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Heartworming  Whitney Walker Macaroon Shindig went to Warped Tour in 2007 for its seventh consecutive year. The day turned out to be a bust, with only a few highlights in the informal conversations held in the press coral between sets. What follows are snippets of conversation with Anberlin, and the Graduate. Though the day itself was a let down, the interactions with these bands—with interest levels varying between enthusiastic (I’ve been to every Baltimore and DC show the Grads have had) and mildly enthused—were insightful. And on a cold day…kind of heartwarming. You can find out more about Anberlin online at www.anberlin.com and more about The Graduate online at www.wearethegraduate.com. Stephen Christian, vocals for Anberlin WHAT IS YOUR FOCUS FOR ANBERLIN? I guess inside the music—we create the best possible music you can possibly think or imagine or come up with—but off the stage I think that some things I want is to use my platform to inspire other people. If it’s to play music or build an orphanage in the middle of
I think there’s two routes you can take. You can take the sex, drugs, and rock and roll or take a platform, use your influence for good or bad. YOUR BLOG (modesty.blogspot.com)IS POPULAR AMONG YOUR FANS, IS THE CONTENT ONLINE SOMETHING YOU WANT TO COMMUNICATED BUT ISN’T ABLE TO COME OUT IN THE MUSIC? I just wish that someone would have taught…I grew up without a father and had to teach myself how to shave. If you have to teach yourself how to shave, you’re going to mangle yourself fifty times before you say, “Okay, I’ve figured this out.” I guess that’s what it is: mine is teaching shaving to the fatherless. I’ve failed so many times in my life…I’d rather teach what I’ve learned. Corey Warning, vocals for The Graduate YOU’VE ALWAYS BEEN IN MUSIC. WHAT’S THE GRADUATE ABOUT FOR YOU AS AN ARTIST? We’ve all been playing music for five years or so, even before The Graduate. At this point our biggest goal is to keep touring and spread our music to as many people as possible…we keep seeing the same people coming back and I think that’s a good sign that people are getting into what we’re doing. HOW IS IT TO PLAY A SHOW OR PERFORM AT WARPED TOUR AND SEE FACES YOU RECOGNIZE, WHEN IT’S NOT FRIENDS AND FAMILY? It feels really good. We feel like we make friends every time. It’s really cool, we just feel like we have a really friend fanbase. It’s really good [to hang out] when it’s not a tactic [to sell merch]. We’re not trying to hustle anybody. If you have the right motives it’s absolutely important. Especially so far away from fans and family, it gets lonely. HOW DO YOU COPE ON THE ROAD? It’s what we love to do. We’re addicted to the road. We’re in so many places all the time. For me when I’m home for a week I start to get a little antsy. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR BAND TO SOMEONE WHO HAS NEVER HEARD THE GRADUATE BEFORE? I would tell people your parents might like us. We’ve had a lot of parents buy our CD. We appeal to an older crowd, too… We see the people we are. |
