Jordy Lee Cordy
New Zealand band Drax Project has their first U.S. hit with “Woke Up Late,” which features vocals from Hailee Steinfeld. According to the band, they have Camila Cabello to thank for that hookup.
“When we first wrote the song, we kinda thought that it would work as a duet, but for whatever reason at the time we just didn’t do it,” group member Ben O’Leary tells ABC Radio.
“So we toured with Camila and somehow Camila’s team and Hailee’s team [are] mutual friends, that’s how Hailee kinda heard the song in the first place,” O’Leary adds. “So when she approached us wanting to be on it, we’re like, ‘oh! Perfect! This is amazing!'”
But due to what the band calls “movie-star stuff,” Hailee couldn’t be in the “Woke Up Late” video, so they recruited YouTube star Liza Koshy, who is seen dancing down the street after spending the night with Drax Project frontman Shaan Singh.
“We’re definitely not mad that Liza’s in there instead,” jokes Ben. Shaan points out that Hailee’s is in the video, sort of: Her picture can be seen on a Polaroid and some posters.
Drax Project is now working on their debut album, and they’ve come a long way since they started out as a duo playing drums and sax on the streets of Wellington, New Zealand. In fact, that’s why they’re called the Drax Project: drums and sax. But do people ever assume they’re named after Dave Bautista‘s character, Drax the Destroyer, from Guardians of the Galaxy?
“Not so much anymore,” says Shaan, joking, “We just string them along and let them believe that.”
“We’re still hoping when you type in ‘Drax’ [into Google] that our video will come up,” he laughs. “But at the moment, it’s a compilation of his quotes!”
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