PHOTOS
Lisa Sokolowski
An unsigned band is like a secret, something you tell your very best friends about but try to keep from the rest of the world. There are reasons to want the band to stay underground: If the band gets huge and starts playing arenas, the guys you saw up close in a small club would turn into little specs on a large stage, viewed best with binoculars.
So, when a band signs a record deal, people sometimes get upset, like the band personally punched them in the stomach because it would rather live off royalty checks than Ramen noodles.
If you're the one to drop a band when it gets big, then we're sorry to say you've got another band to cross off your favorites list (and, if you're really like that, you can't call yourself a fan, but that's a different story).
But, if you're proud for any success out of the 570, then get happy for The Drama Club - singer/guitarist Nick Coyle, guitarist Jon Novakovich, keyboardist Ryan Kofron, bassist Mike Morgan, and drummer Randy Elmy. On Thursday, the band just signed to One Eleven Records, home of The Spill Canvas, Inkwell, and Rookie of the Year.
"There were a few different things," Novakovich said of why the band went with One Eleven. "The guy who owns the label and runs the label is verbal. He returns phone calls. He just jumped at it. He was really aggressive, and we negotiated back and forth. He wants to do it and has faith in it."
The band inked a contract with Brad Fischetti, former member of L.F.O. (a.k.a. Lyte Funky Ones, a.k.a. the band with that Abercrombie and Fitch song). Being an artist himself makes Fischetti more understanding.
"He's more than a suit and tie guy with a pen signing checks," Coyle said.
The contract reads like a tax form, Novakovich said. It's full of legal mumbo jumbo that the band trusted manager Rob Dippold, who is also the GM of Trustkill Records, to sort out the fine print.
"We have none of the goofy stuff," Novakovich said. "There's nothing like, 'You can only have six tattoos.' We can basically have 100 percent creative freedom, 100 percent creative license. We can do whatever we want, basically, wear whatever we want, dress however we want, say whatever we want."
One Eleven signed the band on the strength of a five-song EP the band recorded in Los Angeles with Anthrax guitarist Rob Cagginao as producer and mixer Jay Baumgardner (Evanescence, Papa Roach).
The band finished recording last summer, but didn't want to independently release the EP.
"We didn't want to have (a label) be like, 'You already released this on your own. Go back in the studio and record.' We'd rather have a label, like One Eleven, put out what we've done," Coyle said.
Plus, the band isn't a machine. There's no Lou Pearlman in the wings, writing songs for the band. Each song The Drama Club pens is its own creation.
The band's song "November" is in the Top 20 on Sirius radio. Listen to it on the band's MySpace page or patiently wait for it to be released on an EP, perhaps with possible videos and live material.
With a record deal now, the album will have distribution in all major outlet stores like Best Buy, FYE, and, yes, even Wal-Mart. But that doesn't mean the band will be any different. Both Coyle and Novakovich, after much thought, said they would buy equipment with their first royalty check. They're not about to blow anything on booze and chicks.
"Our money is being invested," Novakovich said. "They're not just giving us money to buy Camaros."