Jeff Draco Announces Upcoming EP, Attitude

By: Alexandra Henriques

Jeff Draco; Keybored Creative

On May 31st, Jeff Draco, a D.C.-based indie-pop artist, released the single “Attitude (I Want More),” alongside the announcement of his upcoming EP, Attitude, dropping September 13th. WGMU had the opportunity to talk to him about his career and the new era he is entering.

Jeff Draco grew up in a rural-suburban area of Maryland where there was not a huge music scene. However, his family loved music, which inspired his love for music and performing.

“My older brothers used to have band practice and they would have to babysit me, while also practicing, so when I was really young, one of my brothers who played drums would literally have me on his lap while playing drums,” Draco said. The support from his family gave him the freedom to explore music as a passion and career.

In high school, Draco started a band with some friends, and they began doing house shows. Draco then went to the University of Maryland, and his experience with the local music scene of his hometown helped him dive into the D.C. music scene and jumpstart his career.

Attitude will be his third EP, and marks career highlights such as a collaboration with Grammy-award winning sound engineer Patrick Kehier, who has worked with Lizzo, Paramore, and Dua Lipa.

“I think this project, sonically, is going to be the highest quality work that I have ever had,” Draco said.

However, the recording of the EP did not come without setbacks. In December, his hard drive was stolen out of his tour van, and Draco lost an almost-completed EP as they had no backup. It was around this time that Kehier reached out, as he had discovered Draco’s song “Letters” and wanted to work together. Kehier aided in the process of mixing, mastering, and production of the rerecording after the incident.

“Everything happens for a reason,” Draco said about his laptop being stolen out of the tour van. “Looking back, I think it was for the best.”

After the incident, he took a whole different approach to the songs, and thought more about how he wanted the project to come across as a unit, rather than each individual song.

“Some of the guitars that I re-recorded became more of what my sound live is, and keeping more of a bassline,” Draco expressed as some of the major differences in his rerecorded version of Attitude. “I really wanted to capture the essence of my live show on [Attitude] and bring that energy to the audio.”

Draco shared some of his favorite memories during the recording of Attitude, which included a weekend where him, his team, and his friends set up at his grandparent’s house to record and receive feedback on his music, which is important as a solo artist.

There are five tracks on the upcoming EP; “Past Lives,” “Attitude (I Want More),” “Mirrors,” “Daisy,” and “Don’t Fly.” While “Attitude (I Want More)” was Draco’s favorite for a while, he now declares “Mirrors” as his favorite track.

“[Attitude] really encapsulates a lot of the growth I’ve gone through over the past few years, and coming to terms with a lot of the things that growing up is like,” Draco said about his EP. “We have a big year coming, a lot of fun things that we are sharing. I’m just really excited to get this project out!”

Attitude will be available to stream on September 13th.