Custard is good because it’s 100 per cent me, visually and aurally there. We’re right there, in real life. I like to call it ‘the immersive ’90s rock experience’.
Custard’s ninth album, Suburban Curtains, is out now via ABC Music. The band’s 14-date tour begins in Sydney (November 9) and ends in Brisbane (December 21).
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