There are a lot of misconceptions about the life of a musician. Most musicians have day jobs – and not just to pay the bills. Jobs provide new challenges, personal fulfillment and, yes, some rent or gas money.
How an artist spends their time by day will influence the creative process at night. In Don’t Quit Your Day Job, Scene Point Blank looks at how musicians split their time, and how their careers influence their music (or how their music provides escape).
In this edition, we chat with Kevin Day of Errth and Graduation Speech about life in the brewing industry and how that world intersects with the arts.
Check out "No Confidence" from Graduation Speech's new EP Arcane Feelings, out March 1 on Protagonist Music.
Scene Point Blank: What do you do for a living? What is your official job title?
Kevin Day: I work for a craft brewery in Croydon, PA called Neshaminy Creek Brewing Company. My job title is Logistics Manager and this November will be my ninth year with the company. I also do freelance publicity under Part-Time PR.
Scene Point Blank: What led you to the beer industry, career wise?
Kevin Day: As someone who falls under the umbrella of straight edge, I never would have imagined having a career in the craft beer industry. A few friends of mine started Neshaminy Creek Brewing Company and an opportunity presented itself for me to do some part-time office work there which led to me becoming the full-time Human Resource Manager and then in 2019 shifting to Logistics Manager.
Scene Point Blank: What specifically does a Logistics Manager do?
Kevin Day: I think a simplistic summary of what I do is making sure that the brewery always has the materials needed to produce beer. I work with vendors to source raw materials to produce and package our beers and also work closely with our wholesalers to deliver finished products. In addition to this, I assist with our branding, events, and other parts of the business.
Scene Point Blank: What's your recommended Neshaminy Creek beer?
Kevin Day: Out of our core brands I'd recommend Ultracush Hazy IPA and our Warehouse Lager. We won gold for our Warehouse Lager at the World Beer Cup in 2022. These are two newer beers that have made quite a splash and I think they are great representations of what Neshaminy Creek brings to the table. I've also been able to help name and come up with the concept for a few beers over the years. One that jumps out is our annual collaboration with the George A. Romero Foundation and that beer is called JAWN of the Dead. I'm really proud of that release.
Scene Point Blank: Are there beers you seek out from other regions when you're on tour?
Kevin Day: No, but if they have a good N/A seltzer or soda I'm certainly interested.
Scene Point Blank: You also run Part-Time PR. How do you balance everything?
Kevin Day: It's gotten to be a little more tricky over the last couple of years but I'm managing. I noticed a shift in 2020 and started receiving a lot more emails from folks looking for help with publicity. One thing that really helps me is working closely with the artist or label to build out a schedule. Once I plug those dates into my calendar, I'm able to gauge what else I can take on at any given time. Another thing that has kept me from burning out is just saying no. Part-Time PR is a one person operation and it's all done in my "free" time so my work has always been a bit more selective since day one. I prefer to be selective with the projects that I take on and try to give them all of the attention that I think they deserve.
Scene Point Blank: Were you making music before your first alcohol industry job, or how have "your music path" and "your career path" overlapped or developed in parallel?
Kevin Day: I've been writing and playing music since I was about thirteen and at this point it just feels like an extension of who I am as a person. My uncle bought me a guitar and I had no idea how to play it but just started figuring it out along the way. I had a friend show me a power chord and that certainly opened up a whole realm of possibilities. I dipped my toes into playing live shows pretty early, which probably was not fun for folks in the audience, but it certainly taught me a lot at a young age and just exposed me to a lot of different experiences that have helped guide me as I've grown older and continue to write/play music. I think my time spent playing in touring bands and also working for a record label put me in a really good position to start Part-Time PR. In the beer industry, you do happen to meet quite a lot of musicians as well.
Scene Point Blank: Were you able to work through COVID shutdowns?
Kevin Day: I was furloughed for about a month before I returned to work remotely. Neshaminy was really great at allowing me to work from home and was very supportive throughout the chaos of COVID. It got pretty scary at some points because you just didn't know if you'd even be able to source materials needed to manufacture beer. I remember feeling a lot of pressure to make sure we had what we needed to keep things moving along and luckily we weathered the storm.
Scene Point Blank: A lot of breweries host live music. Does Neshaminy Creek do this?
