Melbourne sonic shape shifters DREGG have been on the grind since the release of their debut effort back in 2016. Now, the fruits of their labour are ripe for the picking, with news coming through this week that the quintet has inked a global deal with the iconic Epitaph Records.
To add further oomph to the signing, DREGG have shared the brand new single ‘Hectic’, their first new offering of the year, and one that uses its 3-and-a-half-odd-minute run time to punctuate the band’s hard fought effort to get such a record deal laid out before them.
In a beaming statement to Blunt Magazine, the band explained that it’s “extremely humbling to know that a massive independent label that pushes the very definition and evolution of punk sees our vision and wants to help us make it all possible. Couldn’t be more grateful for the situation we’ve been placed in. Now it’s time to make some real noise.”
To punctuate the news even further, it’s worth noting than in its decade-spanning tenure, Epitaph have only signed Dangerous! and I Killed The Prom Queen, making DREGG a member of the very exclusive club of Australian bands to have pricked up the ears of the label: only the third to have ever done so.
“To be added to the list of greats that we grew up listening to is absolutely mind blowing”, the band explain. “In the spirit of the culture, it’s refreshing to see a label of such magnitude allowing their artists to have so much creative freedom. We’re as excited to be a part of Epitaph Records as we are to watch the label grow into the new era of punk we’re endeavouring into.”
Over the years, DREGG have earned a rep around the trenches of the Australian alternative community as a relentless source of individualism, character and jams that are as lyrically heavy as they are instrumentally. As we can see with their first release as part of the Epitaph family, nothing has been toned down. If anything, their charming brand of chaos is more focused and contained than ever before.
Proceed with caution, brace for impact, whatever you need to do. Just consider yourself warned: We’re in DREGG’s world now.
