Local band on their way to the top

We were all playing in bands before we could drive,” -Cody Warning of The Graduate

February 03, 2010
By Kati Maseman
Features Reporter

Anyone who loves Indie/Alternative Rock music is in for a treat with The Graduate.  If you were not familiar with the band that calls Springfield their hometown, hopefully you will be.

The band has five members: Matt Kennedy plays both the guitar and keys, Tim Moore plays the drums, Max Sauer plays the guitar, Cory Warning is the lead vocals and last but not least, Jared Wuestenberg plays the bass.

Like many musicians before them, The Graduate was inspired to make music of their own after they attended shows of groups that played in their hometowns, including Park and The Junior Varsities.  “We were all playing in bands before we could drive,” Warning said.

The Graduate started in 2005, but they were originally two separate bands.  Warning and Wuestenberg joined with Kennedy, Sauer and Moore from Best of Winter and J.A.C.K. respectively, after each group’s band ended.

Warning said that the two bands “traded a lot of shows between Quincy and Springfield,” and that he and his current band mates knew each other for a time before their previous bands broke up.  They decided to merge and create The Graduate. 

The band was signed with Icon MES Records, and in that time they released a couple of albums. They have released three albums so far, including: “Horror Show” released in 2006, “Anhedonia”, and “Evergreen EP”, which were both released in 2007. Another stop on their path to fame was making the cover of CMJ New Music Report, in Dec. of 2006.

They are currently free agents, but they will be “putting out [their] next album through another label this year,” said Warning, “but [they] might play a couple shows close to home before going into the studio.”  

Fans interested in hearing more from the band, or even interested in hearing them for the first time should check out their Facebook or MySpace.  Some of their songs are available for purchase on iTunes, or on the group’s Facebook page, including: “Anhedonia,”  “Doppelganger,”  “I Survived,”  “Sing,” and “Sit & Sink,” to name a few.

If buying new music is not in your budget right now, you can listen to full-length versions of the songs from their Anhedonia album on The Graduate’s social networking pages.  Fans can also sign up for the band’s email list and receive a free download of the group’s newest song “Don’t Die Digging.” 

“We are very lucky to have such good and patient fans,” Warning said. The Graduate may be based out of Springfield, but they have fans all across the country.  People from Massachusetts to California and from Indiana to Florida have started to follow the group and request shows to play in their areas.

Allison Lewis, a UIS Sophomore majoring in English has seen the band in concert. “[The concert] was fun and entertaining.  The band had a great energy and that made it a good show,” she said.

The group has been touring for the past three years, and in that time one of their favorite shows was the ROCK AM SEE festival in Germany. “We were lucky enough to open for Nine Inch Nails, Billy Talent, The Sounds and Razorlight,” said Warning. He said, “it was amazing seeing people in another country singing the words to our songs, especially when there
were 5,000 of them.”

For more information on The Graduate, check out:
http://www.myspace.com/thegraduate
http://www.facebook.com/thegraduaterock?v=info
http://www.purevolume.com/thegraduate