Drax Project

Drax Project
Origin Wellington, New Zealand
Genres
Years active 2013–present
Labels Universal
300 Entertainment[1]
Website http://www.draxproject.com
Members Sam Thomson
Shaan Singh
Matt Beachen
Ben O'Leary

Drax Project is a four piece New Zealand band that formed in 2014. Recording a mix of jazz, R&B and pop music, the band came to prominence in 2018 with the single "Woke Up Late", which was certified platinum by RIANZ.

Biography

Drax Project began as buskers in Wellington in 2013, composed of Shaan Singh on saxophone and Matt Beachen on drums (the origin of the band's name is a portmanteau of 'drums' and 'sax').[2][3] Drax Project mostly performed pop song covers while busking at Courtenay Place, Wellington and performing at local bars and events.[4][5] Double bassist Sam Thomson joined shortly after, and guitarist Ben O'Leary joined the band a year after, when the band made the switch to creating original material.[2][5] All members were jazz students at Massey University, except for O'Leary who studied music at Whitireia New Zealand.[4][5]

In August 2014, the band released their first extended play to Bandcamp.[6] A friend of O'Leary's produced the extended play as a part of his final year assignment for music school.[4] The exposure from the extended play allowed Drax Project to be booked for summer festivals in 2014-2015.[4] In 2016, the group released their second extended play, T/W/OO, through Universal.[3] It was produced by founding Shapeshifter member Devin Abrams.[4] The extended play's first single "Cold" was successful on Spotify, reaching #1 on their viral chart and being streamed over 160,000 times in three months.[3] In 2017, Drax Project opened for Lorde's Auckland concert of her Melodrama World Tour in November 2017,[7] as well as New Zealand band Six60.[8]

In November 2017, the band released the song "Woke Up Late". It gained popularity over the next few months on Spotify and was widely played on New Zealand radio stations.[9] In March, Drax Project opened for Ed Sheeran's three Auckland performances of his ÷ Tour in March 2018 (currently the largest-scale concert held in New Zealand as of 2018).[10][11] By April, "Woke Up Late" had been certified Platinum by the RIANZ.[9] In March, the band were featured on "Light", the third single from U.S. rapper Famous Dex's 2018 album Dex Meets Dexter.[12] In June 2018, the group opened for the European leg of Camila Cabello's Never Be the Same Tour.[13]

Drax Project will release their debut studio album in 2018.[14]

Discography

Extended plays

Title Album details Peak chart positions
NZ
[15]
Drax Project EP
  • Released: 3 August 2014 (2014-08-03)[6]
  • Label: Drax Project Limited
  • Format: Digital download
 —
T/W/OO
  • Released: 1 April 2016 (2016-04-01)
  • Label: Drax Project Limited, Universal
  • Format: Digital download
 18
Covers (Live)
  • Released: 26 May 2017 (2017-05-26)
  • Label: Drax Project Limited, Universal
  • Format: Digital download
 40
Noon
  • Released: 8 June 2018 (2018-06-08)
  • Label: Drax Project Limited, Universal
  • Format: Digital download
 10
"—" denotes an extended play that did not chart.

Singles

As lead artist

Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album
NZ
[15]		 NZ
Artist
[16]
"Cold"[3] 2016 —15 T/W/OO
"Came to Me"[17] ——
"Falling Out of Sight"[18] —14 Non-album singles
"So Lost"[19] ——[upper-alpha 1]
"Woke Up Late" 2017 151 Noon
"Toto"[22] 2018 —4
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart.
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
NZ
Arist
Heat.
[23]
"Light"[24]
(Famous Dex featuring Drax Project)		 2018 2 Dex Meets Dexter

Other charted songs

Title Year Peak chart positions Album
NZ
Artist
[16]
"Cry Me a River / Higher Ground (Live)" 2017 18 Covers (Live)
"Pony (Live)" 19
"Latch (Live)" —[upper-alpha 2]
"Only Us" 2018 10 Noon
"Prefer" 17
"Sidebit" —[upper-alpha 3]
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart.

Notes

  1. ↑ "So Lost" did not enter the NZ Artist Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 1 on the NZ Artists Heatseeker Singles Chart.[20]
  2. ↑ "Latch (Live)", a cover of the Disclosure song of the same name featuring Sam Smith, did not enter the NZ Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 5 on the NZ Artists Heatseeker Singles Chart.[20]
  3. ↑ "Sidebit" did not enter the NZ Artists Top 40 Singles Chart, but peaked at number 1 on the NZ Artists Singles Heatseekers Chart.[25]

References

  1. ↑ "300 Entertainment". 300 Entertainment. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
  2. 1 2 Connor, Fiona (13 December 2016). "Nine Things You Probably Didn't Know About Drax Project". Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Drax Project - Seemed Like Trouble". NZME. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Gruar, Tim (25 February 2018). "Drax Project – The 13th Floor Interview". The 13th Floor. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 "Interview: Drax Project". Massive Magazine. Archived from the original on 2 February 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Drax Project EP by Drax Project". Bandcamp. 3 August 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  7. ↑ McDonald, Dani (18 February 2018). "From busking to opening for Lorde: The rise of Drax Project". Stuff.co.nz. Fairfax New Zealand. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  8. ↑ Macfarlane, Kristin (5 December 2017). "Big changes to Six60's summer tour". NZ Herald. NZME. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  9. 1 2 "Drax Project locks in Auckland show". Stuff.co.nz. Fairfax New Zealand. 18 February 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  10. ↑ Macfarlane, Kristin (18 February 2018). "Drax Project's Bay musician opens for Ed Sheeran". NZ Herald. NZME. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  11. ↑ "Ed Sheeran has announced yet another New Zealand show". NZ Herald. NZME. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  12. ↑ Findlay, Mitch (30 March 2018). "Famous Dex Taps New Zealand's Drax Project For Pop-Friendly "Light"". HotNewHipHop. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  13. ↑ Gehring, Matt. "Famous Dex And Drax Project Premiere Their "Lights" Music Video On 'TRL'". MTV News. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
  14. ↑ "The Drax Project: Ed Sheeran, Auckland City Limits and hotel slippers". NZ Herald. NZME. 1 March 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  15. 1 2 "Discography DRAX PROJECT". Recorded Music NZ. Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  16. 1 2 Peak positions for Drax Project's singles on the NZ Artist singles chart:
    • For "Cold", "Falling Out of Sight", "Woke Up Late", "Cry Me a River / Higher Ground (Live)", "Pony (Live)": "NZ Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 2 April 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
    • For "Only Us", "Prefer": "NZ Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
    • For "Toto": "NZ Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 21 September 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  17. ↑ "Came to Me - Single". Apple. 11 March 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  18. ↑ "Falling Out of Sight - Single". Apple. 9 September 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  19. ↑ "So Lost - Single". Apple. 16 December 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  20. 1 2 "NZ Heatseekers Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 2 April 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  21. ↑ "New Zealand single certifications – Drax Project – Woke Up Late". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  22. ↑ "Drax Project write about their risks in new single 'Toto'". MediaWorks Radio. 13 August 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  23. ↑ Peak positions for Unknown Mortal Orchestra's singles on the NZ Artist Heatseekers singles chart:
    • For "Light": "NZ Heatseekers Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 9 April 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  24. ↑ "Famous Dex – Light (feat. Drax Project)". OnSmash. 30 March 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  25. ↑ "NZ Artists Heatseekers Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
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