Daniel Prokoshin, a sophomore exercise science major, continues to dominate the Glassboro music scene. Performing with local artists playing guitar at house shows, at High Grounds Coffee Roasters in acoustic sets, and even delving into the bar scene.
Prokoshin’s passion for rocking stringed instruments sparked in his early high school years. When he first picked up the ukulele after his friends were playing around with it, he immediately fell in love with creating music. Diving into jamming more, he began practicing guitar in his room while strumming on and off throughout the years.
“I remember I played for two days straight, like I did not stop. I was playing all day and was like, this is so cool. Then I went to sleep and when I woke up the next morning, I started playing at like 7 a.m. and my parents told me to shut up because they were trying to sleep,” said Prokoshin.
This year, Prokoshin stepped out into the local music scene, aspiring to play live in a band. Through making new connections with musicians at local house shows at Rowan, Prokoshin was offered the opportunity to play a set at Emo Night last semester by Twisted band member Cris Xeluqa. Under the name of Exit 82, a local drummer, Xeluqa and Prokoshin got together to play cover songs.
“This guy named Cris posted a song on his Instagram note, and then I slid up on it and was like, I love their music, that’s so cool. Then, we just started talking and two days later I saw him at a house show. He was like, “I’m playing this set,” which turned out to be the biggest event of the year,” said Prokoshin.
After the performance, he played with the band Twisted for about three months. The group performed at house shows and in a bar. More recently, Prokoshin has been branching off to play with two new bands. Prokoshin plays bass and comes up with guitar riffs for the band Sick of Serenity which delves into both shoegaze and indie genres. Singer Riley Rancini and guitarist Aidan Quinlann play in unison as a Glassboro indie band.
“I’ve played only one show, not at Rowan, where with Twisted we played in a bar in Trenton. It was pretty cool because it was the only show that I could bring some of my family out to watch and see me play,” said Prokoshin.
His creative influence continues to shine while playing with local musicians Amanda Senatore, Madi Ranieri, and Cris Xeluqa in the band under the current name Ghosts in the Sand. The group has been working on recording their instruments and mixing songs and plans on utilizing the Rowan Department of Music Recording Studio 1 to release singles in the future.
“We’re just sitting down in Cris’ room, he has recording software and a keyboard, so we’re just recording our instruments and he is producing and mixing it. I don’t think we would release that version, but we would take whatever we have. Let’s say we have a song we feel is well structured and is good enough, we are gonna take that and go to the Rowan studio,” said Prokoshin. “They have a lot of cool equipment and supposedly is a really good studio, and we’ll take that song and record it in a more professional setting to make sure it sounds the best.”
Inspirations for Ghosts in the Sand include artists and bands, Radiohead, Surf Curse, Pink Floyd, Cigarettes After Sex, Beach House, Phoebe Bridgers, and Alice Phoebe Lou. In Sick of Serenity, the group focuses on getting together to jam and come up with ideas. They have posted a cover of the song “The Cranberries” by the band Linger featured on the band’s Instagram. While performing can be thrilling, many artists face a form of performance anxiety before hitting the stage.
“Most of the time it’s really fun, although it is pretty stressful. I have, it’s not terrible, but you know I just have stage fright which is pretty normal especially because I’m just starting out playing my first couple of shows,” said Prokoshin. “Hopefully I’ll get over that, and with the band when you are on stage and you have your friends next to you it’s cool. Sometimes I’ll look over to them at the shows and stuff.”
Prokoshin is interested in possibly venturing into the modeling world. After having modeling scouts reach out to him, he modeled for a portfolio shoot. He is aiming to start with photoshoots, with experience modeling for student projects.
“It’s just been something that I’ve been thinking about getting into, and that some people have told me to,” said Prokoshin “Right now I just recently took pictures for a portfolio because I had modeling scouts reach out to me, so I’ll send it in and hopefully see how it goes.”
This summer, Prokoshin plans to have his potential first performance for either of his two bands. Next school year, he is working to solidify shows at house show venues throughout Rowan and possibly throw a show where he’ll play in his house. While currently working on recording music with the band Ghosts in the Sand, Prokoshin teases music that the band will soon release with singles most likely to be dropped about once a month.
“The way we’d go about it is by releasing singles, probably record a couple songs, have them mixed, and release about once a month a single. To start, that seems to be the best way as far as I know to do it because you are kind of keeping the excitement within your fan base,” said Prokoshin. “Then down the line hopefully an EP, but I’m gonna be living with Cris and a couple of musicians next year and we’re gonna have plenty of time to record.”
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