Drab Majesty is an American musical project founded by Andrew Clinco in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California in 2011. Clinco, the drummer for the band

Marriages Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

, adopted the androgynous character of Deb Demure for the project. Keyboardist and vocalist Mona D (Alex Nicolaou) joined the band in 2016. Since signing to

Dais Records Dais Records is an American independent record label founded in August 2007 by musicians Gibby Miller and Ryan Martin, based in Los Angeles, California, and Brooklyn, New York. The label has released recordings from artists including Drab Majest ...

, Drab Majesty has released three albums: ''Careless'' (2015), ''The Demonstration'' (2017) and ''Modern Mirror'' (2019). Drab Majesty combine androgynous aesthetics and commanding vocals with futuristic and occult lyrics, a style Demure refers to as, "tragic wave." To create his imposing stage presence, Demure employed costumes, makeup and props to accompany his lush, '80s-influenced soundscapes.

History

Early history (2011–2015)

The idea for Drab Majesty came to Andrew Clinco in 2011 while drumming for the Los Angeles-based group

. Interested in creating music where he performed all of the instruments himself, Clinco wrote and recorded several songs alone in his bedroom. Clinco stated that he felt some sense of alarm while playing back the music he had recorded, claiming that it was as if another person had made it. "Listening back I just didn’t feel like I was listening to myself ..It sounded like someone else". This experience provided the inspiration for Clinco to create his alter ego, Deb Demure. Clinco was originally a drummer, but

Emma Ruth Rundle Emma Ruth Rundle (born October 10, 1983) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and visual artist based in Portland, Oregon. Formerly of the Nocturnes and Marriages, she has released five solo albums and is a member of Red Sparowes. Early ...

, his bandmate as the lead vocalist/guitarist in Marriages, inspired him to learn how to play the guitar for Drab Majesty. His biggest influences were

Mark Kozelek Mark Edward Kozelek (born January 24, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and occasional actor. He is known as the vocalist and primary recording artist of the indie folk act Sun Kil Moon and founding member of ...

's Red House Painters and

Sun Kil Moon Sun Kil Moon is an American folk rock act from San Francisco, California, founded in 2002. Initially a continuation of the defunct indie rock band Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon is now the primary recording moniker of vocalist and guitarist M ...

projects, as well as

Vini Reilly Vincent Gerard "Vini" Reilly (born 4 August 1953) is an English musician and leader of the post-punk group the Durutti Column. He is known for his distinctively clean, fluid guitar style, which stood out from his punk-era contemporaries in its i ...

The Durutti Column The Durutti Column are an English post-punk band formed in 1978 in Manchester, England.Strong, Martin C. (1999) "The Great Alternative & Indie Discography", Canongate, The band is a project of guitarist and occasional pianist Vini Reilly who ...

and

Maurice Deebank Maurice Deebank is a classically trained English guitarist. He was the co-founder and lead guitarist of the British indie band Felt from its debut album until 1985, and was responsible for the ornate, atmospheric guitar work found on many of the ...

Felt Felt is a textile material that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing fibers together. Felt can be made of natural fibers such as wool or animal fur, or from synthetic fibers such as petroleum-based acrylic or acrylonitrile or wood ...

. Drab Majesty's debut EP ''Unarian Dances'' was self-released in 2012. Initially limited to 100 cassette copies, the EP was later picked up and released by Lollipop Records. The record's title was inspired by the Unarian Academy, a

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

cult whose appearances on

public-access television Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...

Demure described as being "intoxicating". The EP, which features some contributing guest vocals from Rundle, was described as a "space-age pastiche" and likened to the work of bands such as

Slowdive Slowdive is a British rock band that formed in Reading, Berkshire, in 1989. The band consists of Rachel Goswell on vocals and guitar, Neil Halstead on vocals and guitar, Christian Savill on guitar, Nick Chaplin on bass and Simon Scott on drum ...

. Drab Majesty signed with Dais Records in 2015 and shortly thereafter released the single "Unknown to the I", which had been described as a "

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate choice. The ...

take on the 80s". ''Careless'', Drab Majesty's first full-length album, was released later that year. Recorded at Demure's home studio over the course of 2 years, ''Careless'' was inspired by a song a close friend of Demure's had written. The following year, Dais Records re-released the album with extra tracks featuring all studio material released thus far as a compilation titled ''Completely Careless''. It consisted of all tracks from debut album ''Careless'', plus the two B-sides from the "Unknown to the I" single, the five tracks of the ''Unarian Dances'' limited edition EP, new tracks "Waiting Game" and "Silhouette", and a remix of "The Foyer".

