ACTORS

DANCING IN THE DARK

Since 2012, Actors have released a handful of dark synth pop singles inspired by the likes of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Depeche Mode and other notable figures of the ‘80s new wave era. In a brief but fruitful phone interview, lead songwriter/bandleader Jason Corbett discussed Actors return to the stage, releasing new singles, a new music video and his various other projects in music production.

For Corbett, Actors was “a personal reinvention,” which allowed him to return how he wanted to express himself as an artist. Additionally, writing in the new wave style allowed Corbett to approach music beyond the traditional rock set-up of guitar, bass and drums. He observes that “as soon as I put in more synthesizers, the guitars became more of an accent…not just guitars banging away the whole time which to me started to sound kind of redundant or old fashioned for some reason…It was time to switch it up.”

In a similar fashion, releasing singles exclusively has been a deliberate choice for the Actors project. The upcoming singles “Like U Want 2” and “How Deep is the Hole” will build upon Corbett’s penchant for switching between poppier and darker tracks. “I want to keep it diversified and express the types of music that inspire me, stuff I would want to hear. So it’s always changing and evolving,” he says.

This month, Actors will be performing at a release show for one of their new singles and hope to debut a new music video the same night. After a transitional period over the last year, Corbett is excited to playing live again and to continue collaborating with other artists through his studio work. For Corbett, “It’s really about just building community for me with Actors and getting to express myself onstage too.” With an impressive line-up of backing musicians including members of Girlfriends and Boyfriends, Blank Cinema, Primary, and Gang Signs, Corbett’s Actors seek to draw an ever-increasing audience into their danceable-if-dour synth pop netherworld.

Actors headline The Cobalt Feb. 21. 

By James Olson