Interview with Jay Gilkay of Fight Dice: Roll. Hit. Damage.
I have at least a million reasons – at a minimum – to love Milwaukee. Aside from Lake Michigan and the great local restaurants the city has to offer is Milwaukee’s legendary local music scene boasting some of the best home-grown punk, metal, and alternative music you’ll find anywhere in the Midwest – or beyond. Milwaukee’s Fight Dice is the latest band to break out and achieve some well-deserved national exposure.
And the icing on the cake? The band members play a game I’ve been obsessed with since the early 80’s: Dungeons And Dragons. They’ve fused their own brand of hard charging rock with elements of the game, and the result? The best thrashy-punky record you’ll hear this year.
Cosmic Monolith: Please introduce yourself, who am I talking with?
Answer: Hello! I’m Jay Gilkay, lead singer of the band Fight Dice.
Cosmic Monolith: As I understand it Fight Dice is composed of local Milwaukee band members Jay Gilkay of Evel on vocals, Todd Bell of Braid and Hey Mercedes on bass, Dan Didier of The Promise Ring and Maritime on drums, Brett Schwandt of Evel and Ceilishrine on guitar, and Eric Arsnow of Tigernite and Devils Teeth on guitar.
How did all of you come together as “Fight Dice” fusing gaming and (stoner-sludgy-punky-metal) together? I assume all of you had been gaming together for a while before Fight Dice was born, correct?
Jay Gilkay: Yes, Brett, Todd, Dan and I have been playing together for many years. Things really ramped up during COVID when we would play online at least 3 times a week. I also took up the hobby of painting minis so it was super fun to paint new monsters and use them during the campaigns.
It was a surprisingly creative time in many of our lives as far as playing and creating campaigns. As quarantine started to loosen, Brett and I talked about writing some songs inspired by our previous gaming adventures. We wrote and recorded a 5-song demo and presented it to the guys.
To our surprise, the guys liked it and we agreed to get together and actually try and put together a real live band playing songs based on our campaigns and the ups and downs of playing D&D. Putting the band together was easier than organizing a night to play. We all have backgrounds playing in bands (some of us way more successful than others), so the song writing came together quite organically.
Cosmic Monolith: Do all of you only play D&D or do you play other TTRPG’s?
Jay Gilkay: We all play D&D except Eric, who originally had very little exposure to TTRPGs. However, Eric is responsible for all of the artwork featured on our new album. Truthfully, we really think he nailed it. We spend a lot of time discussing the game and what makes sense in the context of the music. Eventually we’ll get him in on a session.
Some of us have played other TTRPG’s but we mostly stick with D&D. I know a few of us are planning on trying Star Wars Unlimited sometime in the near future with the director of our video. During pre-production, I saw the cards sitting out on his table and it looked fun.
Cosmic Monolith: Are the band members of Fight Dice involved in a regular, weekly D&D campaign? How often do all of you play?
Jay Gilkay: I wish I could tell you we play all the time. Our schedules are really hectic. We try to get together about once or twice a month. We haven’t played since this last June, however, due to summer plans. Now that summer is winding down, we’re looking to schedule some more sessions between shows.
Cosmic Monolith: What version of D&D do all of you play? Are you 5e or old school B/X?
Jay Gilkay: We play 5e and I tend to homebrew a lot of our campaigns when I’m the DM. When our guitarist Brett is the DM, we have been working our way through ‘Descent into Avernus.’ I enjoy creating stories and then painting the minis associated with the adventure. It turns out to be very cathartic.
Cosmic Monolith: What’s your feeling about the OSR game movement, do any of you play OSR games or do you (or any of you) just stick to D&D? Do you see OSR games as a D&D ripoff or something unique and worthy of buying and playing?
Jay Gilkay: I think collectively we are all just happy that there are so many RPG’s available to play. I’m currently looking into ‘The Monster Overhaul’ and I like what that has to offer. While there are definitely things I find a bit underdeveloped or direct rips from D&D, if playing an OSR is what makes you happy, Go for it!
