Shadowplay 1982-
Picture a sleazy old former asylum for winos, called Batcave (Lepakkoluola/Lepakko), in the outskirts of Helsinki. There, in rehearsal room ..4 a strange-looking pianist with a unique voice and playing style called Brandi Ifgray, a bass player with incredible talents called Hande Virkki, and a drum machine are cooking up something that closely resembles jazz, but is clearly also something else. It seems to have something to do with the post-punk craze of the times.
After a few low-key gigs at Batcave's all-night parties of make-up and oblivion, it is clear that the project has turned into a real band. The name Shadowplay is adapted from a Joy Division song. In 1985 a classic first single "Night Porter" is issued. It contains the essence of Shadowplay: depression, doom, cigarette smoke and alcohol, and at the same time beauty, hope and love. The song was
featured in a film entitled Kill City (1986), which was partly shot in the Batcave.
1984-1986
By 1984 more shadows have engaged in the play. Meet Sidi Vainio aka Sidney Absence on drums, who was nick-named for always being late due to his experiments with rats. Sometime later a twosome with big black hair and leather jackets wandered into the rehearsal space ..4. Jari Alanko took up guitar and Marco Kosonen provided a whole new flavour to the band with his Miles Davis-influenced trumpet-playing and romantic old-time-stylissimo. Soon the guitarist's position was handed to Beaux (Björn Krause) who was spotted at a nightclub.
Shadowplay became a tight unit with Brandi and Hande providing the music. Their Improvisational style developed into rehearsed songs, with references to Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, Stooges, New York punk, Only Ones, Magazine, Joy Division, power-pop, glam etc. Jazz orchestration was combined with punk attitude, and the delicate balance between small and quiet and loud and rude was nurtured with utmost care. This is evident on the following 12" EP "Shadowplay" (1986), which contained great songs as well as more experimental stuff. The EP, which soon became a collector's item along with the single "Night Porter", took the band to gigs in Sweden, Denmark and France. The tour marked the end of this line-up. Sidney returned to biology and Beaux resigned as well.
"The trick is never to give up and lose sight of the goal", says Brandi today. This die-hard attitude, to be tested numerous times in the future, enabled the band to carry on as three-piece of Brandi, Hande & Marco. Promoting the Kill City -movie, Shadowplay is joined on drums by a tall, energetic and efficient Ykä Knuuttila, who has stayed with the band ever since. The new guitar hero is Timo Vikkula, a blond guy with hair like the cartoon character Tintin and a fixation on Richard Hell & The Voidoids and Sonic Youth. His contributions will be crucial for the band.
1988
The spring of 1988 saw the release of Shadowplay's first lp, entitled"Touch and Glow". The album was a real tour-de-force and received rave reviews both in Finland and abroad, including the Melody Maker. Nowadays "Touch and Glow" is generally considered to be one of the most remarkable albums in the history of Finnish rock music.
The album is packed with gloomy gems of futile striving for worthwhile life. In "Kingdom Gone" Brandi sings: "Trying to get there, only getting tired.", in "Spiral Staircase": "Take a look at me/You can't see through me/Take a look at me/You can't see the real me."
The self-searching is complemented by psychotic jazz, sad piano ballads and merciless sonic rock'n'roll. Shadowplay sounds like no one before or after them. "Touch and Glow" is the perfect soundtrack for reflective moments in the dark.
While the A-side of the album concentrates on personal matters, on the flip side naked horror steps in the picture. Such minidramas as Rathole and Repulsion make you feel afraid of yourself.
1989
After the album the dynamic duo of Brandi and Hande split up, as Hande decided that it was time to try other things for a while. With the great new album in their hands, Shadowplay could not stop the show and Jari Paulamäki recruited himself to a tour that included Paris, Berlin, Budapest and New York. Also Shadowplay's producer, Ari Vaahtera, plays bass in the band for a while. A new single, Nightwood Set-Up, is released.
Almost as fearing for a breakthrough, Shadowplay returns to Finland and takes it easy. Brandi hibernates in Southern Sweden for a couple of winters and Marco visits South America. Everything seems to have come to a halt, until:
1992
Shadowplay starts from scratch with the fury of a snail and returns with Hande back on bass. Glorious gigs in Helsinki find new fans and a 12" ep "Dreams" is released. The music has developed into a more hypnotic and rhytmic direction, while preserving former elements of depression, romanticism and poverty. Shadowplay still smokes an astounding amount of cigarettes during gigs, captivates the audience in sadness, but now it seems that there will be a future for the band. The demons have less hold on Shadowplay and self-confidence begins to build up again.
1993-
The comeback resulted in "Eggs & Pop", the second long-player, issued in cd-format. The album was preceded by a single "Too Good To Be True", a surprisingly light glampop-song featuring a string machine! The album was also light in spirit, at least in comparison with "Touch and Glow". Pop gems such as "Hazel Catkins", "Too Good To Be True", "Dragnet" and "Dreams" were complemented by funk-inspired and hypnotic "Crawl" and "Foam".
But Shadowplay would not be Shadowplay with only happy moments. "Dirtysweet" and "Thrills", sad and beautiful piano ballads were favoured by many. The album was released in the USA by Incandescent Records and generated feedback at college stations, but the required US tour just never materialized.
1997-
After "Eggs & Pop", guitarist Timo Vikkula left a mansize hole to the line-up by deciding to leave the band. He managed, however, to contribute to the 1997 third album "Raw Powder", on which also Brandi and Hande played guitars. "Raw Powder", as its name, a combination of Iggy & The Stooges and the post-punk-times suggests, is the most rockin' album of Shadowplay so far. The pop-groove of "Eggs & Pop" is still there ("Cling To It"), and so are the more rhytmic developments ("Tremble On"). The general mood, however, is closer to "Touch And Glow", with dark desperate sonicness and feelings of loss. A good representative is "Ragged Tragedy Doll", which beats the Cure in their own game. "Raw Powder" was a great return to form and proved that Shadowplay was nowhere near losing it.
2004-
In the 21st century Shadowplay's guitar player has been a bright young talent Sam Shingler, who at the same time holds dear the legacy of Shadowplay and brings new, indie-related lights and shadows to the play.
There's no peace for the wicked.
-Markku Roinila-
