Clay Drinko
Clay Drinko was born on Double D Ranch, a cattle ranch and family crop farm on the foothills of the Ohio Appalachian mountains.
Cut to Clay leaving Ohio for greener pastures...so to speak. Clay started auditioning for theater, film, and television projects immediately after his plane landed. He booked early jobs on cable channels, such as VJ for a Day on MTV and numerous promo spots on Spike TV, VH1, and MTV2.
Not being one to limit his own potential Clay was discovered dancing in a bar he worked at at the time. Ever since, he's been in at least one modern dance company at any given time. Splitting his time between Christopher Williams and Richard Decker's choreography.
At that same bar, Clay made a discovery of his own. He stood in amazement as June Joseph played an all vinyl DJ set. Clay was intrigued with her musicality, her rhythm, and the sexiness of DJing old school style. June was nice enough to give Clay extensive lessons. She turned Clay into the skilled DJ he is today. Clay had a year long residency at Shag (where he met June) and has spun all over the city at venues including Catty Shack, High Line, and Don Hills.
Not satisfied with exclusively playing and dancing to others' music, Clay turned a drunken joke of a song into his first single "Pizza Slice," which has since gone on to become a crowd favorite. Clay created his first album "Message to the Streets" within the first week of buying his home audio studio.
Next came the "Pizza Slice" music video, which is a fan favorite. Nick Hanson directed the video, and much of it takes place in and around Clay's old apartment in the East Village and the West Village bar Shag, where Clay was turned onto DJing and discovered as a modern dancer. It's also the place Clay met his boyfriend, Josh. Cute, right?
Clay's second album "Famous Name" was a more time consuming affair than M2S. He collaborated with Jessica Palmer for the hook on "Pussies Hos and Beer" and was aided by mixer and sound engineer Hillary Johnson. The song "Lesbians" is the stand out single on the album. The video, directed by Laura Terruso, was a festival darling on 2007 and is now available on youtube.
Many of the songs from "Famous Name" were also used as the soundtrack for the Terruso/Opper directed lesbian short film "His Name is Cosmo," a festival favorite at Newfest and other film festivals around the country. Clay also recorded extra songs exclusively for the film in addition to starring in the film as Dorian, the gay friend.
Around the time of "Famous Name," Clay also appeared in the feature film "The Ski Trip" as the snotty European Salesman. This marked a change in Clay's acting career. He finally started getting more substantial and fulfilling work, especially in film. Clay starred in "One Third," a dramatic feature where he plays a homeless boy. "One Third" premiered at Cinema Village East in the fall of 2006. Clay also stars in the newest MOJAM production ("Dirty Laundry") opposite Veronica Webb. "Dirty Laundry" also stars Sommore, Loretta Devine, and Rockmond Dunbar. It's set to open in theaters nationwide in March 2007.
Clay has also kept his comedy chops sharp with his sketch group Mini Red Satan (sketches on youtube.com search Clay Drinko), which he's been a part of for years. Currently Mini Red has a dvd available at miniredsatan.com. Liz Dahmen, who runs the quad-yearly cabaret night Lip Service in New York City has also worked with Clay for some time. They are currently working on a comedy tv pilot together.
In late 2005 Clay moved out to Suburbia. While still a very active part of New York performance life (acting, DJing, dance, comedy) he now sees New York in an entirely different light, and that light isn't the brilliant spotlight he once saw. Clay's third album "Suspicious Package" is his most sophisticated and complex album to date. SP struggles with the idea of happiness in a fearful planet. Clay imagines terrorism as not him versus me but something that lives in all of us and tries to destroy our light. "Suspicious Package" is not without its classic Clay jest though. Clay still trannies it up with the bitch track "I Win" and writes catchier more zany lyrics than his previous efforts. And the music is as danceable as it gets. SP will be released in conjunction with a film, also by Clay Drinko (at least that's the plan). Preview a few tracks under the music heading. We know you'll enjoy yourself in Clay's twisted vision of his old New York. Oh, and if Madonna loves New York...you might say Clay still has some unresolved feelings for the place.
SUSPICIOUS PACKAGE...coming summer 2008.
"Once upon a time there lived a boy, a boy who dreamed of Lesbians and Pizza. His country was in turmoil and thought the boy's vision a threat to society. The government soldiers came in the middle of the night and captured the boy, throwing him into a prison camp for enemy combatants. Our boy fought back, escaping and recruiting a militia of freedom fighting dance machines.
Our boy, now a man, had become what the government first feared. The government had created their own biggest nemesis, the freedom fighting boy. The boy marched the streets, opening citizens' eyes of the hypocrisy of his fear mongering government. The boy laid down beats, and rhymes, and bombs in stylish packages. If the citizens could see what truly mattered and who the real enemies were, would the boy's plight turn the fascist tide?
Or is our boy destined for destruction? Will the government be able to stop the "terror ass" they created?
Find out...SUSPICIOUS PACKAGE the third album by Clay Drinko...coming this summer...it hits when you least expect but need it most.
SUSPICIOUS PACKAGE available this summer!
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