Cosmic Monolith: I like the sound of Fight Dice a lot, it seems like you’ve forsaken the traditional power metal direction other bands in this new genre have taken. From a musical perspective, how did the sound of Fight Dice develop? Had all of you been listening to a certain type of music at the time the band originated, were “substances” involved, was pop culture a factor, was it band member backgrounds coming through, etc?
Jay Gilkay: The band comes from very different places genre-wise. Both Dan and Todd spent the late 90s and early 2000s touring in the very successful Midwest Emo bands The Promise Ring and Braid. Brett and I played together in a post hardcore band here in Milwaukee around that time as well. Eric, again is a bit of the outlier as he just recently wrapped up time in a surf rock band.
Most of us come from a punk/hardcore background but we definitely explore a lot of different genres when writing. The focus of the band has always been to create fun, energetic music to get people hyped up for playing D&D or any other fantasy-based RPG for that matter. The lyrics come directly from previous campaigns and the wild, sometimes frustrating sessions we’ve had.
Cosmic Monolith: How long did it take to write your new record – ‘Total Party Kill’ – and was it a difficult endeavor or did it just come naturally to all of you? How long did it take to write?
Jay Gilkay: The songs came together over the course of about a year. Brett and I wrote an early 5 song EP as a type of blueprint for the group. From there, we all collaborated on the rest of the songs. Our concern while recording was to make sure the album as a whole, sounded cohesive track to track. It was important to write music that would speak to RPG players as well as be digestible for people who don’t play the game.
Cosmic Monolith: Does Fight Dice have tour plans or has the band been invited to festivals yet?
Jay Gilkay: We are currently gearing up for a string of shows in the Midwest. We’re looking into opportunities on the coasts as well this next year. We’re excited to get our music out there and perform live. That’s where we want to be, on the stage and having fun with the crowd.
Cosmic Monolith: It seems like Fight Dice has caught fire and really taken off from a publicity standpoint. Does this surprise you, or are you not surprised, and why?
Jay Gilkay: It was definitely trippy to have CNN do a little piece about us. That was totally unexpected. With Dan and Todd’s names attached to the project, it is nice to see some of the major music news outlets pick us up as well. We are our own worst critics so any kind words or promotion of our songs and the video means the world to us. We’re just hoping to continue the momentum and get the music out to as many people as possible.
Cosmic Monolith: Have all or any of you made the pilgrimage to Lake Geneva and visited the new Dungeon Hobby Shop museum at 723 Williams St or other historic D&D related locations in that town?
Jay Gilkay: Since we live close by (about 50 miles away), we’ve made the pilgrimage to a few locations. Last trip we stopped by Gary’s grave and the memorial brick. It is wild to think that this small town in Wisconsin is the birthplace of such an iconic game. We would love to be able to play at Gary Con in March. We’ve done a lot of talking about trying to make that happen so fingers crossed!
Cosmic Monolith: It’s already September of 2023. What’s left for Fight Dice in ’23 and what lies ahead for the band in ’24? Has Fight Dice booked a gig for either Gamehole Con or Gen Con, haha?
Jay Gilkay: Our record release show is happening on Friday October 25th at the world-famous X-Ray Arcade. From there, we plan on working on a video for another single from the album. After that, the sky’s the limit! It would be amazing if we could bring our concert to any gaming convention. We are definitely exploring all options.
Cosmic Monolith: Final question. The floor is all yours. What do you want your fans to know, what haven’t we talked about that you’d like to address?
Jay Gilkay: Our new album ‘TOTAL PARTY KILL’ is being released Friday September 20 on all streaming platforms. Vinyl copies can be purchased through Forge Again Records on Bandcamp. We would really like to thank everyone for the overwhelmingly positive response to the music and the video.
Fight Dice is a band focused on our love of gaming and music. We hope that anyone that listens to the album gets inspired to play, create, discuss and represent all things D&D. Thank you for your time and always remember, “there is no board… only the dice!”
