Turns Out "Bluey's Dad" Is A Rock Star (For Real Life!)

Have you ever noticed that your kids can’t really fathom the idea that you had a life before their existance. Until they hit a certain age, they can only ever see you as their parent. Well, it turns out we’re a little bit guilty of that, too. A recent TikTok highlights the fact that Bluey voice actor David McCormack, who plays Bandit, used to be in an alternative band called Custard and some adult fans are shooketh.

TikTok user Zach Mander, who has posted about the show in the past. He’s gone viral for jokingly suggesting that Bandit and Chilli are criminal masterminds who maintain their cushy lifestyle through illegal antiquities smuggling. But his latest Bluey post is no conspiracy theory: it’s just facts.

“If Bandit from Bluey feels like he has above average musical abilities, you’re right,” he says. “It’s because the voice actor David McCormack is the lead singing of an indie band named Custard, who were quite well-known in Australia in the ’90s. ... If you primarily know Dave’s voice as Bandit, when you hear the music for the first time, it kind of messes with your brain.”

Indeed it does. McCormack’s normal speaking voice is basically identical to how he voices Bandit, so listening to him sing the 2020 song “Couples Fight” is... yeah, it’s like hearing Bandit front a band.

The band was initially formed as Custard Gun in 1989. While they enjoyed success in their early years, 1995 was their “breakthrough” year, yielding both an ARIA Award nomination for Best Alternative Release, and their first big hit, “Apartment.” Throughout the ’90s, They opened for American alternative acts Weezer, Frank Black, Beck and the Presidents of the USA on the Australian legs of their respective tours. Their eighth studio album Respect All Lifeforms, was released in 2020. Last month, Custard announced on their social media channels that they had begun preproduction on their ninth.

According to an interview on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, McCormack earned the role of Bandit completely by chance. “I was walking out of a lift and someone I knew was walking into the lift and they said ‘I know someone who’s making a show about a cartoon dog family. Maybe you’d want to be the dad voice?’” After protesting that he didn’t know how to act, the friend apparently said “Can you read?”

And yes, McCormack is himself a dad and his daughters Rose and Grace are big Bluey fans. We haven’t heard about whether they’re fans of Custard, but we’re guessing yes.