Exclusive interview with Damn Drew, new single ‘Rage’ out now.

Seamlessly bridging the gap between Rock, Punk and Hip-Hop, Damn Drew faces his own demons and delivers the sonic recreation of mental instability, imposed on societies worldwide during the global pandemic. Born within the confinements of continuous lockdowns, the single is a collaboration with the producer Oscar Moos (Tiana Major9, Lancey Foux) and engineer John Davis (Dua Lipa, Killers, Gorillaz). ‘Rage’ conveys raw unfiltered emotions through a masterful blend of  Hip-Hop flows, catchy guitar samples, and a powerful chorus.

The London based music artist tells MarkMeets about his own professional music studio, his musical inspirations and what is next for the young star.

MarkMeets on Damn Drew “A very promising young music talent from East London”.

Loving your new track ‘RAGE’. How did the track come about? 

I appreciate that. Rage was a song that just came about very naturally at the time of being in Lockdown. I was going through a few personal struggles at the time of my mum being diagnosed with breast cancer and some deep betrayals of people close to me. It just sort of spilled out. 

The video for ‘Rage’ shows the raw emotions of the song though how many other video concepts / ideas did you consider? 

Yeah ‘Two and Eight Productions’ did a great job. We considered a few but when David Dunnage, Jack Filtness and I had a deep chat it became clear this was the only idea that really portrayed my deep feelings of self diagnosing and rage in the track. 

With your new music are we going to see you go down a similar path in terms of sound or are there some surprises coming? 

I hate genre casting so there are always going to be surprises there! Definitely going to hear elements of Rock / Alternative with some crazy raps. I’ve been working night and day with my prodigy producer Oscar Moos and my amazing band to create a completely unique sound. Everything being recorded to the highest level getting great help from rock legends like “Mark Gardner” from “The Drive” who I respect so much and can’t thank enough for lending his ear and recording facilities. We really got my sound just right. I can’t wait to share my new music very soon! 

What was it like working with sound engineer John Davis of (Dua Lipa, Killers, Gorillaz) fame? John Davis is the master of mastering, enough said. 

You mentioned growing up with the music of Nirvana, Linkin Park, Eminem and Jay-Z though if you were of a new generation who would be in your music collection nowadays? 

My music collection that’s currently getting blasted is definitely filled with alternative music from all over. Really listening to a lot of Kenny Hoopla, Machine Gun Kelly, Poorstacy and Kid Brunswick have impressed me of late. There’s a lot of new talent out there right now. 

Who would you most like to collaborate with? 

Right now, I would say Machine Gun Kelly or Kenny Hoopla. I just think our styles would complement each other so well and would be magic. 

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given & by whom? 

The best piece of advice I’ve ever got comes from my Mum and it’s very simple: “Never have regrets so go out and do what you love”. It always resonates with me as it helped give me the confidence to release my music. 

Name 3 things that you couldn’t live without? 

Things I can’t live without, I’ll take that as products, food/ drink stuff and places to go out would have to be: 

Birra Moretti 

PlayStation 

Dive Bars 

Or just anything the most important to me. 

Friends / family 

Music 

Sports

What was it like when you finally designed and set-up your own professional music studio? It’s been amazing to create my own studio, expensive but in the long run so worth it. It’s got everything that a vocalist or guitarist could ever dream or want with the finest equipment for both recording in mics and instruments with Custom Les Pauls, Mesa Boogie amps to Neumann mics. The place is my little heaven in my own church where I live. 

What can we expect from you next? You can expect a whole lot of music to drop that will turn a few heads, and a bundle of live gigs all over! Just can’t wait to make my impact, it’s definitely coming!