Kevin Day: Every year we host a big anniversary party that is very much founded on live music. This year we had Tigers Jaw, A Wilhelm Scream, The Homeless Gospel Choir, and Town Liar play. Last year, we had Screaming Females, Iron Chic, Wild Pink, Big Nothing, and Graduation Speech play. We've hosted shows for The Lawrence Arms, The Bouncing Souls, The Menzingers, Face to Face, The Suicide Machines, Off With Their Heads, and more. As of 2019, we really just stick to the one big anniversary party per year but occasionally we'll throw other shows.
Scene Point Blank: How often does music come up a lot on the job? Does that include your own music?
Kevin Day: I feel like you don't have to go very far in the craft beer industry before bumping into someone that was in a band or very much into underground music. There's a couple of my co-workers that I chat with regularly about music and going to shows. A lot of my co-workers have been very supportive of the bands that I'm in and have come out to shows or bought records which is just incredibly kind of them.
Scene Point Blank: What about in previous jobs? Did you ever talk about your own art?
Kevin Day: For me, it has always seemed to come up because it's just a very big extension of who I am. I play out a lot each year and spend a whole lot of time writing and releasing music so I feel like it's very hard to not talk about it.
Scene Point Blank: Have your experiences from making music or touring influenced your day job(s) in any surprising ways?
Kevin Day: They certainly have! Especially in regards to customer service and dealing with vendors. Playing out and touring at such a young age and continuing to do so as an adult really shaped my interactions with strangers. None of my bands ever had someone else doing management work for us so it's almost always fallen on me to fill that role. I think it's helped me be able to communicate more clearly, work in a group setting, problem solve, and be authentic.
Scene Point Blank: What about vice versa? Do your logistics experiences affect how the band or PR operates?
Kevin Day: Yes, especially over the last few years since stepping into this role. It has certainly had an impact on planning or organizing elements for both Part-Time PR and my bands. I also believe that both my time in bands and working at the brewery have influenced me to swing for the fences.
Scene Point Blank: Are there any Aspiga or Graduation Speech references to your jobs we might pick up after reading this? Does your work ever directly affect your music, or even inadvertently inspire an idea?
Kevin Day: The original label artwork for our beer called Churchville Lager actually featured Aspiga. All three members were on the label artwork which was pretty rad. Neshaminy has always been very supportive of my bands.
Scene Point Blank: Does the job affect how or when you write, play live shows, practice or tour? How so?
Kevin Day: I worked at another job for about 10 years before I went to Neshaminy Creek Brewing Company and that job change really helped me across the board. I worked evenings at my previous job which obviously is in conflict with seeing or participating in live music. However, Aspiga made it work and we just did a whole lot of grinding to play out whenever we could. We were also much younger then. Now, with Errth and Graduation Speech, the bands tend to get together on Monday or Wednesday nights and we play whenever it works for everyone. I have weekends off and vacation time so I have a lot of freedom to make weekend trips or shorter tours work for me. Writing is a whole other story. The biggest hurdle for me is just picking up the guitar.
Scene Point Blank: To kind of summarize everything: Do you keep your "professional life" and "music life" separate or are they pretty intertwined?
Kevin Day: I think it's safe to say that they are pretty intertwined. If you work with me or we are friends, there's no secrets about what I'm doing at Neshaminy Creek or with my music. However, I will say that I don't know a lot of people in the beer industry (outside of Neshaminy Creek) as I feel I'm a bit more behind the scenes so people are always a bit surprised by me when we do meet.
Scene Point Blank: What advice would you give to a musician who is interested in the beverage industry?
Kevin Day: I think it's an industry that can be a bit more accepting of the musician culture as so many people from that world ended up starting craft breweries or working for them. However, it's a very tough industry that always seems to be changing.
Graduation Speech on tour:
- March 8th @ Bar Freda - Queens, NY w/ Sadlands
- March 9th @ Faces Brewing - Malden, MA w/ Sadlands
- March 10th @ The Upside - Lancaster, PA w/ Sadlands
- March 15th @ The Runaway - Washington D.C. w/ Night Windows
- March 16th @ Ipanema Cafe - Richmond, VA w/ Night Windows
- March 17th @ The Depot - Baltimore, MD w/ Night Windows
- March 22nd @ Nostalgia Bar - Bethpage, NY w/ Broadcaster
- March 23rd @ Silk City Diner - Philadelphia, PA w/ Broadcaster
Check out previous entries in the Don’t Quit Your Day Job series.
