Kato of Grad Dai

Who is Grad Dai?

Shani: Kato, I had the pleasure of seeing you and the group perform at Club Reality. Can you tell us a little bit about Grad Dai? 

Kato: Yes, Grad Dai is short for Graduation Day. We’re like a bunch of geeks, we’re big old nerds. We feel as graduation day is when the nerds prevail and the bullies fail. We all met through school, we wanted to express that nerds are making a come up now.

Shani: There was an 80’s pop flick called “Revenge of the Nerds”. I guess your music is the ultimate revenge!

Kato: Yeah, you can compare it to that!

What Can You Expect At A Live Show?

Shani: My first impression when I sat down and looked at the group, I thought, “Oh, it’s a Gen Y group. There is an Independent Artist named PJ Morton. You reminded me of him, the style, the glasses, and the laid back look. Then, I looked at Zeno, and thought “Ok, he reminds me of Lil Wayne” , with his long locs and skinny jeans. Then, when you opened your mouths, you completely blew me! You flipped the script on me, it was a pleasant musical surprise

Kato: Most people under estimate us when we get on stage. They think that we’re going to do Neo-Soul or some calm, collective music. Some of our music is, but we get crazy near the end. We come in with our skinny jeans, nerd glasses, they don’t know what to expect. As soon as we get on stage, it’s madness.

Shani: I noticed at one point during the set, I noticed that you took your shoes off. I was like, “Whoa, he did a Patti!” 

Kato: It was really hot. Usually when I get hot, things come off. Also, I did a back flip off of the saxophone player. Something comes over me and makes me want to get really energetic and aerodynamic!

What type of music will we hear?

Shani: Can you tell me about some of the songs you have?

Kato: We have a lot of heartbreak songs or songs about Revenge. We also have a popular love song, called “Summer Love” written and composed by Zeno. Another popular song is “Self Mutilation” which I wrote. It’s basically comparing heartbreak or love with cutting yourself. Like when someone breaks your heart and you run back to them, it’s like you enjoy the pain. Another fun revenge song is called “Laugh Now, Cry Later”. When we first started performing, we had our nerd glasses, people would laugh at us. At the end of the performance they would give us a standing ovation.

Shani: This proves that you cannot judge a book by its cover!