DRAMA SCREAM

By Kreig Marks, September 2023

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Kreig:   Hi Lauren.  Welcome to Tru Rock Revival and congratulations on the success so far with Drama Scream.  Tell me a bit about the band.  Let's get a history lesson.

 

Lauren:  So, Steve and I had been trying to find musicians to play original music for a year or two before the band was created. In 2016 we had enough music to have some friends help us out to get our album started in the studio. Then finally in 2017  our lineup started to solidify. It started with Greg , our bassist joining the band after running in to him and finding out he no longer was in a band. We sent him the tracks and the rest was history, then in the fall of 2017 we started auditioning drummers. However Justin was our first and only audition. He came in knowing all our music and surpassed our expectations. So the true start of DramaScream was the fall of 2017.

 

Kreig:  So far, the band has put out 3 albums; Built to Follow, In Your Mind and Revive.  Has it been a challenge so far to continue to write and evolve as a band and not lose track of the goals you've established?

 

Lauren: Honestly I feel like it has only gotten better, we learn from ourselves with each song we create. We still have moments where we look back and say... "I wouldn't write that song now", but I think that's the cool part about music, you can hear the growth of the band as we go on and pull in different influences.  Our goals have no changes but the pathway to accomplish them has changed. We know that social media is a major influence, and for us we are personal so we are working on finding a way to promote ourselves without giving everything away.

 

Kreig:  Back to the music, who is the primary songwriter in the band?  Do you all contribute?

 

Lauren:  Steve is the primary songwriter of the band, Justin and Greg do come up with ideas, but Steve takes the ideas then turns them into an entire song.  I write all the lyrics and melodies. 

 

Kreig:  As a kid, who were you listening to?  When did you discover your voice?  Who are your influences when you get in the recording studio or on the stage?

 

Lauren: As a little kid I listened to classic rock and 90's rock, Pat Benatar, Jewel, Alanis, and The Stones were my first memories of rock. Bands like Linkin Park, Killswitch Engage and Flyleaf were huge influences on me...also Halestorm, I thought I found my voice when I was 14, but I feel like I am still evolving as a singer, and my voice goes through changes where I pull from all different genres. Vocally in the studio I just want to sound like me, so I don't have any one vocalist in mind when it comes to singing, my screams on the other hand... I've been listening to "In Flames" and really starting to dive into some different techniques. 

 

Kreig:  What's been your biggest thrill so far with the band?

 

Lauren: My biggest thrill is seeing the crowd singing our songs back to us. I don't think that is something I will ever get over. 

 

Kreig:  Let's hear about one of those shows where everything seemed to follow the "oh crap, what else is gonna happen" path.

 

Lauren:  Well....when we first started out before we knew it was okay to pass on some shows. We agreed to play a "festival", when we arrived at the outdoor venue, we realized the set up was less than ideal for sound support and stage. The stage was not stable so when we were setting up we were having issues with trying not to fall, then once we started playing, I was getting shocked by my microphone, I had to wrap my shirt around the microphone in order to sing. Needless to say we cut our set short and learned some very valuable lessons.

 

Kreig:  Away from the band, what are your interests?  What are you listening to?

 

Lauren: Away from the band, I love being outdoors, running and being with my dog. I'm currently listening to: Bleed From Within, Tool, Seether and Thornhil.

 

Kreig:  What's on the calendar for you and the band for the rest of the year and going into next year?

 

Lauren: Right now we are in the process of finalizing the rest of our year so we can't announce too much, but we will be busy so keep your eyes on us.

 

Kreig:  Is there anyone you'd like to thank or give a shout out to?

 

I'd like to thank our families, friends and fans, we would not be able to do what we are without the support and kindness of others.