Street Sounds: Shadowplay

Andrew Corkery is a confident guy. He has every right to be – the band he sings lead vocals for, Shadowplay, is on the up and up. With a show at the Trocadero Theatre on

Andrew Corkery is a confident guy. He has every right to be – the band he sings lead vocals for, Shadowplay, is on the up and up. With a show at the Trocadero Theatre on Feb. 25 under its belt and an upcoming gig at Big Heads Town & Country in Warminster, Pa., on March 5, Corkery and his band members have reason to be excited about the future.

Joined by John Sellers on the keyboard and bass, Dan Holden on lead guitar, George Legatos on guitar and bass and Tim Bear on drum, the five-man band is quickly gaining momentum.

Shadowplay’s sound, as described by Corkery himself, is “classic rock with a definite modern edge, not just a re-hash of the old stuff.” Although the term “old souls” can often conjure a sour taste in some mouths, there is no other phrase that comes to mind when listening to Shadowplay’s youthful and exuberant embrace of hard rock’s forefathers. The Temple News talked to Corkery about the state of music, Mos Def and how “(500) Days of Summer” can inexplicably influence this rock band.

The Temple News: Where did the name “Shadowplay” originate from?

Andrew Corkery: Well, we decided everyone should come to practice and someone suggested Shadowplay. We like it because it embodies both light and darkness.

TNN: How long have you been together?

AC: The initial idea for a band started in 2006, but this lineup of the band was in various other bands up until 2008, when we finally all came together in this current formation.

TTN: Songs such as “Ghost Train” and “Like A Phoenix” have a definite allegiance to bands like Guns N’ Roses and Kiss. If you had to sum up your influences in three bands, what would they be?

AC: Definitely Guns N’ Roses, for sure, and probably Muse and Led Zeppelin. And the Beatles. But they’re the backbone of every [band], you know?

TNN: Other than those luminaries, what bands would listeners of Shadowplay be surprised to find out you listen to that may be different than the hard rock that makes up the band sound?

AC: I can’t speak for everybody, but I love Mos Def and other ‘90s hip-hop. We also like Minus The Bear.

TTN: As a self-described rock band, do you think there is still as wide of a market for your brand of rock music, or even rock music in general in the face of the ever-rising popularity of rap music and the slow, painful death of the music industry as a whole?

AC: Yeah, definitely. Ten-to-15 years ago bands would get signed all the time, but now, labels don’t really care about bands as much because there’s so many of them. People need to dig deeper now to find groups that they’ll like and invest time in. You have to build your own fan base through social networking and other new media types.

TTN: Do you and the other members of Shadowplay hang out on a regular basis or is it a strictly musical relationship?

AC: We hang out a lot, usually right after practice. We’ll get together and watch “(500) Days of Summer” and “Batman” movies and stuff. It helps a lot that we’re friends outside of the band because, for example, we didn’t really know our drummer before he joined in 2008, but we’re all really good friends now.

Kevin Stairiker can be reached at kevin.stairiker@temple.edu.

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