The Drama Club: “Selling the Drama”

The Drama Club. Annoying high school extra-curricular activity for kids who are full of themselves or a rock and roll band? If you said both then you’re correct but we’re more concerned here with the rock group. The Drama Club is a brand new six-piece, post-grunge band originating out of the confines of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Even though this group has only been together about three years, they’ve already released a debut EP with another one on the way shortly and played with a who’s who of modern rock such as Breaking Benjamin, Flyleaf and the dearly departed Velvet Revolver. Let’s take a brief look at this band and try to figure out how all of “the drama” actually began in the first place.

In three short years, The Drama Club has gone from a local, small-town band to a major record label player. The group formally got together in the year 2005 when lead singer and songwriter Nick Coyle decided to form a band. Coyle then got together with guitarist Nate Bevan and the two embarked on a mission to find the best musicians in the Wilkes-Barre area to round out the rest of the band. Unfortunately, Bevan eventually left the group but Coyle continued on in his search for young and up and coming musicians. Coyle’s objective was simple; he wanted to form the band by picking the best musicians out of the area’s best bands to form a sort of local super group. With the band lineup essentially set, The Drama Club embarked on making a name for themselves in the area through a steady dose of local touring and promotion. The group did release a debut EP titled The Greatest Hits EP which was only available throughout the Wilkes-Barre area. Even though it was only released regionally, the band still managed to sell about two thousand five hundred copies of the EP.

Through their strong commitment to getting their name out to anyone and everyone, The Drama Club caught their first big break when a demo tape landed in the hands of a big name rock producer. Rob Caggiano, a long-time producer famous for his work with Anthrax heard some early demos from the band and was so impressed that he soon flew out to see the band play live. After seeing their live show, Caggiano became interested in writing and recording with The Drama Club. The band took him up on his offer and entered the studio along with Caggiano.

The result of this collaboration is The Drama Club’s self-titled major label debut EP. Along with Caggiano, the band also was fortunate enough to work with Jay Baumgardner (Papa Roach, Evanescence, Godsmack) to mix the record. Although it’s only an EP, The Drama Club’s popularity continues to rise, largely thanks to the lead single “November.” The group has greatly benefited from the fact that “November” has become a very popular song on satellite radio rock channels. And while the band continues to tour their asses off, they are hard at work on a debut, full-length album. At this point, little is known about what to expect from The Drama Club’s debut, but expect it to be released sometime in the summer of 2009. In the meantime, expect to see The Drama Club out on the road in a town near you, getting their music out to anyone looking for a new, refreshing rock and roll band.  [ END ]