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These downstate rockers have aced the college charts and are ready to conquer the big city.

Monday Aug 25, 2008.     By Dan Morgridge

Music Feed

The Springfield-based rockers of The Graduate have the kind of life going right now that most of us can only dream of; aged 21-24, the friends formed the band from the remnants of two others, and found almost immediate success—and a label contract. The group's star is rising by the day; while the current tour has included stops at venues as small as local churches, the guys have also played at bigger spots like the Metro, and will be headlining the first show of the OurStage/Platform One Emerging Artist Series at Subterranean on September 6 (Holiday Parade, Thieves and Villains and Never Shout Never are also on the bill for the all-ages concert).

Signed to Icon Mes (which is also promoting the latest album from local legends the Smoking Popes), the band landed on the top of the College Music Journal charts (not to mention the cover of the magazine) with the release of its 2006 EP, Horror Show. Its 2007 release, Anhedonia has taken off as well, and the band has been touring almost non-stop in support of it. We caught up with lead singer Corey Warning on the road from St. Paul.

How has the audience been for you in Chicago?
We've really been finding where our fanbases are on this tour. Certain spots just really come out for us, and because of that are our favorite places to play: New York, Madison, definitely Chicago.

What is your favorite venue to play at in Chicago?
We just played at the Metro for the first time; that was one of those milestone venues that we'd always heard about from friends and other bands. It was actually my first time there ever, so it was a big experience.

Where are some of your favorite places in Chicago?
Well we've been in Chicago a lot for record stuff. We were at I.V. Lab [Studios] with Jon Alvin earlier this year recording some new material for our vinyl and DVD bonus release of Anhedonia. We've also been shooting some new music videos in Chicago with Foundation Content, who did our "I Survived" video as well.

You've played a number of churches in the past; any particular reason for that?
A lot of times, a church or a coffee shop will just be the only venue we can get booked at; smaller towns won't have that many options for a band. We just want to get ourselves out there to as many people as possible, so we'll play wherever we can get. In Champaign, we've built a good relationship with a venue called Club Chrome; it's mostly a hip-hop club, but it's the only place big enough that we can get booked into that will fit our fans there.

Do you have any favorite bands or labels in Chicago?
We're not that familiar with the Chicago scene yet; we're learning a lot right now. We're all from small towns, so we're really trying to explore everything we can, and it's a lot to get through. It's an exciting time.