Local Drummer's Band in Final Round of WCCC Contest

For 18 years Carl Murawski has been banging on his drums at his home in Unionville. And finally, he and his band, Sever the Drama, are getting some recognition.

Sever the Drama is one of three local groups now competing in the final round of The Rock 106.9 WCCC’s Homegrown contest.

The independent rock station’s contest attempts to name the best Connecticut band as decided through the votes of fans. For Murawski, it’s exciting to see the years of hard work pay off.

“We’ve put a lot of effort and time into playing and it’s been a long time coming,” he said. “This is the biggest thing I’ve ever done musically."

The band, made up of a singer, guitarist, bass player and drummer, started playing together about two years ago. Their genre is hard rock and Murawski describes their lyrics as telling of a personal struggle that can be universally understood.

“I call my part the extreme sport of drumming. I have complete freedom to be loud and obnoxious,” Murawski said. While he once played in jazz combos at corporate events “I got tired of being background music.”

Now they’ve got a fan base in their late teens and mid-twenties across a few states.

The band has played all over Connecticut, but more often travels to shows in Rhode Island and Massachusetts in their tour bus. They’ve opened for a few national acts at the Webster.

They’ve already recorded an album, available on Amazon and Napster, and have a professional-looking video.

When they’re not playing shows or writing metal songs, he and the other guys in Sever the Drama, Chris Collman, Sam Hatch and Scott D, lead pretty normal lives, said Murawski, who works as an electrician.

“We’re mostly family men — married or has kids or is serious with someone. Our bass player has a local radio show out of WWUH… our guitar player is a Fedex driver by day and our singer works from home…. We’re all just boring people until we get to play; it’s like our alter ego.”

The band members chose their name to represent a sort-of mission, both in their personal lives and for the music industry.

“There’s all this pretentious stuff in the music industry …if you strip away all that stuff, you get to the core of what’s really important… I can apply it to my life, my job and I think almost anyone can relate to it.”

The Homegrown contest’s winner will get an EP of three to five songs, a music video, a photoshoot, their song played on WCCC and will open for a WCCC show

Many of those things Sever the Drama has already done. Still, Murawski said, there are new songs to be recorded and new audiences to reach.

“We want people to hear us – it’s all about exposure. Luckily, being in the contest alone has gotten people to hear us and to know our name,” he said.

But getting played on the radio is a huge opportunity still out of reach unless they win the contest.

Voting ends Feb. 1 at 1 a.m. As of Jan. 16, Sever the Drama was behind the other two bands, by about 5 and 10 percentage points.

To vote, click here. You can find out more about the band here or follow them on Facebook.