cleopatrick

About

The artist

cleopatrick is a Toronto-based alternative-rock duo formed by guitarist and vocalist Luke Gruntz and drummer Ian Fraser. The childhood friends began the project in Cobourg, Ontario in 2015 and developed a compact guitar-and-drums sound informed by hard rock, indie rock, grunge, and modern hip-hop production. Early singles including hometown built an international audience, while the EPs 14, the boys, and DOOM established the band's independent approach through its own Nowhere Special Recordings label. The debut album BUMMER arrived in 2021 and earned cleopatrick a JUNO nomination for Breakthrough Group of the Year. hometown also received a SOCAN award. On the second album FAKE MOON in 2025, the duo broadened its palette with quieter passages, layered production, and more open arrangements while retaining the direct interplay between Gruntz and Fraser. The album was recorded with multi-instrumentalist Mike Haldeman and producer Philip Weinrobe and released through Nowhere Special Recordings with Thirty Tigers. Later 2025 material, including GUTS and the lo-fi project SCRAP, continued that exploratory direction. The band remains active through Canadian and international touring, with 2026 festival appearances announced. Current label materials, Canadian music press, and 2025 release coverage independently describe cleopatrick as Toronto-based; Cobourg remains its formation place and an important part of its history rather than the present public base.