The Graduate was an American

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band from

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

History

The Graduate formed in central Illinois in November 2005, after the breakup of two other local bands (Best of Winter from Quincy, Illinois and Jack from Springfield, Illinois) whose members began playing shows together. Lead singer Corey Warning said of the band's name, "None of us graduated from college. Well, we all graduated from high school, but none of us from college, so the name's kind of ironic." The band independently released an EP entitled ''Horror Show'' in April 2006, and toured nationally with bands such as

Jack's Mannequin Jack's Mannequin was an American rock band formed in 2004, hailing from Orange County, California. The band originally began as a solo project for Andrew McMahon, the frontman of Something Corporate. The band was signed to Maverick Records and re ...

, The Audition,

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, and

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. In late 2006, ''

College Music Journal CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

'' featured The Graduate on the cover of the CMJ New Music Report for being the most added band to

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stations during the week of December 3, 2006. 167 stations added their EP, '' Horror Show'' to their airplay lineup in total. On April 6, 2007, ''

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'' named The Graduate its Band of the Day. The Graduate released their debut full length album, ''

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'' on April 10, 2007. The band played a number of

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shows in the summer of 2007 to promote their new album as well as supporting acts such as The Audition and

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on two separate U.S. tours. They also played at

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that year. The band then went on a short European/UK headlining tour which included playing the German music festival, Rock am See. On November 27, 2007, The Graduate released ''The Evergreen EP'' as an early Christmas gift for fans. The EP includes acoustic versions of "Anhedonia" and "The City That Reads" from ''Anhedonia'' as well as a cover of "Blue Christmas" and a previously unreleased song "Gunslinger". The album was issued in a limited run of 5,000 copies which were given out free at FYE record stores, mostly in their home state of Illinois. In the summer of 2008, The Graduate completed a U.S. tour with

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, and Rookie of the Year. On October 31, 2008, the group's label, Icon MES, folded, and because of this, the deluxe edition of their debut entitled ''Anhedonia Revisited'' (which had been slated for release on November 4, 2008) was cancelled. Following a tour with

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and

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in November 2008, the group announced plans to write and record their follow-up full-length. The band signed with

Razor & Tie Razor & Tie was an American entertainment company that consisted of a record label and a music publishing company. It was established in 1990 by Craig Balsam and Cliff Chenfeld. Based in New York City (with additional offices in Los Angeles an ...

in May 2010;

Brian McTernan Brian McTernan is an American musician and record producer from Baltimore, Maryland. McTernan was the lead vocalist in the hardcore punk band Battery, the guitarist in Ashes, and is the singer in Be Well. In 2009, he was named one of "the 50 m ...

produced their sophomore full-length album '' Only Every Time'', which was released on August 31, 2010. ''Only Every Time'' reached No. 28 on the

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Heatseekers chart. ''Only Every Time'' was followed in 2011 with ''Every Other Time'' (a digital-only EP of B-sides) and the ''Sea Legs'' EP, as well as a vinyl release of ''Only Every Time'' on American Dream Records. On July 1, 2011, The Graduate announced an indefinite hiatus. On July 8, 2011, The Graduate announced that their final show would be at Reggie's Rock Club in Chicago, IL. On August 27, 2011 The Graduate performed their final show which was recorded live. Following the filming of the final show the band's frontman, Corey Warning, started a

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

project with which they hoped to raise money to make a DVD commemorating the band and featuring their last show. The project's original goal, set on September 18, 2011 was to raise $3,000. Funding for the project ended October 18, 2011 and with 210 backers, the project was funded 350% ($10,513).

Members

* Corey Warning – lead vocals * Matt Kennedy – guitar, backing vocals, keyboards * Max Sauer – guitar, backing vocals * Jared Wuestenberg – bass * Tim Moore – drums

Discography

Albums

* ''

'' (2007, Icon MES Records) * '' Only Every Time'' (2010, Razor & Tie)

EPs

* ''Horror Show'' (2006, self-pressed) * ''The Evergreen EP'' (2007, Icon MES Records) * ''Every Other Time (B-Sides from Only Every Time)'' (2011 Razor and Tie) * ''Sea Legs (EP)'' (2011, self-released)

References

External links

Official website

The Graduate's MySpace Profile

The Graduate's PureVolume Page

The Graduate's Facebook Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graduate, The Indie rock musical groups from Illinois Musical groups established in 2005 Musical groups disestablished in 2011