Drab Majesty

Drab Majesty are a Los Angeles-based darkwave and electronic rock group active since 2011. The project is led by Andrew Clinco, who performs through the androgynous alter ego Deb Demure, and the group also includes Alex Nicolaou, who joins as keyboardist under the name Mona D. Their sound brings together reverb-heavy guitars, shimmering synthesizers, drum machine rhythms, and vocals that sit between forceful and ethereal, a combination Demure describes as “tragic wave”.

Origins and formation

Clinco begins Drab Majesty while drumming for Marriages. Inspired by bandmate Emma Ruth Rundle to take up guitar and write songs on his own, he starts the project as a solo vehicle before it develops into a full band. The act is based in Los Angeles and remains active.

Style and image

Drab Majesty’s music draws on 1980s new wave, shoegaze, dream pop, and darkwave, while also being identified as electronic rock and post-punk. Their visual presentation is theatrical and androgynous, with white wigs, mirrored sunglasses, and carefully defined stage personas. This imagery is central to the project’s identity and connects to its interest in performance, ritual, and questions of identity.

Releases

The first release is Unarian Dances in 2012, a limited cassette that later gains a following and is reissued by Lollipop Records. Drab Majesty then sign to Dais Records and release the debut album Careless in 2015. A year later they issue Completely Careless, a compilation of early material and rare tracks. In 2016 they also release a split single with King Dude.

Their second album, The Demonstration, arrives in 2017 and is a concept record concerned with cult psychology and collective identity. That same period also sees the tribute single “Oak Wood”, released in memory of Cash Askew, a friend and fellow musician who dies in the Ghost Ship fire in Oakland.

Modern Mirror, released in 2019, takes inspiration from the myth of Narcissus and continues the band’s move toward lush melodic sound while keeping a dark core. In 2023 the duo issues the mini-album An Object in Motion, a four-track release that explores neo-psychedelic textures and includes “Vanity”, a collaboration with Rachel Goswell of Slowdive. The EP’s centrepiece, “The Skin and the Glove”, combines shoegaze and dream pop elements. In 2024 the single “Photograph” appears on the soundtrack to I Saw the TV Glow.

Live work and associations

Drab Majesty tour extensively and share stages with acts including Cold Cave, King Dude, Slowdive, and AFI. The project builds an international following through these performances and through its evolving mix of darkwave, synth-driven rock, and dream-pop atmosphere.