Sebastien Grainger: Death From Above 1979's Drummer-Singer Brings "Cheap Magic" to Turbowolf

Photo: Danny 93 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DFA1979_Live_Dublin_2015.jpg

Sebastien Grainger is a Canadian musician, singer-songwriter and producer based in Los Angeles. According to Wikipedia, he's best known as the lead singer, drummer and songwriter of the duo Death from Above 1979. On U-Rock®'s WURN-dB Underground playlist he appears as a guest, on Turbowolf's "Cheap Magic."

Death from Above 1979

Wikipedia says Grainger, born on 11 April 1979, has played on every Death from Above recording. The duo's studio albums are You're a Woman, I'm a Machine (2004), The Physical World (2014), Outrage! Is Now (2017) and Is 4 Lovers (2021). The photo here shows the band at The Academy in Dublin in February 2015.

Solo records, side projects and a label

Grainger released his first solo album, Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains, in 2008, followed by Yours to Discover in 2013. With Josh Reichmann he made the 2010 EP Garbage Night as Bad Tits. With Adrian Popovich of the garage-punk band Tricky Woo he co-owns Ancient Fashion Records, and the two make records with Jessica Bruzzese as American Lips. Their albums are Kiss the Void (2017) and On Strike! (2025). Wikipedia adds that Grainger has directed and edited music videos, written a short film and designed album art.

He has shared stages with Nine Inch Nails, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Queens of the Stone Age, Deftones, Foo Fighters and Eagles of Death Metal, who are also on the Underground playlist.

"Cheap Magic"

"Cheap Magic" was released as a single in February 2018 and appears on Turbowolf's album The Free Life, which came out on 9 March 2018. National Rock Review covered the single's release under the headline "Turbowolf Release New Single 'Cheap Magic' Ft. Sebastien Grainger (Death From Above)." It's one of two Free Life guest spots on the Underground playlist. The other is Mike Kerr of Royal Blood on "Domino."

Why it matters on U-Rock®

Grainger has spent two decades drumming and singing at the same time, and he brings that energy to Turbowolf's track.

U-Rock® play data: no plays are credited to Sebastien Grainger in the BROADCAST or CORE logs for 2026-07-02 to 2026-10-12. "Cheap Magic" (Turbowolf, featuring Sebastien Grainger) is on U-Rock®'s WURN-dB Underground playlist.

Sources 1. Wikipedia, "Sebastien Grainger" — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastien_Grainger 2. National Rock Review, "Turbowolf Release New Single 'Cheap Magic' Ft. Sebastien Grainger (Death From Above)" — http://www.nationalrockreview.com/music-videos/turbowolf-release-new-single-cheap-magic-ft-sebastien-grainger-death 3. Wikipedia, "The Free Life (album)" — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Free_Life_(album) 4. Wikimedia Commons, "DFA1979 Live Dublin 2015" (Danny 93) — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DFA1979_Live_Dublin_2015.jpg 5. U-Rock® BROADCAST (AzuraCast) and CORE (airplay_spins) play logs; WURN-dB Underground playlist