Photos by Sylvia Ansley
Have you ever wanted to go to a show, get absolutely thrashed in the pit, and walk away with a feeling of connection and camaraderie? If so, DRAIN is your guy. In fact, DRAIN Is Your Friend.
On Friday, November 7, hardcore four-piece DRAIN hosted a DIY-spirited release party/house show in the back lot of their label, Epitaph Records. Across the street, a billboard loomed over Sunset Boulevard, adorned with DRAIN’s deceptively adorable cover art for their new album, …Is Your Friend, which was released that day.
DRAIN started as a group of students from UC Santa Cruz that catapulted into hardcore royalty through their raw talent and undeniable charm. Still, the band’s spirit doesn’t rely on fancy album releases or towering billboards. “This is still your band,” promised frontman Sammy Ciaramitaro, towering on a makeshift stage over a mob of fans. “There might be a billboard right across on Sunset, but we’re not above playing in the parking lot.” And play they did. Alongside lead vocalist Ciaramitaro, Tim Flegal (drums), Cody Chavez (guitar), and new addition Greg Cerwonka (bass) threw down. This short and fiery set was nothing short of extraordinary.
Fans streamed in from the street, quickly filling the space to the brim. Even after capacity was quickly reached, fans piled up against the fences, stretching arms through bars just to get closer to the madness. As the band launched into “Nights Like These” off their new album, fans appeared to fall from the sky, stage-diving left and right. A perfect opening song, “Nights Like These” is a love letter to live music, feeling the energy of the crowd and letting your pain and worries slide away. The lyrics also encapsulate DRAIN’s career, starting from humble beginnings and riding the wave of ingenuity and talent all the way to their third album (“‘Cause it’s nights like these that I’ve been living for / Never thought I’d make it this far / ‘Cause it’s nights like these that I’ve been searching for / And I’m finally home”). As a genre, hardcore can look intimidating and scary to those on the outside. But like all other alternative subgenres of music, it feels like home for those who are unrepresented elsewhere. Through all the spin-kicks and suffocating mosh pits, hardcore is home, and DRAIN is emblematic of that paradoxically welcoming, friendly feeling.
As the show raged on, the energy only climbed higher. It reached such a level that in the middle of “Who’s Having Fun?”, another new track, fans outside simply couldn’t take it anymore. Hurling themselves over the fence and sprinting for the safety of the pit, they were met with cheering and open arms. Ironically, “Who’s Having Fun?” explores the concept of sellouts within the alternative music scene. Recently, a lot of discourse has been thrown around about “performativeness” and “inauthenticity,” both aimed at bands and fans. These claims are not without merit, as music genres once considered unlistenable by the mainstream are suddenly becoming the next big marketable thing. As another kid sailed over me from the top of the fence, I found it refreshing to see that fans out there are still willing to do anything for the music. This crowd was the opposite of what DRAIN was not so subtly making fun of.
DRAIN continued to deliver their signature blend of classic hardcore heaviness mixed with thrashy riffs reminiscent of bands like Suicidal Tendencies and Municipal Waste. One of my favorite moments from the night, however, was not a DRAIN original, but a cover of legendary punk band (and Epitaph royalty) Descendants’ “Good Good Things.” This cover was also featured on DRAIN’s album Living Proof. Ciaramitaro relinquished his microphone to the crowd, who had taken over the stage to sing the song together. Finding his way to the fence keeping the overflow crowd out, he climbed up to the top. The mic magically appeared back in his hand, and he began to scream Descendants’ perfectly pinning lyrics to the dedicated, fence-clinging fans.
The show ended with DRAIN’s biggest hit, “Feel the Pressure,” off their debut album, California Cursed. The intro never fails to bring me back to walking the beloved Santa Cruz Boardwalk, which I’ve always hoped was the inspiration for the intro snippet. The band was barely visible as the crowd had largely engulfed the stage. The line that separated the band from the fans had dissolved. DRAIN really was the community’s band. As the microphone made its final passes through the pit, the crowd began to chant “DRAIN is your friend!” I can’t imagine that a single person left the show without a big goofy grin plastered on their face.
After the show, my friends and I started our prowl of Silverlake to scrounge for food. Still sticky with sweat, we walked up and down the street under the glow of the billboard. Walking towards us was Sammy! Having a reputation for being the chillest guy in hardcore, I wasn’t surprised (but was definitely thrilled) when he stopped to chat with us. When I mentioned representing UCLA Radio, he happily recalled performing at the station back in 2018. He reminisced on the excitement of being asked to play at another college, piling into the band’s van (that had broken down as we were speaking), and immediately driving back to Santa Cruz after the performance for work the next day. “We aren’t driving to work tomorrow!” he joked.
DRAIN deserves the success they worked for. …Is Your Friend lives up to its predecessors, and the band’s authentic nature shines through just as much as it did in their first album.
Listen to DRAIN’s new record, …Is Your Friend, below!
