Pop-Punk Covers Of Broadway Classics Are TikTok’s New Obsession
Ever wanted to know what 'Phantom Of The Opera' would sound like if played by Fall Out Boy? Well, now you know.
In case you missed it, pop-punk is back with a vengeance. From Willow’s new sound to Machine Gun Kelly and even Olivia Rodrigo’s SOUR, the echoes of the pop-punk peak of the ’90s and ’00s are alive and thriving in a new generation of artists.
It’s not just music either. Rebranded as the ‘E-Girl’ (e short for emo, of course), the aesthetics of pop-punk are being rehashed and revitalised for the era of TikTok-driven fashion.
Yes, pop-punk is everywhere and not even broadway is immune to its resurgence. Matt Copley is a composer, vocalist and one-fifth of the US indie pop-punk band, UNWELL. He’s also a bonafide theatre kid, having graduated with a fine arts degree in musical theatre, which he put to good use comping a pop-punk musical called Blueprint, about a virtual reality gone wrong.
Lately, Copley has combined his passions for theatre and the genre of music he loves, sharing epically catchy pop-punk covers of popular broadway songs to his social media. “I grew up in both these worlds,” he says. “It makes me really happy I get to combine these worlds myself.”
“Growing up, if you don’t really have a home in sports or any other activities, theatre is the home for all the outcasts and in a lot of ways so is pop-punk music,” he told Music Junkee. “I’m happy I can blend these worlds together because they are very similar.”
Am I a little obsessed? Perhaps, but you would be too if you heard Copley’s pop-punk remix of Defying Gravity from Wicked. Not a Wicked fan? How about Phantom of the Opera, pop-punk style? No. Well, don’t worry Hamilton fans, Copley has a little something for you too.
Copley deliberately chose ultra-popular broadway songs to cover first to test the waters. “I chose those because I thought they’d pop off the hardest,” he told me.
His instincts were on point. Across Instagram and Tiktok, his pop-punk goes broadway series easily has millions of views. “Dear Evan Hansen is probably on the board next,” he teases. “Maybe something from Heathers…Maybe something from Mean Girls. There are so many possibilities.”
Copley is currently gearing up for his band UNWELL’s EP launch this Friday, August 13. The New Moons EP is the band’s first. If the handful of singles they’ve dropped over the last few weeks are anything to go by, UNWELL is here for those kids who grew up on Mayday Parade and All Time Low and are looking for something new.