Roll of the Dice: 7 Questions with Graduation Speech

Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed. The interview may be lightly edited for content and clarity.

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Have you checked out Arcane Feelings, yet? The new EP from the New Jersey quartet Graduation Speech is so damn good! TGEFM highly recommends you click this link to download, and while you wait for it to download check out our interview with founding member Kevin Day below.

Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview!  Congrats on the EP release! What should our readers know about the members of Graduation Speech, your history and the sound on Arcane Feelings?

Thank you so much! It feels great to have this EP out in the world for everyone to hear. About the band…it started as my (Kevin) own solo project for some songs that didn't quite fit into what my band Aspiga was doing at that time. Since then, Aspiga has been hibernating and I've continued to grow Graduation Speech. Each release has its own identity which is certainly fun from a writing and recording perspective but could be a little confusing for a new listener. In 2020, I asked my friends Billy and Brandon of Crucial Dudes if they wanted to jam with me to see how Graduation Speech songs might sound as a full band. My friend Pat, who played keys on the Maintenance Required EP, is also a drummer so he jumped behind the kit and the four of us just really clicked. 

We played our first show together in June of 2022 and I think since then, all of the Graduation Speech shows have been full band. We really wanted to record some music that was representative of what the band sounded like so that's where Arcane Feelings comes into play. We went into Gradwell House Recording in Feb. of 2023 and tracked 6 songs. Sonically, I think it falls somewhere in the realm of Jets to Brazil or even The Get Up Kids. Every person brings a very unique set of skills to the table and it's just so rewarding to write music with Billy, Brandon, and Pat. The four of us continue to push what this band/project can sound like and the live shows have been fantastic.   

I don't think its fair to call it a revival because folk-punk is something that's really ever gone away, but there is a massive rejuvenation of the scene right now. What is going on out there that has gotten so many people back on their boards to ride this latest wave?

Honestly, I have no idea. I wouldn't lump Graduation Speech into that genre and we don't tend to play with many bands from that scene so I don't think I can speak to it. From an outsider looking in, I do know that Apes of the State seem to be carrying that torch in a big way and do so much work on their own terms. They are a band that really embrace and DIY and have had quite a lot of success by digging in and doing the work themselves. It's awesome to see.

We all have a few, what is your biggest regret? A gig you turned down, advice you didn't take, what one thing do you wish you handled differently as a musician?

I think for a lot of musicians, there's moments where your band might feel like the most important thing in your life and looking through that lens, it's easy to let very small problems become big problems. This usually causes friction within the band, bad reactions, etc. I think I'd probably handle those types of moments differently.  

What have been some of the most memorable moments or experiences with the band so far? What's been the most unexpected? The weirdest?

I think I speak for everyone in the band when I say that being able to write/release music and play out at this point in our lives is a huge win. We've all come from bands that were very active and playing in a band feels like a young person's game, by design. The release of Arcane Feelings is a very nice win for all of us as it just sounds so good from a sonic standpoint. We've gotten to play with some bigger bands and I hope that as long as we keep chasing it, more opportunities will open up for us. 

Graduation Speech is from New Jersey. It's such an interesting, diverse and generally under-appreciated place that has bred so much amazing music.  Why do you think the area churns out so many brilliant musicians and songwriters?  How does the area feed into the music you are writing, if at all? What is it about the population down there that makes the Taylor Ham/pork roll debate a hill they are willing to die on? Finally, why are the pork roll folks so stubbornly set on calling John Taylor's ham by the wrong name?

New Jersey has an attitude. I think the same can be said for most of the states in the Northeast but we certainly come to the table with an attitude. The state itself is gorgeous. Farm lands, the Pine Barrens, the shore, the mountains. You can drive into Philly or NYC. It's just a great location to live in. It certainly bleeds into my writing a lot. There will be references to roads, my town, the shore towns. It's always been like this living character for me and I like to lean on that when I can. 
Look, I don't eat the stuff but it's pork roll. The packaging says pork roll. I'm not sure why folks in the upper part of the state just don't want to read the packaging but it feels like it's a them problem. 

One of our obligatory questions in these interviews also tends to be the one I have found most important on a personal level. Who are some bands on your radar that TGEFM readers may not know about, but you think they should?

This is always the best part of an interview. Definitely check out Chrome Rodeo, Tonks, Night Windows, Sadlands, Broadcaster, Divided Heaven, Nova One, phoneswithchords, woolworm, sailor down, long relief, the carolyn. and strategies. 

What's next for Graduation Speech?  Was there anything I missed that you'd like to share or dive deeper into with our readers?

We're going to continue to play behind Arcane Feelings which is out now. The wonderful folks at Protagonist Music have it available on vinyl and digital. We can't thank Brendan enough for taking the time to listen to the EP and taking a chance on us. We'll be playing in the Northeast and hopefully we'll get to some other territories if our schedules allow us. We've also got a handful of older songs that we're hoping to “re-imagine” as a band that maybe we'll get around to recording in the next year.