Milwaukee band Fight Dice's debut album inspired by Dungeons & Dragons

In 1974, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson began an incredible adventure in Lake Geneva, co-creating Dungeons & Dragons, the role-playing game that has inspired books and movies, and become intertwined with pop culture milestones like “Stranger Things” and “ET “

Fifty years later, a band of Milwaukee musicians have embarked on their own noble quest, creating a band, Fight Dice, inspired by their love of Dungeons & Dragons. Their debut album “Total Party Kill” comes out on Friday, a day before they’re set to play this year’s Bay View Bash.

“I’m a father with two almost twentysomething sons,” said Fight Dice frontman Jay Gilkay. “Lyrically, what do I have to offer? I have to pay my mortgage? That’s not fun to sing about or write about. … But we play this game where all these exciting things are happening, so let’s make some music about Dungeons & Dragons and some of our adventures.”

Gilkay and his friends in Fight Dice — guitarist Eric Arsnow, bassist Todd Bell, drummer Dan Didier and guitarist Brett Schwandt — began playing Dungeons & Dragons together around 2019 or so, but some friendships in the group have lasted for 30 years.

All of them are longtime members of the Milwaukee music scene and have played in noted local bands. Gilkay and Schwandt were in the ’90s hardcore band Evel; Arsnow is in Devils Teeth and played with glam rock group Tigernite; Bell was in emo acts Braid and Hey Mercedes, and Didier played in emo band the Promise Ring and spinoff Maritime.

When the pandemic hit, the friends’ D&D sessions intensified. They gathered for virtual sessions at least two days a week, Bell said.

“It saved our sanity … and became this thing that kept us socially connected during this awkward time,” Bell said. “We’re a pretty creative group of people … and that dovetails pretty easily into Dungeons & Dragons where it’s structured enough yet loose enough that you can do what you want with it.”

“For me, I love the creativity,” Gilkay said. “I love the ability to create different scenarios…and characters and paint miniature figures. … It became a release, something fun to do and get your mind off everything else in the world.”

When a new normal emerged in the summer of 2021, Dungeons & Dragons sessions among the five friends became less frequent. Gilkay and Schwandt channeled their longing to play into making gameplay-inspired songs and recording demos. Arsnow, Bell and Didier joined in, marking the first time many of these longtime admirers of each other’s bands got to play music together.

The songwriting expanded so the band would have enough songs for a set, and ultimately an album.

“Our style jumps around from sludgy, stoner rock … to almost punky and definitely spacey, avant-garde stuff,” Bell said. “We’re new enough that we haven’t pigeonholed ourselves. We’re doing what feels natural.”

Gilkay aptly classifies the result as “party rock,” but he stressed “we’re not wanting to be a joke.”

The album is a fun and loving homage to the game and its players. The band name is a nod to a facet of gaming where players are called to arms, Gilkay said; the album name “Total Party Kill” is a Dungeons & Dragons term for “everybody in your group gets killed.”

The songs themselves cover fantastical adventures a player might encounter on songs like “Battle of the Evermoors,” “Attack the Drider” and “I Cast Darkness,” while “The Hardest Thing” is inspired by how difficult it can be to set up a game session and how fun they are.

“I’m not a person who wants to fight anybody,” Gilkay said. “But singing a song where I get to sing ‘Fight, fight, fight,’ and living in that fantasy world combined with the fantasy of rock ‘n’ roll, it’s a dream come true.”

The long-term fate for Fight Dice is uncertain. Beyond playing some Milwaukee shows, Bell and his bandmates are happy to have a record out, and, he said, “if we do another record, great.”

But there is one dream for the band he hopes comes true: Take Fight Dice back to where Dungeons & Dragons all began.

“I would love to do a super-secret pop-up at the next Gary Con in Lake Geneva,” Bell said, referring to an annual event honoring Gary Gygax. “That would be the icing on the cake.”

If you go

Fight Dice is playing on the WMSE Stage at the Bay View Bash, the street festival along Kinnickinnic Avenue, at 6 pm Saturday. The show and the festival are free. For more info on the festival, go to bayviewbash.org.

Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or [email protected]. Follow him on @pietlevy or Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.