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Warped Mind
An interview with Warped Tour founder
Kevin Lyman
By
Melani Alleshouse |
When I got the text message from Vizion, the press room
supervisor, that Kevin Lyman had set a time for my interview with him, I was
extremely excited. I mean, I was getting the chance to sit down and talk
with the man who has helped launch hundreds of careers, has given millions
of fans around the country a summer festival to look forward to, and as I
found out, is extremely humble about all of his success. We got comfortable
on his large, plush couches inside his amazing tour bus, and settled in for
a great and informative conversation.
Utter Trash: What is it like being the founder of
something so huge like this?
Kevin Lyman: It actually feels pretty good getting up every morning at 6:00,
parking buses all morning, and then actually all these kids coming out. When
we started this thing, we put in the same amount of work and effort, but it
was really hard the first years to get kids to come see the show. We had
like the 'core' kid who was like really into it, and it's built, and I think
we give a lot of kids a great day, like a great day for their summer. It's
fun to talk to kids, but it's kinda sad, they come up and are like 'This is
the greatest day of the summer,' and I go, 'C'mon, there's gotta be
something better than this'. [All laugh.] And they're like, 'No, no...I look
forward to this,' and you know, we're already working on next year. I'm
giving up alot of my other projects right now, because I'm really kind of
disenchanted with some of the things going on in the business, but I'm gonna
focus on this, because if it's the only thing I do for the rest of my life,
it's okay. It's not a bad thing to do.
UT: You must have a lot of people come up to you every
day, saying 'Thank you' for putting on such an amazing show.
KL: You know...it's kind of strange. It was funny, my wife was out for a
couple of days, and she never comes out or anything, and she's like, 'Oh my
God,' and that's the best part. Not that I want that, but when younger kids
come up to me and are like....yesterday four kids come up to me and go, 'Mr.
Lyman', which Mr. Lyman has always been a weird thing in my life, but now
I'm like 'Oh, that kinda works out here'. But they're like, 'We're almost
ready', and I go, 'What do you mean, you're almost ready?', and they're like
'We've been coming to the Warped Tour for four years and now our band's
almost ready to play'. And I'm just like....'That's really cool. Send me an
e-mail, say you saw me in Indianapolis, how we met, and I'll take a listen
to your record'.
UT: That's awesome that you take time, with young bands
that you don't know anything about, and you actually take the time to check
them out.
KL: Well, that's the world I came from. I came from working in the clubs,
working on small shows, working backyard parties. Really, this show feels
like a backyard party. A big one. But the kids feel comfortable at the show.
I was reading that there was a big riot at a Dave Matthews show, and I think
people looked at the Warped Tour, like we were a dangerous bunch of punk
rockers out on the road. But I think we entertain, and we give kids value,
and they don't wanna get in trouble. They wanna explore, they wanna have a
good time, and open their minds. Jerks used to come to the Warped Tour, the
first couple of years, it was kinda like that whole punk scene...and then
the jerks were like 'you can't really be a jerk at the Warped Tour', because
no one is a jerk at the Warped Tour. You might have a jerky security guy in
a t-shirt once in awhile, but overall everyone here is very helpful, and we
try to breathe that energy back into the fans, and when everyone leaves
here, they're thinking 'well I learned something'. Whether they learned
who's the next big band, you know Bleed the Dream, or someone they saw on
that small stage, they just saw them close-up, they met them, they shook
their hand. That builds a lifelong bond with these bands so they're not so
dependent on being on MTV or the radio. Like you guys have probably met
'that band', and became loyal to them, even if they're not big. You know, go
see them in clubs and stuff.
UT: Oh yeah, that's the best thing about this tour.
It's so easy to meet the bands. Obviously like Story of the Year or
Yellowcard, it's harder, but even they go out in their tents and meet their
fans.
KL: Yeah, and like last year, they were in the small tents!
UT: Exactly...so it gives kids a chance to get advice
from who they look up to.
KL: Yeah, and I have people asking 'How long is this tour gonna go?', and
I'm like, you know...at one point it was never supposed to be ten years, I
never thought about it when I started it. Now I'm like, what's wrong with
doing this? This is great! And if kids keep coming, and for me it was like
at one point, get rid of *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys, and we outlived
them, I think. And now like Britney and Christina are on the way out, and
Warped Tour is still here. I'm giving kids an alternative choice, to what
they could be in high school. For me, they can come to the Warped Tour with
$100, go home with five CD's, four shirts, whole back-to-school wardrobe, or
they can go see one show, pay the ticket price, and get one t-shirt. Turning
kids on to music is great. It's funny how many records the bands actually
sell. You know, they say kids are stealing all the music by downloading. I
don't think it's our scene. Our scene actually supports the bands, they'd
rather buy the record if they're available to them. Sometimes you can't find
the records in stores, so you have no other option. But they feel like,
'yeah, I'm taking money from this person', because you have loyalty to them.
But if you look at someone like Christina Aguilera, it's like, 'ehh...so
what if I take song from her'. No one would even notice.
UT: Seeing like Yellowcard, Story of the Year, those
kind of bands...last year they were much smaller stages, and seeing them
build up to what they are now, do you like feel like you can take a little
credit for that and feel really good about it?
KL: I absolutely feel good about it, but I also have to continue to
recognize the smaller stages. The kids that are out in these little vans,
driving every night. One thing, they're never hungry on Warped Tour. There's
always food around. It's not like the old punk Warped Tour, where we always
had more beer than food. My friend owned a beer company, so he gave us beer,
but we never had any food. Fans need to know that these little bands are out
there putting in the hard work, like a minor league baseball team. So I'm
like....oh, Moments in Grace, Yesterday's Rising...all these bands, I'm
going, 'Alright, next year'. As long as I pull two or three of those bands
up each year, it's worth the bands coming out and doing all this hard work.
UT: How do you decide like what new bands come on tour?
KL: It's a big process. It's the normal things like the agents, the record
label, everything...everyone wants their band on here. I get on the internet
now, I see what kids are talking about....you know, Fear Before the March of
Flames, I got turned on to them through the internet, tracked down a kid who
knew all about them, and he sent their music. And you know....I got an
e-mail from this girl who said the Warped Tour sucks this year, because the
bands are all too popular, they're not hard enough. So I wrote her back, and
I'm like, 'That's a great opinion. What would be your great lineup? And if
you don't like it, why don't you start your own tour? Have only the bands
YOU wanna hear.
UT: Do you kind of feel like a father figure almost?
KL: Definitely. Today I was having a conversation with an artist that's at a
turning point in his career. He's supposed to come out on the tour, and he's
just at this point going, 'Now I'm into real estate. I was in this great
punk rock band, but would you mind if I didn't come back this year?'. I'm
like, 'No, that's a turning point'. Alot of the younger bands come and ask
me for advice. I don't know why they're so scared...they're so scared to
come talk to me. I'm pretty accessible, that's why I'm here too. I want
someone to be able to come talk to me.
UT: If for some reason this hadn't lasted as long as it
has, what would you be doing?
KL: I'd be a school teacher. I teach classes in California, at a community
college in music business. A lot of the kids that went there, work out here
now.
UT: I think that's about it...I'm sure I'll come up
with more things I wish I would've asked you later.
KL: Well, you can always drop me an e-mail.
UT: Thank you very much for taking time to talk to me.
KL: No problem, it was great.
Overall, meeting Kevin and getting the chance to sit
down and really have a good conversation was an awesome experience. He was
such a friendly and genuine person. For me, wanting to break into the music
industry, it was great to hear what a successful person like him has to say.
This was definitely an experience that I will always remember.
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