Draining Kiss

Draining Kiss is a darkwave synth project from Gainesville, FL musician Quinn Martin. Merging influences from years past, such as Joy Division and Depeche Mode, with newer artists like TR/ST and Boy Harsher, he produces minimal synth soundscapes for the dark dancefloor with echoing themes of love, death, anxiety, and isolation.

The band was first conceived in 2021 and born in late 2022 - coming out on the other side of two years that were difficult for the world, and for Quinn personally. Dealing with the loss of friends and family, isolation, addiction, and crippling anxiety and panic attacks, this project became an outlet to confront those demons, and find meaning and substance in a world that seems to feel colder every day.

As an electrical and software engineer, Quinn has always enjoyed making things to marry art and technology. Draining Kiss is more than just music. It's modded synthesizers, custom-built lighting, fusions of AI with CRTs, and handmade glittery stickers. It's old and new coming together, with a distinct DIY ethos that was so crucial to early punk and goth.

From the beginning, Draining Kiss was envisioned as a live performance project. He plays frequently around Florida and has performed with notable artists such as Vision Video, Madeline Goldstein, and fellow Gainesvillians Last Grasp.

Blood Is Thicker

Blood Is Thicker is the second EP from Draining Kiss, following the self-titled EP released in 2022. While using essentially the same instrumentation - a Sequential Pro-One, a Drumbrute Impact drum machine, an Alesis Micron, and a heavy dash of reverb and delay - it expands upon the themes explored in the first EP and takes them in new directions.

Light and Dark, Love and Death, Old and New, Anger and Longing - the Blood Is Thicker EP finds beauty and peace in balancing these seemingly opposing forces. While the moody title track, "Blood Is Thicker," struggles with the age-old idiom that says blood is thicker than water, "Against the Light" takes a uniquely gothy and tongue-in-cheek look at whether one can get too caught up in the dark side. "Video Girl" is an upbeat synthpop track that sees us looking through the eyes of a camgirl-obsessed killer - based on the true crime story of Grant Amato. In "Black Rain," we're taken to a post-apocalyptic world where two doomed lovers escape their bomb shelter to see the world one last time. Finally, the closing song, "Fade into the Dark," looks at the tragedy of finding love only to know that it must someday come to an end.

The EP will be available on cassette in a limited release of 75, each one with a hand made cyanotype print for the J-card insert and a full-color lyric and art booklet.

"Against the Light embodies the essence of both dark wave and minimal synths, blending atmospheric textures with leaping electronic beats to create an immersive dark soundscape"

Full Article

"[Video Girl] focuses on a synthpop-based sound, tapping into Martin's eighties influences, and creating a piece which is infectious and dance-inducing, albeit with a dark thematic undercurrent."

Full Article

Fade into the Dark: "This is where Draining Kiss' strength comes to the fore – their ability to capture the essence of decades past and put it into a contemporary context."

Full Article

Blood Is Thicker

Draining Kiss

Draining Kiss

Blood Is Thicker

"Against the Light embodies the essence of both dark wave and minimal synths, blending atmospheric textures with leaping electronic beats to create an immersive dark soundscape"

Full Article

"[Video Girl] focuses on a synthpop-based sound, tapping into Martin's eighties influences, and creating a piece which is infectious and dance-inducing, albeit with a dark thematic undercurrent."

Full Article

Fade into the Dark: "This is where Draining Kiss' strength comes to the fore – their ability to capture the essence of decades past and put it into a contemporary context."

Full Article

Artist Pages

Spotify

Apple Music

Youtube

Bandcamp

Blood Is Thicker EP Links (Active May 10th)

Spotify

Bandcamp

Singles

Instagram

Facebook

Email

Draining Kiss

Blood Is Thicker

"Against the Light embodies the essence of both dark wave and minimal synths, blending atmospheric textures with leaping electronic beats to create an immersive dark soundscape" Full Article

"[Video Girl] focuses on a synthpop-based sound, tapping into Martin's eighties influences, and creating a piece which is infectious and dance-inducing, albeit with a dark thematic undercurrent." Full Article

Fade into the Dark: "This is where Draining Kiss' strength comes to the fore – their ability to capture the essence of decades past and put it into a contemporary context." Full Article

Artist Pages

Spotify

Apple Music

Youtube

Bandcamp

Blood Is Thicker EP Links (Active May 10th)

Spotify

Bandcamp

Singles

Instagram

Facebook

Email

"Against the Light embodies the essence of both dark wave and minimal synths, blending atmospheric textures with leaping electronic beats to create an immersive dark soundscape"

Full Article

"[Video Girl] focuses on a synthpop-based sound, tapping into Martin's eighties influences, and creating a piece which is infectious and dance-inducing, albeit with a dark thematic undercurrent."

Full Article

Fade into the Dark: "This is where Draining Kiss' strength comes to the fore – their ability to capture the essence of decades past and put it into a contemporary context."

Full Article