Music Recall Magazine recently interviewed Corey Schenck of prog-rock band Pangaea. Schenck spoke about his influences, Pangaea’s origins, producer Robert Berry, new album “Beowulf” and more.
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MRM: Where are you “calling” from?
Schenck: Houston, Texas.
MRM: Are you enjoying this summertime heat?
Schenck: Not at all. And we had a hurricane hit us this morning, so two million people don’t have power right now.
MRM: Well, let’s start from the beginning, how did you get into music?
Schenck: My parents played records at home. My mom liked the Beatles and The Beach Boys and Chopin and Debussy. Our dad liked Roy Orbison and Buddy Holly and Beethoven and Wagner. So we grew up in home with rock and classical music.
I bought my first guitar when I was 17 – with my lawn mowing money. I started taking lessons, then the next semester I was in community college studying music. I went on to get three degrees in music.
MRM: Who are your influences?
Schenck: Stravinsky, Bartok, and Berg with classical. The Beatles, Asia, Yes, ELP, King Crimson, and Pink Floyd in rock.
For guitar – Steve Howe, Frankie Sullivan of Survivor and Chris Hayes of Huey Lewis and the News.
For keys – Keith Emerson, Geoff Downes, Rick Wakeman.
MRM: How was Pangaea formed?
Schenck: I’ve known my brother Andi forever. I met bassist Ron Poulsen in high school, playing soccer. The three of us started the band. Darrell Masingale on guitar joined in ‘89 and Steven Osborn in ‘91. I met them both at community college. Our new member, guitarist Scott Draughon joined last October.
MRM: How did you first get involved with the legendary Robert Berry?
Schenck: A mutual fan of ours and Robert’s connected us. He sent Robert a CD of an EP we had. Robert called us. In April 1996, we worked on demos with him for four days; that August, we returned for two weeks to record The Rite of Passage. He’s been our producer ever since.
MRM: How did you all get hooked up with Dan and Peter Aykroyd?
Schenck: Our manager, Dito Godwin, set up a recording session with a mobile recording unit. We went to a big house in the Hollywood hills to record five acoustic songs. We were told it was a house that Dan and Peter owned where they did their work. We saw Peter each day we were there; he was a very nice gentleman. We never got to meet Dan though.
MRM: How was it working with Dito Godwin?
Schenck: Dito was great! He really helped us focus on our live show. He put us through a rock n roll boot camp, if you like. He also encouraged us to pursue our songwriting down a different path and try new things. We really enjoyed our time with him.
MRM: Would you say the biggest crowd you all have performed for was at the Houston Dynamo soccer match?
Schenck: Yes, absolutely! It was over 12,000 people. I read once it may have been closer to 14,000.
MRM: Why did you all go on hiatus after that legendary show?
Schenck: As a band we had just gone as far as we could at that time. Ron had left in 2003, Steven left in 2005. We still had three original members, along with our other brother Rico Schenck on bass and a five piece horn section playing with us.
Life – careers, family, those things started to take precedence at that point. We always stayed in touch though.
MRM: What made y’all get back together years later?
Schenck: We had to! We missed playing together. This group of guys. We met in Dallas in June of 2021 and all agreed it was time to do it. There’s a chemistry we don’t have unless it’s the five of us. We love each other like brothers and we love playing together.
MRM: Currently, who all is in the band?
Schenck: Myself on keyboards and guitar; my brother Andi Schenck on drums; singer Steven Osborn; bassist Ron Poulsen; guitarist Darrell Masingale; and guitarist/keyboardist Scott Draughon – who joined last October.
MRM: What can you tell us about the critically acclaimed new album “Beowulf”?
Schenck: It’s sincere. It’s honest. It’s songs we had to write – stories we had to tell. And it’s the original band with our same producer in Robert Berry, vocal coach Thom Duell, artist Rainer Kalwitz and many other team members who’ve helped us along the way.
It’s Pangaea. But it’s a new Pangaea.
MRM: Any plans for a tour?
Schenck: Yes. We are currently talking with people about various avenues for more live shows and a tour. Nothing is in stone yet.
MRM: Thanks for the interview. Anything else you would like to add?
Schenck: I appreciate the opportunity to do this and thank you for your time!
If anyone wants to know more, please go to our official website for news, merchandise, music, videos, stories, pictures and more at https://pangaea.band/
Thank you!
