A Dirty Dozen with MAD TAB – April 2026

Photo credit: Roxy Wheeler

According to a recent press release: “Formed in 2006 in the South OC underground, Mad Tab built their reputation the hard way—house parties, bowling alley shows that spiraled into riots, abrupt shutdowns, lineup shifts, and long stretches of silence. Along the way, they detoured through reggae, rocksteady, and ska before returning to the punk foundation they never stopped writing toward. That foundation now arrives fully realized. Founding members Dave Tab and Gram Tab, alongside Scott Beattie and drummer Rob Wheeler, lock into a rare, decades-deep chemistry—tight, aggressive, and impossible to neatly categorize. Their sound lands somewhere between Bad Brains, Minor Threat, and Turnstile, with flashes of Rancid and The Hives.” We get Dave and Graham to discuss new music, influences, and more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release. What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through? Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

Graham: We just released 1 of 4 singles priming the release of the full-length record. A miss or a second take would have to be the synth and organ in the song. Those are done live. Not prerecorded and slapped on a spd pad or anything. More Viagra Boys. Less Turnstile. As far as what we do live. Besides that, 4-part harmonies. Come on!

Dave: Awake is the first Mad Tab release in collaboration with Norwood Fisher through his new label, Innanuttshell Reekordingz. It’s also the first release from his label. I think it sets a nice tone for what’s to come. I think if people listen to the song enough to a point where they start breaking down what each instrument is doing, they’ll discover that there’s two parts that have analog synth sub bass in it that hold space in the low end while Scotty, our bass player, is playing his really dope baseline. We do this live as well. It’s subtle and Scotty’s bass takes the focus. But that’s the point. Listen for it.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

Graham: My folks were musicians. My mom was a singer and percussionist, and my dad was a drummer. My mom had a guitar sitting around the house and when I was young my folks were in the worship band at the church we were going to at the time. So, I was exposed to music early and loved it. I actually wanted to play trumpet first. Then I saw an Everclear video when I was in 4th grade and wanted to play guitar and sing from that point on. Kinda funny but that’s what it was.

Dave: My first experience watching somebody play punk rock guitar in close proximity was actually Graham in his room when we were kids. He was spazzing out running from one bed to the other playing punk chord progressions and tripped over one of the beds and went shoulder first into a window which spiderwebbed. I remember not really caring about the window and focusing more on the energy that his guitar playing made me feel. Pretty much wanted to dive in from there. Before that experience, I had written lyrics for songs I didn’t have from probably 4th or 5th grade on. Instead of taking notes in class I was writing lyrics. Years later Graham’s guitar was kind of the missing piece and eventually he found a book of lyrics in my car and we started jamming.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

Graham: My dad loved The Beach Boys and The Rippingtons and took me to see The Beach Boys for my first concert. I loved the songs and the harmonies. Always stuck with me. Once I got ahold of The Ramones and The Queers I was like “oh shit this is like The Beach Boys but faster and louder!” I think a couple of songs on the upcoming record are nods to that.

Dave: I remember seeing Guttermouth and Strung Out as a young teenager at a makeshift event in a parking garage and thinking, I gotta do this. First big concert ever was Green Day, Blink 182, and Jimmy Eat World at Irvine Meadows (RIP). My folks listened to pretty good music when I was growing up and that inspired a lot of this too. Classic rock, funky soul, doo wop. Zeppelin, The Commitments, Etta James, The Doors, The Platters, Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers. The Kinks song “You Really Got Me,” always made me want to hear more songs like that. I think No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom and Offspring’s Smash were probably the two main ones that guided me into punk rock. They were the first two CD’s I ever bought.

4. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

Graham: Gosh idk, kinda tough question. Depending on the song if I had the world to choose. I have this new song called “Parasites And Worms.” It’s like this traditional ska tune and I always imagined it being a collab with Roger Rivas of The Aggrolites and Tim Armstrong (Rancid / Hellcat) then there’s other newer songs like this one called “Meddling Mutts.” It’s more of a psychobilly street punk kinda thing and I’d love it if Chris Cheney from The Living End was co-producing that tune and a few other ones like that. That’s a loaded question for sure. The list would go on. Mike Watt? Mike Park? Brett Gurewitz?

