Drag Me Down

**Drag Me Down** is a British punk rock band from Swindon, formed in 2015. The current lineup consists of vocalist/guitarist Oscar Manners, bassist James Bowles and lead guitarist Charlie Mortimer. Rooted in pop punk and melodic hardcore, the band's music emphasises melody and catchiness whilst also being aggressive in style. This combination has led to the band adopting the genre "whatevercore" due to the amount of styles they pull from.

The band's lyrics typically contain messages of positivity and self belief, and also sometimes incorporate political messages. The band also has lyrics and song titles that are references to Japanese media franchises such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, Xenoblade Chronicles and Cowboy Bebop amongst others.

## History

### *Better To Burn Out Than Fade Away* (2015-2016)

The band was initially formed as a solo project by songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Oscar Manners as an outlet for demos and songs that he had written while being a part of his school band Rage Quit, after being inspired by the Foo Fighters debut album which was written while Dave Grohl was a member of Nirvana (band). After a few months of demoing and writing in his garage the songs were collected into the band's debut album, Better To Burn Out Than Fade Away, which was released in 2015 on Bandcamp (and later on iTunes and Spotify in 2016). The songs were mainly instrumental and largely consisted of experimental grunge, ska and hard rock songs while having a select few tracks with vocals (performed by Manners). Manners did not play any of the songs live, and the project took a backseat while Manners joined alternative rock band Xadium in 2016 (which featured James Bowles, future Drag Me Down bassist).

### *Are You Out There?*, *Something Beautiful* and *Kill Your Heroes* (2017)

Manners wrote and recorded new tracks through much of 2017, initially to pitch them to his main band at the time, Xadium. However many weren't considered right for the band, so Manners instead revived the Drag Me Down name and released them on Spotify periodically throughout the year as three EPs. *Are You Out There?* came in early 2017 and featured a typical punk rock sound while also featuring elements of thrash metal and emo. Again, all the songs were instrumental. After this came *Something Beautiful* in May which featured a more indie focused sound while also including subtle elements of pop punk and emo. The last of these EPs came in August 2017, titled *Kill Your Heroes,* which featured a more hardcore punk influenced direction. These were all released independently.

### *Never Be The Same Again* (2018) and hiatus

Manners returned to the studio to write and produce the follow up to their debut album in late 2017, almost immediately after *Kill Your Heroes* was released. After an intensive and short writing period which included home recorded tracks as well as songs recorded at his college, Drag Me Down's second album *Never Be The Same Again* was released in January 2018. This album featured a much more overtly pop punk sound with tighter and more polished production than the band's debut. However, none of the songs were played live that year as touring and recording responsibilities with Xadium took priority, leaving the project to once again fade into the background. Throughout all of 2018 and into mid 2019 Drag Me Down would remain inactive while Xadium toured and released 3 EPs and 2 singles.

### Return, lineup changes and summer singles (2019)

Drag Me Down made a surprise return in 2019, after the breakup of Xadium in May 2019. The band re-emerged with the addition of Manners' former Xadium bandmate James Bowles on bass and All Smiles In Wonderland member Tristan Gorman on drums.

Manners teased the band's return on Instagram with a photo of their new logo (a globe with two arrows pointing downward) and a caption stating "You can't Drag Me Down". The band were announced that month to play their first ever show supporting Boxing Day at The Victoria, Swindon. Immediately following the announcement the band released a new single on Bandcamp titled "I'm Not Sorry" which slowly climbed Bandcamp's punk charts. The band went on to release another single in July titled "Make History", and another in August titled "Can't Say Goodbye".

To support these releases, Drag Me Down embarked on a weekend tour around the South West with fellow Swindon band Haydon, titled "The Defend Whatevercore Tour". The first night of this tour in Bath was shut down shortly before the show was due to begin due to the venue's parent company's CEO (who was staying above the venue) deeming the band "too loud" during their soundcheck. The CEO was not willing to negotiate or even meet with the bands to discuss why he made this decision, despite the band being booked well in advance and with material readily available to him to listen to and judge. The band were threatened with an ultimatum: cancel the show or the venue staff would potentially lose their jobs and all live music at the venue would be halted indefinitely. The band agreed to cancel the show at the venue, and instead invited the crowd back to their practice space (located nearby) for an impromptu house show. The second night of the tour in Swindon went without a hitch, with Leeds-based bands Thick Skin and High Visions added to the lineup.

