Kim Dracula

Tickets go on sale from October 3 at 10:00 via “Biļešu Serviss”. Members of the Positivus Festival and FBI Concert Club will have access to a special presale starting October 2 at 10:00, using a code that will be sent to registered users. 

Surfacing from the flesh-eating diseases and torrential wildfires of Australia Kim Dracula creates unsettling art that reflects the chaotic era we live in. Born Samuel Wellings in Tasmania in 1997, Kim Dracula prefers to be referred to with they/them pronouns. Though a relatively young representative of Generation Z, they have already established themselves as an artist unconstrained by genre boundaries or conventional categories. In their creative work, they weave satire through post-hardcore, EDM, metal, industrial, jazz, pop and even Latino influences. 

Wider recognition came in 2020 when Kim Dracula released a cover of Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi.” They transformed the pop hit into a hauntingly catchy tune, part of the lyrics delivered in rapid-fire, graveyard-tale recitation, fusing elements of trap metal, metalcore, and emo. Wailing, they sing: “I’m your biggest fan, I’ll follow you until you love me.” The track made Kim Dracula one of Australia’s most recognizable TikTok artists, earning a place on Spotify’s “Viral 50 – Global” chart and Billboard’s new artist rankings. Their music has been featured in over 60,000 TikTok videos. In terms of followers on the platform, in 2021 Kim Dracula ranked second only to the far more experienced and widely more popular Australian star Sia. 

Legend has it that the pseudonym Kim Dracula may have been inspired by the Deftones song “Kimdracula.” Their debut album “A Gradual Decline in Morale”, released two years ago, carries multiple references to contemporary genre classics. Across 20 tracks, genres shift and mutate within moments, often changing mid-song without the listener even realizing where one piece ends and another begins. The album also features a collaboration with nu-metal heavyweight Jonathan Davis, the leader and frontman of Korn. Elsewhere, the track “Make Me Famous” contains echoes of System of a Down’s “Chop Suey!” and stands out as one of Kim Dracula’s most popular songs, once again roughly stitching together diverse styles without flying off the rails. Between their musical composition, extreme visuals, and lack of desire to fit into any specific box, Dracula is earning a devoted following in all different communities, changing the future of music as we know it.