Dave: Oh man… where do I begin? I’d love to create a song with Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist of The Hives. I think it depends on the style too. idk that I can really choose “any one collaborator” because that’s nearly impossible for me to answer, but I think doing a collab with Sam King from Get Dead / Codefendants would be really dope. I think our screams would be rad on the same track. Plus, rapping with him would sound good. Ceschi too. It’s been a while since I publicly did it, but I used to rap all the time in addition to the singing, shouting, and screaming vocals. This is a tough question. Um… Matt Embree from RX Bandits. I’d love to team up with Zack De La Rocha on a hardcore punk tune. Amy from The Interruptors, Shapel Lacey of Mad Peaceful, Mimi with Niis, Amy from Amyl and the Sniffers. There are many reasons for each. And this is just in the punk(ish) lane.

5. What is your favorite activity when out of the studio and / or not on tour? What do you like to do to unwind?

Graham: I love writing new music and ideas for videos and what not. I love woodworking, building stuff for my pad or for friends. I love to spend time with my daughter and wife. Go scuba diving, skating, snowboarding. Love to move around. Visit family. All the blessings I get to do now that I don’t live in self-destructive mode.

Dave: I’m still learning to “unwind.” I have a really hard time shutting off to relax. I pretty much just create, film, photo, edit, help build businesses, create demand, do music, write lyrics and songs, listen to or watch things on mind expansion, communication techniques, educational stuff, documentaries, theories and philosophies, creative hacks, and stuff like that. I like doing breathe work or checking out other people’s art and music. I do a tactical defense training course too. Which I did because I felt it was the exact opposite of doing breathe work after I got my breath work teacher certification. But uh… yea idk really. I’ll be like, I’m not doing anything tonight and just chilling, and then end up working on something till 2 or 3am.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

Graham: I call it Punk RAWK Steady. But ultimately this upcoming record is the “punk” record. The last record was a rocksteady, skinhead reggae, and traditional ska thing. This next record goes over most eras of punk. Not done on purpose, just writing songs we like, and they happen to be kind of reminiscent of different eras of punk and ska. A comparison id disagree with would be…gosh idk. I can’t think of anything. People are usually pretty sweet when they give comparisons. Once a lady said we sounded like sublime and I sounded like Bradley. I don’t really see much of that but still took it as a compliment.

Dave: Hmmm… Currently, I’d say that the Alas! The Bomb Voyage… record and music we’re playing sounds like a variety of eras of punk rock. Because it’s not really one style. It’s skate punk, 80’s hardcore, melodic punk rock, anthem punk, ska similar to The Specials meets Rancid. It’s basically all my favorite eras of punk. Then I tell them, “I think you’ll like it.” I think there’s a press piece that says something like if Bad Brains, Turnstile, The Hives and Minor Threat got into a brawl and Rancid and The Specials showed up to film it, that’s what we’d sound like. Or something like that. Generally, people go, “that’s you singing?” Because my talking and singing voices are very different. Our older stuff like the Work & Pressure record is more skinhead reggae and late 60’s rocksteady. Similar to The Aggrolites, Symarip, or LKJ (Linton Kwesi Johnson). I haven’t really heard any comparisons that made me go “wow really?”

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Graham: We don’t really hang out that much unless we’re rehearsing, shooting a video, or playing a show. Some of us get together and kick it but we’re all such busy bodies we don’t really just chill that often. Half of us have kids and everyone’s got side careers aside from music.

Dave: We don’t hang out as much as I’d like us to honestly. Graham and I see each other often, but it doesn’t look like what some might consider “hanging out.” We’re kind of always on the move. It’d be good for us to do band hangs though outside of tour. Graham and I talk daily and go down many roads in our conversations. His wife loves it. All the wives are thankful we have each other. Cooking I’d say would be myself and Graham, but I don’t have many people over, so Graham. Graham has the salsa game on point. Scotty brings the chips. I’d say Rob would be the first to grab a drink or crack open a beer if it was there. Which a lot of the time it’s not. Graham would be the first to pick up a guitar and start messing around on it.

