WARPED TOUR 30 YEARS
If you’re like us, you penned every summer to-do list around one non-negotiable – Warped Tour. If you’re a musician, you dreamed of renting a van and playing a side stage. If you’re a music fan, you painfully sat in anticipation for the lineup to release. After you left, it’d become the soundtrack for skate sessions and road trips. Behind it all, there was one man pulling the whole thing together.
We sat down with music legend and Warped Tour founder, Kevin Lyman, to take a peek backstage on how he built the best music festival of all time.
The Warped Tour embodies a DIY ethos that helped so many bands get their start. What inspired you to build such a grassroots platform for music, and how did that mindset drive your vision?
Starting my career working as a promoter rep in the clubs of Los Angeles, I saw all these great bands had so much to say but didn’t have access to the traditional outlets to have their voices heard, radio, television etc. I felt that if I could somehow bring these bands together, through action sports and music, it would amplify their voices and give them a better chance to be heard.
When you look back at the early days of Warped Tour, what were the biggest challenges in creating something from scratch, and how did you push through those moments?
Back in the 90s when I was putting on the first Warped Tour, we were bending so many ‘rules’ of the music business and changing the way things were being done that it took a moment for people to understand what we were trying to do, and to understand our good intentions. What kept me going was seeing the response from the fans who understood what we were trying to do long before the industry caught up.
Your work with Warped Tour has inspired countless musicians, roadies, and fans to chase their dreams. What advice would you give to someone trying to carve their own path, whether in music or any creative industry?
Don’t overthink, just do. The key components that I think make someone successful are, have a good attitude, work hard, don’t complain, and never say ‘that’s not my job’.
How do you see the spirit of DIY and independent music evolving in today’s landscape, where streaming and social media have changed the rules of the game?
There used to be one path to success – chasing that record label deal. But now, with tools that are available there are so many different paths to be able to make a living in the music industry. It comes down to hard work, understanding the bigger picture of business and being willing to take risks. You don’t need to be the biggest popstar in the industry to make a living in this business.
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Our chat with Kevin is just one part of our epic rollout for the return of Warped Tour. You can discover epic conversations and exciting happenings related to the Warped Tour, from the daily line-up announcement to all the details and good times happening on-site, we’ve got it all covered.
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