Remaking a band is a difficult task, but for Chicago indie rockers Deeper, keeping their name following the departure of member Caroline Campbell was an easy decision.
“Names don’t matter,” said Nic Gohl, who plays guitar and sings lead for the group that the 24-year-old founded in 2014 with Mike Clawson, 25, on guitar, and Shiraz Bhatti, 24, on drums. Originally a group he co-fronted with Campbell, Deeper re-formed after her departure, with bassist Drew McBride, 27, signing on in January.
While Deeper’s original demos had a rough-hewn surf-pop feel, now the band finds a self-described dreamier midpoint. “I think it’s less of trying to run away from what we were doing before and more of trying to run toward something that we find more exciting,” Gohl said regarding the band’s new sound and image. You can hear the new comfort-zone Deeper is reaching on its debut-ish single, “Trans,” which is exclusively premiering below with RedEye.
After throwing out all of their old songs, the band stressed that the new music is much more guitar heavy with an emphasis on aggression, an aspect they credit to having just Gohl singing now. With a sound that fits somewhere between the jangle of Joy Division and the reverb-heavy guitar onslaught of bands like DIIV and Wild Nothing, the creation of “Trans” is credited with messing around with different chords during rehearsal.
“It was a good statement for what we were trying to do with the new music,” Gohl said. “We weren’t even planning on releasing this song first, and then the final product … does kind of encapsulate that this is what Deeper sounds like now,” McBride added. It’s not unlike something you’d hear from local bands Ne-Hi, Melkbelly and the Funs.
“Trans” was recorded at Public House Recordings with producer Dave Vettraino (Ne-Hi, Melkbelly). Listen below and keep an eye out for more songs from this rising four-piece.
Live: Chris Cohen, Deeper, Thursday, June 9 ($10, 21+) at Empty Bottle.
Live: Deeper, Monday, July 18 (Free, 21+) at Empty Bottle.
![“Let the music do the talking,” sang Phish vocalist-guitarist Trey Anastasio at the outset of the band’s concert Saturday at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Normally, hearing that advice from a well-disciplined virtuoso who seemingly never tires of the stage and worships the groove would pass without a hint of potential irony. However, given the group was not even one minute into the third of its sold-out four-night stand at the $2.3 billion dome — expressly devised to push sensory boundaries to previously uncharted limits — one couldn’t help wonder how seriously Phish would take its own instruction. Turns out […]](https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/CTC-L-ENT-PHISH-04-e1713888536637.jpg?w=620 "“Let the music do the talking,” sang Phish vocalist-guitarist Trey Anastasio at the outset of the band’s concert Saturday at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Normally, hearing that advice from a well-disciplined virtuoso who seemingly never tires of the stage and worships the groove would pass without a hint of potential irony. However, given the group was not even one minute into the third of its sold-out four-night stand at the $2.3 billion dome — expressly devised to push sensory boundaries to previously uncharted limits — one couldn’t help wonder how seriously Phish would take its own instruction. Turns out […]")