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

Graham: idk, I don’t see a lot of celebrities. And my conception of musicians is a little different than what I’d think a lot of people may look at it as. But I met Tim Armstrong while he was visiting Danny Diablo while we were in rehab together years ago. I had a quick convo and a hug. All I remember is he said, “keep up the good work and I’ll see you on the road.” That was cool and stuck with me.

Dave: I don’t really get star struck. A lot of the musicians and bands I looked up to when I was younger I either met, went on tour with, became friends with, worked with, or whatever. But maybe Chali 2na from Jurassic 5, forever ago. I just told him I wanted him to know I had a lot to say to him and kept it at that. Then I ended up seeing him more and talking on different tours and stuff. He is the reason I dove deep into Hip Hop. Hip Hop is up there with Punk Rock for me.

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

Graham: It’s tough, I should probably be doing something else, but I’m plagued with it. Music and ideas running around the clock. I don’t think it’s a great thing. But what is great is when an idea gets recorded and you hear it back. That’s kinda the tradeoff. I’m making it seem bad. It’s not, but time is important to me. We don’t have a lot of it here and I get a lot of ideas. My dream job would be to probably be a mechanical engineer. Making the devices I’m constantly coming up with. That or a pro snowboarder hitting all the best back country and heli skiing I keep seeing these guys all over year round. Can’t beat it.

Dave: There are so many things. I love having an outlet where it’s appropriate to completely lose your shit for 30-60 minutes and get down and lost in the moment. I have to do it though. If I wasn’t doing music, I’d probably lose my mind, and would still be getting zapped with nonstop ideas, vocal melodies, lyrics, and visualizations. It’s not an easy path, that’s for sure. But it’s worth it. Music has taken me around the world. It’s also gotten me through some of the heaviest points in my life, and it’s always been there as something I can count on. I’ve met a lot of great people through music as well. idk, there’s tons of reasons. But you have to love it. Like really love it. Because it’ll test your limits at time, sanity at others. Can’t be in it for money either, has to be for the love of it. I’m sort of doing my dream job, to a certain degree. Have my own company and doing film / photo and helping people build their businesses.

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

Dave: I don’t think I’ve ever thought about getting interviewed enough to hope I get asked a certain question. But uhh… question I’m tired of answering. Throughout my life a million and a half people have said “Dave’s not here” and then when I don’t react to it or ignore it, they ask me if I know where that’s from.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

Graham: Yes, there’s a ton. Mad tab has been around since 2006, and it was never consistent. Mostly due to just being inebriated most of the time and getting into trouble. Drugs and crime were a huge part of my story and also the delusion that someone was going to magically “discover” me and just enable everything for me like a record deal, merch, all that. Meanwhile I’m burning bridges and being a dick. I know now you gotta put in a ton of effort and creativity to get anywhere. And the network is really most important. It’s much better in the last 8 years.

Dave: Oh, yea definitely. There are so many things I’d do differently if I could go back. But I couldn’t tell you exactly what. It’s not a “one single moment that stands out” situation. We were pretty gnarly back then and really, the music was sort of a byproduct of debauchery and hanging out with friends who loved music and similar bands, and in a place that had instruments around. I’m not sure how things would have gone if we didn’t hang out at this house in Laguna Hills all the time. I can’t regret it or think about that too much, we’re here now.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

Graham: idk, maybe The Beach Boys or Strung Out’s second record. Both are insane. I would love to see how that was created. Off the top of my head.

Dave: I’m not sure but it would have been awesome to see HR recording vocals in the backyard for that one Bad Brains record, might have been Black Dots, I can’t remember. Maybe RX Bandits record And The Battle Begun because they did it in one take. The music part at least. Or like Chronic 2001 because they were probably so hyped up listening back to what they recorded. They had to have known they were about to drop a total heater, even if they didn’t understand the magnitude of it. The NWA record too. Beastie Boys License To Ill or Check Your Head. There’s so many. Even Randy Newman’s main hit song “Short People.” I wonder what their expectations were with that song. Such an ironic thing that song did in his career. Could you imagine getting hated for your biggest hit? That’s not a session I would totally love to be in or anything, it’d just be interesting because they probably had no idea what was coming. I could go on. Mars Volta’s first record too.

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Category: Interviews