Sumith Prasad
Ed Helms’ Bill Walker is the frontman of Dad or Alive, a band formed by fellow fathers, in Netflix’s comedy film ‘Family Switch.’ While Bill prepares for Christmas celebrations, they get an opportunity to audition for the TV show ‘So You Think You Can Rock?’ However, the band’s dream of making it into Hollywood gets hindered when Bill and his son Wyatt’s bodies get swapped. Still, the singer inspires his son to lead the band and get the audition done. Dad or Alive is not based on a real-life band but an actual one plays them in the Christmas movie!
The Significance of the Fictional Band
Dad or Alive is a fictional band conceived for the film. The name of the band is a twisted version of the English pop band Dead or Alive, the group behind hits like “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” and “Brand New Lover.” Adam Sztykiel and Victoria Strouse placed the fictitious band significantly in Bill’s storyline. As far as his son Wyatt is concerned, Bill is an uninspired man who leads his life with petty obsessions and gimmicks. As a father, he has never been able to catch up with his son’s academic brilliance, which stops him from helping the latter with a lesson or a math problem.
Wyatt must have been seeing Dad or Alive as an unoriginal band, especially since even its name is a reference to another band. For him, the band can be a group formed by a group of dads who do not have much going on in their lives. However, Wyatt’s misconceptions are corrected when he learns that his father was part of a world-renowned band before the origin of Dad or Alive. When he comes to know that Bill was a part of “Maroon 6,” he must have understood the value of Dad or Alive. Wyatt must have started to see the local band as a result of his father’s sacrifice to take care of his family.
Wyatt accepts Bill because the former ends up becoming the frontman of Dad or Alive after the body swap. He must have realized that the band is an embodiment of joy, just like Bill personifies the same.
Weezer’s Cameo
The members of the Grammy Award-winning band Weezer portray the members of Dad or Alive. The Los Angeles-based music group’s members Rivers Cuomo, Brian Bell, Patrick Wilson, and Scott Shriner portray Lake, Dave, Patrick, and Scott respectively in the film. With over 35 million albums sold worldwide, Weezer is a renowned band whose discography includes celebrated albums such as ‘Make Believe,’ ‘Maladroit,’ ‘Green Album,’ ‘Red Album,’ etc. In addition to acting, the band members performed “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” with Helms for the movie.
“I grew up on Weezer. Spike Jonze was always sort of Mozart to my Salieri, and Weezer was my favorite band. I just really appreciate everything he would do lyrically, musically, and sonically. So when we had the chance to say, ‘Hey, who’s Dad or Alive gonna be?’ We reached out to the guys in Weezer, and we got super lucky that they’re in the mood to be playful, and they like to keep their audience guessing,” director McG told Coming Soon about having the band on board. “So, they were a perfect fit. And Ed Helms and Rivers and Brian and all the guys got along great,” he added.
Read More: Family Switch: Who is Angelica? Is She Santa Claus?
