Smoke Magazine Interview with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy

Source: Smoke Magazine, March 1997

Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
by Seven McDonald - Photograph by William Mackenzie-Smith



Big Bad Voodoo Daddy have been playing original Swing music in Los Angeles for seven years.

Thanks to the success of their friend Jon Favreau's indy film Swingers (which they are in), the world has finally caught on to their music, and their scene. With a world tour scheduled for this summer, songs on the sound-track's to Swingers and "Party of Five" and a new album in the works - these cats are definitely on fire. Scotty Marshall, the big bad band leader takes time out at Loz Feliz's pre-eminent jazz club, The Derby, to share a little something with us about Swing, Daddy-O!

What is Your favorite cigar?

A nice fat Macanudo. Most of the other guys smoke the cheaper ones because, if you smoke too many, it gets a little expensive, especially when you are on the road.

Explain the Swing movement. Why has it become so popular?

It is totally Americana. It is people standing up for American culture. Style and class are coming back. A guy can't go wrong by putting on a beautiful suit, a beautiful tie, going out with his woman, and dancing one on one. No one is going to look back at this scene and go, "Well, gosh, I feel like a fool for wearing a real great suit and having a stylish tie." Nirvana was a great band; it is not their fault they wore Pendletons and jeans.

You guys always look great. Where do you get your suits made?

East L.A. You go to those old tailors that have been making zoot suits for fifty years; they still make 'em and they still make 'em right.

What are your favorite items in your wardrobe?

My ties and my hats. My shoes that I pretty much wear on a daily basis are wing tips. I bought them when I was fifteen; they were a dark brown when I got them and they are just a blasted real light brown now. I just got them resoled. I wear those with everything. I wear my shirts pressed. It is just the way it is.

Part of the fun of going out is the ritual of getting dressed up.

That's right.

Who would you rather be, Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin?

I would like to be Frank Sinatra because he is the Chairman of the Board. He is the man.

What is your favorite car?

A 1960 Cadillac, it's blue, it's got whitewalls, it's got four doors, and it is huge. I have always been dying for that car; the owner lives right around the corner from my house. I always say, "Big cigars and big bad cars - that's what it all about."

Do you make sure you can smoke at the clubs you play beforehand?

You just do it [smoke], until somebody tells you not to. A lot of people get mad and say you can't smoke a stogie until ten. If we are rolling with a pack and are all smoking, they don't care.

It is always so much fun to go to a Swing club. People will just come up to you, hand you a drink and ask you to dance. It is unheard of for a scene that is considered "hip" to be so inviting.

This is about throwing a great party. There is always going to be those people that are cooler and hipper then everybody else, but that is the minority. The majority are the people going out and having a good time, and they are the ones with the biggest smiles.

What did you do before this?

I owned and operated a surf shop with my brother. I started Big Bad Voodoo Daddy with my surf buddies. This band is a labor of love.

Is it hard to write for a horn section?

I start with a horn melody. I love the horns - the thirties, forties. I like the real primitive stuff, the way James Brown constructed his horn sections. I even love how the real modern bands use horns, like Oingo Boingo.

What was it like when you first started out, people must not have known what to think?

We were just a rag-tag band, playing fast psycho-swing. Nobody knew how to swing, but the shows were great. We were dressing up, wearing big hats, and smoking cigars. People used to compare us to Tom Waits and Duke Ellington.

What do you consider romantic?

When a couple that has been married maybe fifty years, gets out on the dance floor and starts swinging. That love and spark in their eye - I think that's romantic.

What is Your favorite cocktail?

It depends on what you are doing. When you walk into the Derby for the first time, immediately with your cigar, you have a Cosmopolitan. If you are eating good Cajun food, a spicy jalapeno vodka martini is the king - with a Macanudo. That goes on the record.