Audiodrama

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Audiodrama
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Katrina Benson & Chace Hadley
Background information
Formed 2012
Origin America
Genre Electronica
Alternative
Years active 2012-Present
Label Independent
Associated acts
Pandora
Jetfire
Calvin Hawthorne


Audiodrama are an American underground electronic duo made up of producer Katrina Benson and vocalist/violinist Chace Hadley, formed by Katrina as a side project to her work as producer for Violetta DiNozzo. The duo first made their appearance on the premiere season of The Uraps Factor, where they made it through the judges' houses and into the top 16. Their success on the show was short-lived, as they were the first eliminated and finished in 16th place. After their time on the show, they were featured on "Don't Play Those Games" for Violetta, and they are working on material for a debut EP to be released in December.

Band Members[edit | edit source]

Katrina Faye Benson - currently 26 years old, born on August 3rd, 1986. Katrina was born and raised in New Haven, Connecticut. Growing up, she was deeply influenced by the rave scene and electronic music. In her teens she started producing her own tracks and bootleg remixes, quickly building up a following as a local DJ. She gained further exposure when she began playing interstate at various EDM festivals, which caught the attention of Violetta DiNozzo who was seeking a DJ to bring with her on her debut headlining "Behind Enemy Lines" tour. Katrina took the job as Violetta's tour DJ, and later teamed up with Violetta and guitarist Raphael Monaghan to form The Darling Violetta Project. Initially, the DVP was to be a band fronted by Violetta for the release of her third studio album, but public reaction was not favourable so the project was released under Violetta's name alone. The DVP was kept on as Violetta's creative team however, and are still together. They are due to begin work on Violetta's fourth album for a 2013 release.

Chace Rowan Hadley - currently 30 years old, born on November 19th, 1981. Chace was born in Miami, Florida; since club music is popular there, Chace developed an interest in it the style. In contrast, Chace took up classical violin and also studied classical voice, which he went to New York to further his studies. Despite his involvement with classical music Chace had no interest in playing with an orchestra or to make a career as an opera singer, and he had no desire to break into musical theatre. Chace developed a more contemporary vocal style to complement and contrast his classical technique, while working on EDM producers on demos. This is what led him to meet Katrina in 2011, and they began working together. Their professional chemistry was strong, which is how they decided to form a duo together.

Formation[edit | edit source]

Outside of her work with Violetta DiNozzo, Katrina continued to work on her own productions. Having experienced major success as a producer, Katrina decided to branch out and work with other artists producing demos, but she deliberately avoided big-name artists looking to capitalise on her success with Violetta. Chace sought Katrina out because of her previous success, and she was initially dismissive of him with his classical background believing that he would turn out to be just another classical-crossover wannabe. Chace won her over though, when he proved that he was just as enthused and knowledgable about electronic music as Katrina was, and convinced her to work with him after showing that he could sing more than just classical music. The duo began recording demos together, blending Chace's talent on the violin with Katrina's production work.

Music[edit | edit source]

Audiodrama auditioned for the first series of The Uraps Factor with "In The Dark" by DJ Tiesto featuring Christian Burns. Katrina provided live production and a playback track for Chace to sing the vocal on top of. Their performance was enough to impress judge James Moss, who took them with him into the competition. During the first live show featuring the top 16, Audiodrama performed a cover version of "Us" by James Frost, in their developed electronic-meets-orchestral style. Chace played violin and sang lead over Katrina's dance production; James was the only one to understand their intended direction. As a result, their performance was panned by the other three judges and the public voted them out in a double elimination. They finished in 16th place.

Upon exiting from the show, Violetta DiNozzo extended an offer for them to appear with her on her then-current single "Don't Play Those Games", to give them a chance in the industry and to give the public another shot at understanding their musical aesthetic. Audiodrama appeared on the remixed single version of Violetta's single, and were featured in one of the song's two music videos. The single was a top 3 success, but its initial release failed to sell to Violetta's previously-established standards and was eventually re-released. The re-release accounts for only a small portion of the single's final sales, but was enough to push the single to gold accreditation. Later in 2012, Audiodrama began working on material for an EP which they intend to release in December.

Discography[edit | edit source]

Singles[edit | edit source]

Year Single Peak Album Certification Sales Digital
2012 "Don't Play Those Games"
(with Violetta DiNozzo)
#3 Divide & Conquer Gold 223,602 48,957
"TBA" TBR TBR N/A N/A N/A
The Uraps Factor
Series 1
Presenters Paolo Rossi · Sara Walters · Chase Elite · Crystal Barker
Judges Current: Candi · Brett Clarkson · Stacy Hart · James Moss
Winners Pandora
Runner-ups Aimee Stevens
Other alumni Sasha Snow · Jetfire · Kicks · Calvin Hawthorne · Kimono · Audiodrama · Rod Cox
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