Drej (pronounced as Dray-zh)
acoustic & electric guitars, bass, keys, vocals
Residing in Vienna Austria and now London, England for the past six years, American born songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Drej has been developing and promoting his own self-taught acoustic/electric guitar and piano driven sound for as long as he can remember.
I got my first guitar and keyboard when I was around 16, and after playing Pink Floyd and Cure songs with my first band at the end of high school and at the start of University, that I knew that I was hooked! I started following live bands like the Dave Matthews Band and Sean Kelly and the Samples during my days at Washington & Lee University, and I just knew that I wanted to be up on the stage. But one particular moment that stands out for me is seeing one of the final shows of the Stone Roses tour in the States... my brother James and I met up with an old friend named T.V. ...we'd had been waiting for years to see this band live, and we were in a really intimate club in Washington D.C, and I'll never forget that sense of energy, noise and buzz when they walked out on the stage amidst all these crazy strobe lights and smoke machines and visual effects, and started banging out the opening chords of "I Wanna Be Adored" ...it was just mad...the whole place went totally mental!
Having toured relentlessly with his own bands such as Ishka Baha (early nineties), the Halls Corner Band (mid-late nineties) and MacJackson (early 2000's), Drej broke off on his own and started doing solo acoustic shows for a number of years in the early 2000's.
Teaming up with fellow Cove members Rob and Will in early 2005, Drej began to capture his experiences from his years living in Vienna in the form of material for what would become the basis of the Cove's new release, Back To Vienna, out on Back River Records in February 2008. Drej continued to work in the European market while at the same time building relationships with the respective members of the Cove.
In early 2007, Drej was introduced to a number of Slovakian and Austrian artists and industry colleagues who began to take notice of several Cove songs, which ultimately led to the formation of a partnership with acclaimed music video director and animator, Ondrej Rudavasky. Drej currently resides in England, but splits his time in the US and Eastern Europe, in addition to London.
