Baxter Teal, Lead Vocals/Guitar|Russell Lee, Drums|J. King, Lead Guitar|Dawson Huss, Bass/Vocals Deepfield was formed in Charleston, SC, after Teal, Lee, King and ex-guitarist Eric Bass became weary of the music scene that surrounded them. Only after shopping a 3 song demo the band found themselves playing a showcase in New York, where they were promptly signed by industry legend Bill McGathy to his new label, In De Goot Recordings. After several months of development, with the writing of some 70+ demos, the band was then sent to Memphis, TN, to record with producers Skidd Mills and Paul Ebersol (Three Doors Down, Saliva, Third Day). After brief stints on the road with a few different bass players, the band decided on Columbia’s Dawson Huss, who offers the missing piece to Deepfield’s live act with skill and vocals that live up to the musicianship the founders established in Memphis. The band’s name is a reference to the Hubble Deep Field, an image of a small region in the constellation Ursa Major, based on the results of a series of observations by the Hubble Space Telescope. It covers an area 144 arcseconds across, equivalent in angular size to a tennis ball at a distance of 100 metres. Deepfield have picked a small point in the murky planescape of often-watered-down, overly-safe music, and tried to inform the thirsty public of the diversity of sound possible within modern rock music. Says Teal, “We didn’t write our record to revolutionize the mainstream, but to make an impact, to be a catalyst.” Their sound is not pre-cognitively singular, but definitely rock, influenced by metal, punk, and progressive: guitar and melody driven with a lot of riffage. The songs on “Archetypes and Repetitions,” their debut release on In De Goot Recordings, are varied, dynamic, and diverse. Their songs, vocal and guitar led, each present a different musical idea. These ideas are explored from “Get It” (the first radio single) a guitar driven piece, to songs whose melodies you will want to belt out at shows, like “Into the Flood,” to songs like “Wayside” whose lyrics you will explore in the isolation of your headphones. Within the tapestry, the band is able to show elements of smart-pop mentality with songs like “Fall Apart”, potentially yielding a crossover smash and tapping in to a much larger market than their hard-rock sensibility would ever allow. All of this while maintaining the edge of the rest of the record, and showing furthermore that they are set on not being “pidgeon-holed” in one particular genre. The music is sonically full with tasteful parts, and intricate harmonies. Solid hooks are woven together by brilliant bridges within the song structure, creating an album ready to light a fire under radio. Deepfield’s live show is a high-energy response to the influences each individual brings to the group. Teal, intelligent, always offering his opinion and challenging everyone around him to think, brings it onstage, but if you are watching this defiant frontman carefully, he will show you his vulnerability. Lee, Teal’s antithesis, normally reserved and introspective, let’s loose behind his Bonham-style kit, bringing a driving energy with solid, smart drum parts. King, often sarcastic and rarely serious, is never more serious in his obsession with perfect tone, perfect parts, and perfect sonic ambience. Huss, the newcomer, complements Teal vocally, and Lee/King with his solid bass work and onstage energy. |
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