### *Separate Myself*, *Who We Are* and touring (2019-2020)

In November 2019 the band released another single, called "Separate Myself". To promote this they supported WSTR in Swindon in December, then the next month played a headline show in Guildford which was their first show of 2020. The band returned to the studio once again to record another standalone single, with producer Zac Pritchett and mastering engineer Grant Berry. The song was released in March, titled "Who We Are". After this their touring plans were interrupted by the Coronavirus outbreak, which resulted in the cancellation of all their touring plans for Spring and early Summer 2020.

### *New Today Better Tomorrow" (2020-)*

The band announced on Twitter that they were recording a new EP in May 2020. In celebration of a full year since the band's reformation, they also released a limited edition compilation CD titled *Year One*. They were also announced for the August Furnace Fest, opening the acoustic stage. However due to COVID-19 this was also indefinitely delayed.

Manners and Bowles worked separately during the UK's first national lockdown to write and record their follow up to "Who We Are". Frustrated, the band chose to write a song that reflected their sadness about the state of the music industry and UK. Working once again with Zac Pritchett the band released "Disappointed" in July 2020. The band continued writing through the release window of this song and in September, the band released "New Today Better Tomorrow", their first EP since 2017s "Kill Your Heroes". To support the release, Manners played an acoustic show at the Victoria in Swindon, the same venue that the band played for the first time since reforming a year prior. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak the band were unable to support the EP any further in a live capacity.

### Post-Covid and Lineup Changes (2021-22)

Following the easing of lockdown restrictions, the band began an intensive writing period that resulted in the single "Survive", which quickly became the band's biggest song and fan favourite. While the band was creatively alive and well, they would not return to the stage for a while yet due to being out of practice for so long during the pandemic. Manners started work on a new set of songs to replace the band's ageing setlist, which showed a marked improvement in songwriting and melodies. Working closely with Pritchett, the band would go on to release "Fast Times" and "Invincible" in 2022, both putting the band to the test stylistically and lyrically and closing a chapter after 4 years with Manners and Bowles as the sole creative forces in the band. Shortly after, the band made a dramatic addition to their lineup in new lead guitarist Charlie Mortimer, a metal musician from St. Albans. Mortimer's introduction signalled a new beginning and fresh creative direction for the band. Manners and Mortimer would spend summer of 2022 writing a myriad of songs in different genres, from pop punk to a death metal EP (ultimately unreleased). In October, the band would play its first live show in 2 years supporting fellow South West punk band Trashed, in Bristol. The band are currently writing and recording a new EP.

## Musical Style and Influences

Since 2019 Drag Me Down has become known as being a pop punk band with hardcore leanings, although on earlier material they dabbled with experimental indie and metal influence. Their eclectic musical style has led their fans to jokingly refer to them as a "Whatevercore" band. When asked about what whatevercore is defined as in an April interview, Manners simply stated "It's a state of mind". Manners cited bands such as NOFX, Neck Deep, Strung Out, Saosin, Counterparts and Fightstar as major influences.

## Members

* Oscar Manners - Lead Vocals/Guitar (2015-present)
* James Bowles - Bass/Backing Vocals (2019-present)
* Charlie Mortimer - Lead Guitar (2022-present)

## Discography

### Studio Albums

*Better To Burn Out Than Fade Away* (2015)

*Never Be The Same Again* (2018)

### EPs

*Are You Out There?* (2017)

*Something Beautiful...* (2017)

*Kill Your Heroes* (2017)

*New Today Better Tomorrow* (2020)

### Singles

"Fail Me Again" (2017)

"I'm Not Sorry" (2019)

"Make History" (2019)

"Can't Say Goodbye" (2019)

"Separate Myself" (2019)

"Who We Are" (2020)

"Disappointed" (2020)

"Survive" (2021)

"Fast Times" (2022)

"Invincible" (2022)