HE’S best known for bringing to life the character of Bandit in the much loved Australian animated series, Bluey.
But as well as entertaining millions of children, Dave McCormack also has a secret life, moonlighting as a rockstar.
The 56-year-old has been a member of rock band Custard since 1989 and now the musician says that his long term fans are now bringing their own children along to his shows.
He said: “’Because I do the voice of Bandit, a lot of people know about Custard now through that, so it’s cool. It’s a different audience.”
“There are people who were teens when we started in the 90s who are bringing their teens along, so we’re really enjoying it at the moment.”
The alternative rock band have gained cult status after their single Girls Like That (Don’t go for Guys Like Us) landed at number three on Triple J’s Hottest 100 back in 1989.
After briefly splitting in 2000, they reformed in 2009 and have been recording and playing live ever since.
Meanwhile, since launching in Australia back in 2018, by creator Joe Brumm, Bluey has become a global hit, entertaining millions of adults and children around the world.
The series follows the Heelers, an adorable dog family living in Australia. Bluey takes the lead alongside her mom Chilli, dad Bandit and sister Bingo.
The show ranks at number 1 on CBeebies in the UK and has been streamed over 450 million times since it launched on BBC iplayer.
In 2024 Bluey celebrated a milestone achievement becoming the most streamed TV series across America.
It has also notched up around 5.7 billion lifetime views on YouTube on the Bluey channel.
The success of the series has also pulled in some showbiz glamour,
Hollywood actresses Natalie Portman and Eva Mendes have made cameos and Aussie stars Kylie and Dannii Minogue have voiced a spin-off audiobook.
On why the family show is so popular, Dannii Minogue has said: “There is life before Bluey, and life after. Once you know Bluey . . . you are hooked.
“It is fun for so many ages, as we can all relate to different members of Bluey’s family.”
The show’s success has also spawned a theme park in Australia, a dedicated area at Alton Towers and various spin off theatre shows.
But earlier this year the creators aired a ‘season finale,’ dropping a final episode in April, leaving the future of the series and any new episodes uncertain.
But Dave insists that he also has no idea what the future holds for the Bluey, but he’d be happy to voice Bandit for as long as he can.
He said: ‘We’ve done about 150 episodes, but they (producers) never tell me much. It’s usually just email to say, oh we’re doing this, but I’d love to do more. I’m into it,’
Indeed McCormack admits that he when he first signed on to the Bluey gig, he could not have foreseen the tidal wave of success that followed.
The singer songwriter said: “’I thought it was gonna be like maybe a webisode, like a one off, because we only did one episode to start with,’ he confessed.”
“Now here we are, it’s bigger than all of us!”
McCormack also addressed the fact that Bandit’s canine alllure has become a surprising hit among many grown women.
“I only play a very small part, I’m just the voice, I can’t take credit for much more of his sex appeal than the voice,” he laughed.
