Curious what notable personalities in the scene think was great this year? So is TGEFM! So we reached out to some of our favorite luminaries ranging from musicians, label personnel, and more for their “Best of 2024” lists. Now, listen: TGEFM is not a taskmistress. Contributors can write these out however they want. So if it doesn’t actually look or read like a list… and sometimes it really is just a list with no other observations! Who cares?
There are people in this community who need no introduction. One of those beautiful humans is Big D And The Kids Table frontman David McWane. This punk and ska luminary was kind of enough to spend some time working with TGEFM to share some of the things he experienced in 2024 that help him keep a positive outlook.
I think the BEST thing I did in 2024 was try my best to stay positive and keep trying my hardest to do a good job every day. Like many of us, I live a life under constant pressure – financial worries, not enough time to meet society’s needs, loved ones dying, cruelty from others, and the deep sadness that a large part of America was tricked by an orange Dump – but, as I said, I stayed positive and kept trying my hardest to do a good job every day. And I always try and remind myself that 4th grade was flippin’ hard too! However, that is what it is like for most of us, so other than that optimistic appraisal of 2024 which I just shared, I’d say that I realized that John Williams is my favorite artist and that Danny Elman is my second favorite artist. I didn’t realize I could list composers as my favorite artist until this year. I loved that in 2024 BIG D finished writing and started recording our 30-Anniversary album. And I am grateful that Side One Dummy records is putting it out and that Brent from Exponential Booking has added BIG D to his roster. I am so dang lucky for that. I am also wicked happy that my other band CUIDADO finished up our new album as well and will be recording it shortly. In 2024 I started rereading my Charles Bukowski books and that has been a neat treat and my young self was so happy to watch WOLVERINE vs DEADPOOL. My cat Tsunami has decided I’m her person to sleep with and we have a nice evening and morning schedule that makes me feel special! I am all around just happy that I can play music, pack and send out fun mail orders and play live shows to people who actually care – that’s still nuts to me. I also perfected my Scottish meat pies and stew in 2024 – Yum. I was wicked-wicked happy that Northeastern University hired me back to teach and will do so in 2025. I knew 2024 would be a lot of work, but the work is to hopefully make my 2025 awesome.So hit me up next year and we’ll see!
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/
