Drgn King
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Music
Press
"It’s a challenge to draw any musical comparisons to DRGN KING (pronounced “Dragon King”). The four individual members bring unique musical talents to the mix. Bassist Julie Slick (a member of the Adrian Belew power trio along with her brother and Dr. Dog drummer Eric) anchors the psychedelic indie art-rock jams along with drummer/producer Joe Baldacci, producer Ritz Reynolds (Mac Miller, The Roots) on synthesizers and the soulful lead singer/guitarist Dominic Angelella. This is otherworldly soulful pop for now people." - Paste Magazine
We’ve featured the work of Philly band Drgn King a few times in the past around these parts. The band is made up of singer/songwriter Dominic Angelella and singer/producer Ritz. Since the release of their debut EP I’ve been looking forward to new music and a full length release. We don’t quite have that LP yet, but we’ve got the video for the lead single “Holy Ghost.” Video directed by Dan King. Look for Drgn King’s as yet untitled debut LP to drop in late September. - Okayplayer.com
We’ve featured the work of Philly band Drgn King a few times in the past around these parts. The band is made up of singer/songwriter Dominic Angelella and singer/producer Ritz. Since the release of their debut EP I’ve been looking forward to new music and a full length release. We don’t quite have that LP yet, but we’ve got the video for the lead single “Holy Ghost.” Video directed by Dan King. Look for Drgn King’s as yet untitled debut LP to drop in late September. - Okayplayer.com
"Paragraph Nights looks and feels like one of those nights in college where everyone tried the same drugs and no one was allowed off the couch for anything other than to piss or get more drugs. I'm okay with this" - SYFFAL.com
"Paragraph Nights looks and feels like one of those nights in college where everyone tried the same drugs and no one was allowed off the couch for anything other than to piss or get more drugs. I'm okay with this" - SYFFAL.com
Dominic Angelella used to be the dude who who was in everybody else’s band. He’s backed up Dice Raw in Noveau Riche, played lead guitar with Key Sessions alums Hop Along, and contributed to the formidable swagger of blues-punks Elevator Fight. Somehow, Angelella has found time to work on his own music these past couple years as well. DRGN King started as his informal studio collaboration with South Philly’s Ritz Reynolds—a producer with an impressive hip-hop resume. The unlikely pairing of grizzled indie songwriting and pop polish paid off with last December’s Warriors EP, and the duo decided to run with it. They enlisted live players—Joe Baldacci on drums and Julie Slick on bass—and set to work writing and recording Paragraph Nights, the first DRGN King full length, due out later this fall. The foursome gave us a short taste of the album, playing three new songs in the Key Studio Session they recorded last night. “Holy Ghost” is one of the finest examples of Angelella’s song craft to date (the band recently released a fun video for it as well), but the garage hooks of “Lookin’ At You” and moody introspection of “Caught Down” are equally enticing. - thekey.xpn.org
Dominic Angelella used to be the dude who who was in everybody else’s band. He’s backed up Dice Raw in Noveau Riche, played lead guitar with Key Sessions alums Hop Along, and contributed to the formidable swagger of blues-punks Elevator Fight. Somehow, Angelella has found time to work on his own music these past couple years as well. DRGN King started as his informal studio collaboration with South Philly’s Ritz Reynolds—a producer with an impressive hip-hop resume. The unlikely pairing of grizzled indie songwriting and pop polish paid off with last December’s Warriors EP, and the duo decided to run with it. They enlisted live players—Joe Baldacci on drums and Julie Slick on bass—and set to work writing and recording Paragraph Nights, the first DRGN King full length, due out later this fall. The foursome gave us a short taste of the album, playing three new songs in the Key Studio Session they recorded last night. “Holy Ghost” is one of the finest examples of Angelella’s song craft to date (the band recently released a fun video for it as well), but the garage hooks of “Lookin’ At You” and moody introspection of “Caught Down” are equally enticing. - thekey.xpn.org
"It's dreamy, its poppy, its anthemic for sure. It's got the potential to cause a buzz among people, and it's got the hooks to break out of the microgenre niche music world." -John Vettese, Philadelphia City Paper - Philadelphia City Paper
"It's dreamy, its poppy, its anthemic for sure. It's got the potential to cause a buzz among people, and it's got the hooks to break out of the microgenre niche music world." -John Vettese, Philadelphia City Paper - Philadelphia City Paper
"Both musicians have a well-rounded knowledge of music and are constantly searching for new sounds, musicians, genres, etc. to help quench their undying thirst for exiting material on behalf of artistic experimentation...The ambitiousness is in hope of creating original material to give listeners something unique. Dom wishes to construct epic songs with lyrics that dwell on the mind and sounds that inspire emotion. Their music is meant to take you places outside of one’s own reality… a feature film for the ears." - www.unbiasedwriter.com
Discography
Warriors EP (2010)
Grey Stars (2011)
Paragraph Nights (2013)
Photos
Bio
"It's dreamy, its poppy, its anthemic for sure. It's got the potential to cause a buzz among people, and it's got the hooks to break out of the microgenre niche music world." -John Vettese, Philadelphia City Paper
"(Drgn King's) Paragraph Nights looks and feels like one of those nights in college where everyone tried the same drugs and no one was allowed off the couch for anything other than to piss or get more drugs. I'm okay with this" -www.syffal.com
Drgn King is the collaborative project of Philadelphia singer-guitar player Dominic Angelella and hip-hop/pop producer Ritz Reynolds, best known for his work with The Roots, Wale, Beanie Siegel, and Mac Miller. The two met at FNL, a converted warehouse/studio in a rundown South Philly neighborhood and instantly bonded over their love of Brian Eno, Wu-Tang Clan, and Orange Pelligrino.
Angelella and Reynolds bunkered down in that same studio and crafted Paragraph Nights, their first album. In 2011, Drgn King expanded into a quartet, and have been playing shows all over the eastern seaboard in preparation for their album’s release.
Links