Nick Coyle – Vocals, Guitar, Synth
Nate Bevan - Guitar and Bk Vocals
R.J. MacLean – Bass
Randy Elmy – Drums and Percussion
Jon Novakovich – Guitar and Bk Vocals
As band names go, perhaps there's never been one so fitting, so apropos, than The Drama Club! Not that there's friction amongst the members of this superior Pennsylvania-based five piece rock outfit. On the contrary. But the journey each of the group's members has endured – the path they've all been on, that finally led them to one another, to The Drama Club – has been both long and laden with major label successes. That journey's taken them to all four corners of the world map, and over the years, each individual member's grown – mentally, creatively, and spiritually. For The Drama Club, it's been about building up to this point, to realizing a career goal.
The Drama Club, who recently opened for Velvet Revolver and Hoobastank at the Ford Pavilion in Scranton, PA, solidified their lineup in 2005 but for Coyle, the road leading to this new band was both bumpy and marked by monumental career moments. First, his heavy metal-tinged band Lifer broke-up shortly after the band released its self-titled debut through Republic/Universal Records. The disc, produced by Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson, sold over 40,000 copies, and the album's first single, "Boring", was a rock radio staple. Also, the song "Breathless" was featured in the film "The Scorpion King," and helped that movie's soundtrack sell more than 715,000 copies, earning it certified gold status.
In 2004, Coyle teamed up with guitarist and vocalist Nate Bevan and bassist R.J. MacLean (both formerly of the melodic hardcore band Stalemate (Stillborn/Universal), to start jamming and writing songs that would eventually lead to forming The Drama Club. "I've known these guys for a while, but we've never really played in a band together," Coyle says. "But, these were the better people that I knew from around here," the Wilkes Barre/Scranton area. "So, we started jamming with various musicians, and just recently solidified the band with the addition of guitarist Jon Novakovich and drummer Randy Elmy in late 2005.
Producer Bill Appleberry, famous for his work with The Wallflowers and Adema heard some of the bands early demos and immediately flew out to Pennsylvania to see the band live and eventually produced their debut EP entitled "Greatest Hits." The EP was mastered by Dave Collins, who has worked with Soundgarden, Queens of the Stone Age and Perry Farrell's Porno for Pyros.
For frontman Nick Coyle, The Drama Club's also about much more than ascribing to the current rock trends or following the stringent guidelines of one specific genre. Rather, the band's focused on crafting melodic, progressive, and infectious straight-ahead rock songs that, at their heart, honor the original purpose behind rock-and-roll: they're songs Coyle and the rest of the band have a good time playing. That makes The Drama Club's music more honest than the cookie-cutter rock that seems to dominate the airwaves. Speaking of the band's lyrics, Coyle says they're about life experiences, plain and simple.
"We're not going out there and telling people to change the world," he explains. "It's rock music, and that's where we all kind of came from. With music, you kind of branch out in all these different directions, and sometimes, you get lost. For me, with Lifer, it was cool, and it was kind of what was going on at the time, but I mean, I'm a fan of big hooks and rocking – like Guns ‘N Roses type stuff. The real rock instrument stuff, and that's what we were all trying to go for when we play this music. It's just fun rock."
Now that their album's completed, Coyle and the rest of The Drama Club have been touring the region playing clubs and various one-off dates with acts like Breaking Benjamin (Hollywood), FlyLeaf (J), and Sound The Alarm (Geffen). They were recently featured on PureVolume.com, and voted the #1 unsigned "rock band" and can be regularly heard on 97x fm (Wilkes-Barre). "The Drama Club is one of the most requested bands we play on 97.9X "Underground", amazing music and very dynamic captivating frontman - Zoey 97X (WBSX, Scranton, PA).
