New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Canada's cleopatrick return with their first single of 2021: "THE DRAKE". The song solidifies the duo's reputation for relatable lyrics and heavy riffs, with the accompanying home-video reminiscing about pre-pandemic life at one of the band's signature basement shows. A longtime live staple and crowd favorite, "THE DRAKE" will appear on cleopatrick's forthcoming debut album.
They share: "this song is about a gig we played at The
Drake Hotel in Toronto. We were very anxious for this show as it was going to be one of our first performances in front of a crowd of people that had discovered us through the internet. Shortly before we went up to play, things ended up taking a very unfortunate turn as a familiar group caught our eye...it was "the boys."
the kind of "the boys" that made us feel embarrassed about our love of music in high school.
the kind of "the boys" that we tried to escape through this band.
the kind of "the boys" we had written an entire ep about.
There was one particular guy in the group that really put me out of my head. My high school bully.
As some kids decided to start a pit, the bully put one of our best friends on the ground in a chokehold. We watched from the stage. We felt powerless as friends rushed in and tried to calm the situation. This song is about bullies from our hometown. It's about the regret of not standing up for yourself. And it's about looking forward to the day you can leave people like that behind."
"THE DRAKE" is the follow up to December's "GOOD GRIEF," of which FLOOD noted, "the riff-heavy (track is) built around blues rock guitar warped into something worthy of the mosh pit they aim to incite with the track as soon as social distancing measures are a thing of the past." Brooklyn Vegan called it, "...kinda punky in a King Krule sort of way." cleopatrick's single "hometown" has independently amassed over 60 million streams without the help of a record label or marketing campaign. The story continues to grow with support from Spotify, Apple
Music and Amazon (included in their Ones to Watch for 2021). The single has seen major airplay at Alternative and Rock radio, and is currently #5 on the Active Rock chart. Since 2018, the band has performed at a wide range of festivals including Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits, Riot Fest, Shaky Knees and more.
Best friends since the age of 4, Luke Gruntz (guitar/vocals) and Ian Fraser (drums) are cleopatrick. And while they are from (and still based) in the tiny town of Cobourg, Ontario, their sound is anything but small. The core of their mission: to restore the outspoken provocation of rock and roll through raw, abrasive honesty. All of cleopatrick's success has developed from their parents' basements in a small town you've never heard of. Yet while their homebase may be a small dot on the map, their community is large. Along with two other like-minded-artists (Zig Mentality and Ready The Prince), the band formed the loose DIY collective "New Rock Mafia" as a means to offer support to one another. Together the artist and fan collective provides location based info, curated content and organizes secret events / shows within the community, all for members only. It has been instrumental in helping the band get the word out while keeping a familial feel and a safe space for fans.
"THE DRAKE" is available today via the band's own Nowhere Special Recordings, distributed by Thirty Tigers.
