There seems to be quite a lot of up and coming bands from Norwich and Norfolk around at the moment. Could this be the start of some Seattle type underground music scene? If so I’ve been scratching my head to come up with a name for it (before anyone else does).. the best I have got so far is Noise-folk and er.. East Angular.. not good I know.
Actually the truth is the great new bands from this part of the world have very little in common musically. Take Deers. A band with Two Lead Vocalists, 3 Guitarists and already a growing reputation as an excellent live band.
Their latest EP Red is out tomorrow (3rd September), and is the second of four scheduled releases to be named after colours.
It’s hard to describe their music, as sometimes they sound like three different bands, but they have a sense of space that catches you unawares, both abrasive and soothing at the same time, Deers are the musical equivalent of a velvet drill bit.
We caught up with guitarist Steve ahead of a local show in Norwich.
How did you all get together?
Nicky and myself were in a Norwich band called The Long Time Promise, and we knew Brad from another locally based band, Innocence or Otherwise. We got together and advertised for a drummer and bassist. Jim, ex drummer from another Norwich-based band Dragline, instantly gelled and we could see he was an amazing drummer so we snapped him up. We then drafted in friend and ex Vanguard bassist Ben, who was on the same wavelength as all of us and who loved our stuff.
We then relentlessly worked on EP1 until it was good enough to gig and then released it at our very first show. So far it’s received some great reviews from Alter The Press (4/5) and Dead Press (8/10).
Can you sum up your sound in a sentence?
It’s a blend of the ferocity of Thrice with the dual-vocals of Brand New all mixed together with a touch of early Biffy Clyro circa Blackened Sky and vertigo of Bliss.
Did you have a definite idea of the way you wanted to sound when you got together?
We all have some similar musical interests which made the demos for EP1 come together quite quickly. They seemed to gel together well as an EP and it’s something we’re all extremely proud of.
We didn’t set in stone a sound that we wanted to achieve, we just write music we’d like to hear and so there are multiple influences in each and every song, which hopefully gives us a slightly unique sound. We don’t think we’re like anything current at the moment, however we know we’re not breaking any moulds, we’re just doing what we enjoy and know best.
Do you produce your own stuff?
EPs 1+2 we’re recorded in Steve’s bedroom using triggered drums and samples. EP1 was then mastered by Dave Pye (recent engineer to Wild Beasts) and EP2 by Rob Hales (currently working with Adelaide). We took our time on each EP and enjoyed not having time and monetary restrictions.
Do you ever improvise or add sections when playing live?
Usually the songs live are as they are on record. We like people to hear what they know, and when we go and see bands live, we like to know what’s going on. As time goes by and we become more and more comfortable with the songs we will probably alter them slightly and improvise here and there, but for now, we’ll be sticking to getting them as close to the record version as possible!
What is thinking behind the naming the EP’s after colours?
The EP’s were initially just going to be called “EP1, EP2, EP3 etc”. They still will be referred to as numbers, but colours also helps people remember which EP is which. We didn’t want to name each EP as we’re aiming to get 4 done in a year, and essentially they’re just demos, so we probably wouldn’t have enough time to think of 4 decent EP titles.
We’re proud to have so far written 3 EP’s having released 1, with the second on the way within a week. The plan is to do 4 from Feb 2011 to Feb 2012 and then hopefully pick the better tracks and do an album.
What record label would you like to be signed to (if any)?
We don’t really know much about the label side of things. We have a management company who look out for us (Sounds Unique Entertainment) and deal with any PR and label interest. They know the industry really well and as friends, they have our best interests at heart. We’d like to be with someone who believes in what we’re doing and doesn’t want to mould us to be what’s “in” at the moment.
www.soundcloud.com/wearedeers
www.facebook.com/wearedeers
www.wearedeers.co.uk