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Photograph by Mabel Suen
Dracla.
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Photograph by Mabel Suen
Dracla.
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Photograph by Mabel Suen
Dracla in performance.
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Photograph by Mabel Suen
“You'll need to meet with him well after nightfall, obviously,” says Raymond J. Kannenberg, head of public relations for Dracla, a dangerously pale frontman who claims to have led a metal group of the same name for centuries. Yet evidence suggests that the band only surfaced in August 2015, and any details of its existence prior are conspicuously absent.
“I'll be sure to leave the garlic and crosses at home,” I joked, but Kannenberg was quick to interject. He threatened to dash the interview altogether and warned against using that kind of offensive language around his client.
While I typically work days, I agreed to meet with Dracla at what he called “eventide” in a nondescript brick building nestled in downtown St. Louis. This was after a performance earlier that night where I watched Dracla howl through the mic, commanding keys, guitars and drums behind him in a hypnotic trance.
Dracla's debut, a self-titled EP released digitally and through limited hand-crafted cassette tapes, is less of a full drink and more of kindly tended morsel. To wit, the short-and-sweet offering works incredibly well at rendering a distinct sound while working in the construct of a genre that has literally been beaten to death.
His own approach to bass guitar makes for hefty low-end leads while deep, snarling vocals fly overhead to lead each propulsive song. If the ages-old entity had truly made a kind of metal music centuries ago, it was no doubt molded and made current by the more mainstream pioneers of the genre—Black Sabbath and Deep Purple are the broadest entry points. Yet Dracla's approach is hook-heavy, relying less on sing-alongs and more on densely layered riffs to great effect.
While information on the band is scarce, sightings have occurred at several south city basements, including its debut show at the old Livery spot on Cherokee Street last August. The debut tape released in March and will hopefully act as a precursor to a larger release.
After agreeing to several of Dracla's demands (I have agreed to keep the content of these strictly confiential), we met for a one-on-one interview to dispel some of the mystery surrounding his person. To my surprise, he even agreed to be photographed. Once again, the myth that vampires don't have a reflection, or can't be photographed, is yet another (offensive) cliché.
Please forgive my ignorance, but Dracula is the most well-known of your kind the world over. We should address the elephant in the room, so to speak. Your name is Dracla. Is this a misspelling or are you a different entity altogether? Or is there another explanation for the missing U?
Dracula was an ass, perhaps by design of the gods, but a nuisance regardless. I decided to take an extended rest in the noontide of my 800s, and as I slept he bamboozled my stoned minions and assumed my place in my home. He gave himself the title of Count and ignorantly misspelled my name, resulting in a huge PR blunder. To add to the Count's folly he was revealed and slain by mortals and gone ere I rose.
You have to understand that it's hard for me, as a journalist, to accept that you're an immortal vampire. Some say you're a man in make-up. Before we move any further, can you make a statement, and do so on the record?
I am not a human in make-up.
Apologies, it's just a formality. On stage, you've made your preference for red wine over human blood quite apparent. Can talk more of your taste for wine over blood and how you sustain life differently from others?
Times have changed, and to feed in the old ways has become an inconvenience. Few are sustained on human blood alone anymore. Many have moved to supplements and, the lesser of us, to animals (mostly goats). I have become partial to wine because of the antioxidants and mouthfeel.
I see. What factors do you take into account when shopping for wine? Are you subscribed to any wine clubs or newsletters?
I produce my own crop. Sommeliers fall to their knees and their tongues boil when they drink the wicked draught of Dracla's vines. Needless to say, it has been difficult to find others to network with. In the off chance I drink wine wrought by the hand of mortals I usually go for something red with an enticing label.
Now let's get into the music—how did you go about selecting the musicians for your backing band?
They were all family friends in another time and, upon my awakening, I lured them to the place of my death at sundown with promises of "Magic" cards. For seven eons they are cursed to carry out my bidding in their then present forms. They became musicians in their free time.
Given your kind's place in popular culture, the metal genre seems like an appropriate fit, but have you or your band dabbled in other styles of music?
We were once a Red Hot Chili Peppers cover band for a Halloween party in hell, but merely to repay a debt. It is seldom spoken of.
How do you feel playing with a band of humans? Do you face vitriol from your fellow vampires for working with mortals?
I feel little. Part of feeding is survivors, so assimilated humans accompany my kind regularly. There were once many of us that had sub-mortal companions, at least until blood famines sent a large migration of vampires to rest in catacombs to await its passing. It was not long until an earthquake struck and their dwellings were swallowed. So, until the earth folds and that cavern is cracked again, there should be few qualms.
Ah, I understand, so it's a non-issue. What first drew you to the bass guitar?
Tennis was too expensive.
The music seems inspired by early Black Sabbath and early pioneers of metal. But what kind of music does Dracla enjoy in his leisure time?
Prokofiev, Wagner, and I've been on a Kendrick Lamar kick lately.
Can you talk more on the writing and collaborative process behind the band's songs?
Being that all mortal minds bend to my will, it made collaborating easy for the first few hundred years of our "career." Seeing as only five songs surfaced in so many centuries, I have since slackened my creative grip and allowed my disciples to forge riffs of their design.
Ultimately, what do you hope to achieve by fronting this band of humans?
It is no matter of hope; all will bow to Dracla.
Keeping tabs on Dracla requires due diligence, as he has not acclimated to the modern ways of “social media.” More information on the band can be found at Dracla's bandcamp page.
