Without question, one of the modern Oklahoma music scene’s greatest institutions is My So-Called Band, the “mostly” 90s cover act that packs rooms and picks at nostalgia all over the state, prompting the kind of full-throated, drunken singalongs most major acts can only dream of.
As raucous and radical as an average MSCB show can be, the wildest way to see them is their annual costumed Halloween show.
“One year we were all Jurassic Park characters. One year we were all 90s SNL. One year we were classic movie monsters,” bassist Kyle Davis saide. “We were actually all 90s artists one year. I was Marilyn Manson, Carly was Britney Spears, Zach was Garth Brooks, Arash was Snoop, and Ricky was Kurt Cobain. Ricky is the king of costumes.”
“He’s very talented with the costumes, yeah,” singer Carly Gwin adds. “So we will definitely be doing costumes for these shows.”
This two-night Beer City residency – billed as the Haunted House Party – is set to be one of the band’s biggest undertakings yet, spanning a full weekend over Friday, Oct. 28 and 29.
They’re staying tight-lipped about what kind of costumes they’ll be donning this year but hinted at the setlist theme.
“We’re hoping to make it spooky-ish,” Davis said. “I mean, we still have to play a lot of songs. We play all night and have a lot of time to fill.”
So no grunge rendition of “Monster Mash”?
“Oh, I don’t know. We don’t really do that kind of thing. We really play earnest covers, you know. We try to make them sound like the albums and the artists that we’re covering. Although, I guess we played BOK one year and threw in a couple of Christmas songs, like ‘All I Want for Christmas is You.’”
They really do love that 90s period of music, and they know how fun and important it can all be for their audience. They pack their sets full of a massive, seemingly random range of styles and artists knowing that, inside the warm, nostalgic embrace that they offer, the memories of that time can actually be more important than the music itself.
“Even if it's not a song that you necessarily even remember liking,” Gwin says, “the memory of that song and where you were when you heard it, like, that can have so much nostalgia.”
“And maybe you never heard anybody play it live,” Davis adds. “Or anyone do it in a way that’s like, if you squint your eyes, it’s almost like you’re watching the real band do it. It just feels more like a real band and not just gimmicky, like we’re not dressing up in stupid costumes. Although, we will be dressing up in stupid costumes for Halloween.”
So are they trying to avoid being seen as just an entertaining novelty act? Does My So-Called Band want to be a so-called “real band”?
“I don’t think we care that much, to be honest,” Davis said, laughing. “The answer I guess is just that we don’t really think about it. And also that we’re all lazy and we don’t want to have gimmicky costumes that we always have to wear.”
The band’s emphasis on fun and feeling has seen them pulled further and further out of Oklahoma recently, even bringing their revue to the legendary Granada Theater in Dallas.
“That went really well, actually,” Davis said. “It definitely exceeded expectations, so we’ll be trying to do that at least semi-regularly.”
No matter how much success they see, though, the band remains aware that they’re providing a different kind of entertainment for a different kind of crowd.
“You know, it’s a band with an asterisk,” Davis explains. “It’s a different thing and it just feels like its own thing.”
Whether you’re craving a sweet hit of 90s nostalgia or you’re just looking for a wild Halloween party, My So-Called Band is set to provide the goods.
Just don’t ask them what kind of costumes they’re planning. It’s a secret.
“All we can say is that it’ll be a surprise,” Davis said, “and that we’ll have different costumes each night.”
And definitely no “Monster Mash,” then?
“Nah,” Davis said. “I’m more of a ‘Werewolf Bar Mitzvah’ guy.”
Get tickets here.