Becoming a duo (2016–present)

In 2016, Drab Majesty expanded into a duo with the addition of keyboardist Alex Nicolaou, who performs as the character Mona D. He is the son of horror director

Ted Nicolaou Ted Nicolaou is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. After graduating from the University of Texas film program, he joined the crew of ''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' (1974) as a Sound recording and reproduction, sound recordi ...

and was originally brought on to enhance the group's theatrics while touring North America and Europe in 2016. Drab Majesty released their second album ''The Demonstration'' in January 2017 to favorable reviews. ''The Demonstration'' is a concept album that deals with the psychology of

mass suicide Mass suicide is a form of suicide, occurring when a group of people simultaneously kill themselves. Overview Mass suicide sometimes occurs in religious settings. In war, defeated groups may resort to mass suicide rather than being captured. Su ...

, referencing in particular the ideology of

Marshall Applewhite Marshall Herff Applewhite Jr. (May 17, 1931 – March 26, 1997), also known as Do, among other names, was an American cult leader who founded what became known as the Heaven's Gate cult group and organized their mass suicide in 1997 ...

, the leader of the

Heaven's Gate cult Heaven's Gate was an American new religious movement (often described as a cult), founded in 1974 and led by Bonnie Nettles (1927–1985) and Marshall Applewhite (1931–1997), known within the movement as Ti and Do, respectively. Ti and Do fir ...

. The duo toured North America with

Cold Cave Cold Cave is the moniker for the music of Wesley Eisold, described as a "collage of darkwave, noise, and synthpop." A number of reviewers note the affinity with early 1980s post-punk and early synthpop, in particular Joy Division and New Orde ...

, and later toured Europe alongside King Dude, with whom they collaborated on the single "Who Taught You How to Love?" the year before. In late 2017, the duo released a 7-inch single, titled "Oak Wood", for the 10th anniversary celebration of Dais Records. The song was written in honor of Cash Askew, co-founder of the band

Them Are Us Too Them Are Us Too was an American dream pop and darkwave band, consisting of Kennedy Ashlyn and Cash Askew. The duo formed in 2012 while both were students at University of California, Santa Cruz. After signing to Dais Records, they released their deb ...

, who died in the

2016 Oakland warehouse fire The Ghost Ship warehouse fire was a fire that occurred in a former warehouse in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland, California, that had been converted into an artist collective with living spaces. The fire occurred on December 2, 2016, at ...

. The title "Oak Wood", according to Demure, is a direct translation of Askew's name. The single featured a B-side called "Egress", an instrumental guitar piece. The duo embarked on their North American ''Fall From the Sky'' tour in September; the tour included a stop at the 2017 Cold Waves Festival in Chicago. They extended their tour to Europe in Winter of 2018. Drab Majesty's third album, '' Modern Mirror,'' was released in 2019, supported by the singles "Ellipsis", "Oxytocin" and "Out of Sequence". The band was scheduled to play the goth, post-punk and new wave festival Cruel World in 2020, which was postponed until 2022. Over the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Demure worked more on his side project VR Sex. In 2022, Drab Majesty opened for

AFI AFI may refer to: * ''Address-family identifier'', a 16 bit field of the Routing Information Protocol * Ashton Fletcher Irwin, an Australian drummer * AFI (band), an American rock band ** ''AFI'' (2004 album), a retrospective album by AFI rele ...

on their fall tour. Demure revealed that the band would add a live drummer soon within the next year.

Members

*Andrew "Deb Demure" Clinco - guitars, vocals, percussion (2011–present) *Alex "Mona D" Nicolaou - keyboards, vocals (2016–present)

Discography

Studio albums

*''Careless'' (2015) *''The Demonstration'' (2017) *'' Modern Mirror'' (2019)

Singles & EPs

*''Unarian Dances'' (2012) *"Unknown to the I" (2015) *"The Heiress"/"The Demon" (2016) *"Oak Wood" (2017) *"Ellipsis" (2019) *"Long Division" (2019) *"Oxytocin" (2019) *"Out of Sequence" (2019) *"No Rain" (2020) *''An Object in Motion'' (2023)

Compilations

*''Completely Careless

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' (2016)

References

{{Authority control Musical groups from Los Angeles Musical groups established in 2011 American post-punk music groups Dream pop musical groups American dark wave musical groups Dais Records artists Rock music duos American musical duos American gothic rock groups 2011 establishments in California