Out of all of the bands on the Stay Classy USA tour, I’ve been listening to The Graduate for the longest, and I won’t deny that lead singer Corey Warning had me head over heels for his vocal range, our refreshing conversation, his gentlemanly manners and, my favorite, the performance itself. The use of tambourines, the incredible energy emitted from the crowd, and the band’s hydro-drum combination is something you’ll just have to experience for yourself. Below is my interview with Corey that includes future plans for The Graduate, his favorite song, and his most embarrassing moment while performing.
D: Will you introduce yourself to readers?
C: Yeah, I’m Corey Warning, and I sing for The Graduate.
D: How did the current tour that you guys are on get the name Stay Classy USA?
C: I have no idea actually. I’m assuming that it’s from Anchorman, which is a little bit dated.
D: What specific themes do you guys cover in your music?
C: As far as lyrically, I tend to write things that are pretty personal. I try to take things that have happened to me in my life and put them into a way that people can relate.
D: Anhedonia is the name of your first full-length album. Why did you guys choose to name it that?
C: When we were writing the album, I had a bad case of writer’s block, and a lot of times I would try to write about what I was feeling, and I just felt really empty. I didn’t know what to write about. We came across the word Anhedonia from our producer’s wife, and we started working on the title track. It just seemed to fit the song and overall for the album.
D: So what is your favorite song that you’ve written?
C: I think “Anhedonia” actually. That one broke me out of my funk so I think it’s a very rooted song.
D: After you broke out of that, how long did it take you to finish the album?
C: I think most of the album had been written already. There were just a few stragglers to finish up. I still had a little bit of trouble getting the rest of the album done. A part of the problem was just lack of material going into it and trying to rush and get things right there on the spot.
D: Did you guys have a timeline?
C: Kind of. We had an idea of when we wanted to get the record out.
D: Have you had any embarrassing moments on stage?
C: Yeah, sure. I mean aside from missing notes here and there which is always embarrassing for me; I think probably one of the worst times, we played at a show in Delaware, and we do this drum-off thing at the end of our set sometimes. Me and Max get on some extra drums, and every now and then we’ll throw water on them. It’s really fun, and it looks really cool. Well, this time didn’t look really cool. We were playing, and it was a hard-wood floor stage. We did the water thing, it got all wet, and we weren’t really thinking about it. I ran to put the drum away, and I went to come back to the mic and just slipped and fell flat on my back on stage. Max had to turn around so he didn’t start laughing too hard.
D: Did the whole show stop at that point?
C: Yeah, there was a collective gasp, and an “Oh my gosh, he just fell flat on his back”. I just pulled the floor tom down and started beating on it on the ground.
D: So you tried to pull it off like you meant to do it?
C: I don’t think there was any way to play it off because it was so obvious. I think that’s why it was so embarrassing. There was no way to play it off. Other than that, I’ve forgotten lyrics a couple of times.
D: Like when the fans are singing the lyrics and you forget them?
C: Yeah, exactly.
D: Describe your perfect concert.
C: I would say the perfect concert would be a concert where we get a sound check, we get food, and there are a lot of kids who knows our words. I don’t really know how to put this [answer] because every concert is really great, and they are all really different. That’s what I like about it because if every concert was the same then that would be really boring.
D: So it differs from every city?
C: Oh yeah. Every night there’s always a different situation. We’re playing on a different stage with different equipment every night. The crowd always has a lot to do with how our set can go. We’ll play some cities where we’ve never been, and there are people who are really open to music. It’s not necessarily people jumping up and down and clapping. I think you can just feel the vibes off of the crowd, whether they’re really into it and paying attention. I think some of the best shows are when I can look out into a crowd, and no one’s really moshing because we’re not that kind of a band, but if I can look out into a room and see that everyone’s really paying attention that always gets us really motivated.
D: What are the future plans for The Graduate in the next year?
C: We’re going to finish out the rest of this year touring and promoting Anhedonia, and then hopefully at the end of this year we’re going to get serious about writing the next record.
D: When everything is all said and done, what does The Graduate want to be remembered for?
C: I think that I would like to be remembered as a band that was writing songs, this is cheesy, but from our hearts, and not just a band that was fitting into a trend.
