Portraits by Julia Fletcher, find more of her work here.
The Chicago music scene is overflowing with incomparable talent from Twin Peaks to Chance the Rapper. Fire Talk Records notably houses some of the most compelling acts making waves right now, Chicago group, Deeper, being an absolute highlight of their roster. The band’s sophomore record, Auto-Pain (released on March 27th via Fire Talk Records), takes quintessential Deeper hallmarks and amplifies them ten-fold; it’s a record overflowing with hits (take my word for it!).
The band—Nic Gohl (vox, guitar), Shiraz Bhatti (drums), Drew McBride (guitar), Kevin Fairbairn (bass)—isn’t afraid to experiment, amounting in a discography, in a sophomore album, stacked with banger after eclectic banger. In honing their sound with hypnotizing riffs and intricately erratic instrumentation with an added garnish of synth (note: 80s shoegaze-reminiscent instrumental masterpiece, “Untitled,”), Deeper has hit a musical sweet spot; you can’t confine them to a specific genre, and they prefer it that way.
Opening the record with a trio of irresistibly upbeat romps—“Esoteric,” “Run,” and “This Heat”—the band sets the stage for the rest of the release: they’re bound to get you grooving with post-punk and new wave conventions perfected by bands such as Wire and Gang of Four. Gohl’s preacher-esque vocals on tracks such as “Spray Paint” (my personal favorite on the record!) command you to move in time with the beat as you’re simultaneously attempting to grapple with the brooding material they’ve unfurled. Listening to Auto-Pain in full leaves you with a “Warm” feeling, like you’ve just witnessed something remarkable.
As the band says, the record is “an album about learning how to suffer…and learning how to feel better.” For the band, the process of trying to feel better is all too relevant, noting that midway through the record’s creation, guitarist Mike Clawson parted from the band and later on, they learned that he had passed away. With the toll that these events had—alongside the added stresses of trying to exist in a climate as wild and distressing as this—emotions may be reaching a boiling point among the Deeper camp, and justifiably so.
Rather than letting situational factors stop them from perfecting Auto-Pain, though, they did just the opposite. Noting, specifically, track “Willing” and its repetition of the words, “It’s alright,” it’s as if Deeper is rallying together with the intentions of moving on and returning to normalcy. Auto-Pain channels and translates that journey onto a universal playing field, which makes it all the more meaningful. This record wasn’t conceived without a tinge of hardship and yet, Deeper stands, somewhat unscatched and just as empowered as ever with a stand-out record in tow, and that’s a goddamn inspiring thing.
Recently, I chatted with Deeper about the conception of Auto-Pain, their Chicago roots, and the uncertain state of our world.
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First, people should know that we’re fun guys. I think many are quick to label us as post-punk, which is great, but a bit of an oversimplification of our sound. Post-punk is a kind of a catch-all these days, so it’s important to note that our discography has a pretty wide range; songs will go from something post-punk to dreamy/shoegaze-like to a synthy, drum machine-led song before tearing back into a more punk track.
Of your discography, which essential tracks would you recommend a new fan to listen to first?
Aside from “This Heat,” these are probably the three best points to start:
- “Should Be” – This is a track that people frequently bring up to us, probably because of how it hits live.
- “Transmogrified” – We released this as a standalone track back in 2016 and it’s how we got connected with Fire Talk, who have released everything from us at this point. Since it’s basically the first song we wrote together, it’s a good reference point for how our sound has evolved over the years.
- “Lake Song” – This is the second single off the new record and we wanted to showcase a side of our sound that has more of an emotional punch. Also, since it’s not as guitar-driven, it shows another side to our sound.
You’re (tentatively) going on tour with fellow Chicagoans, Twin Peaks, later this year which draws on the whole community aspect of the city’s music scene. How would you say coming up in Chicago has affected Deeper’s growth?
We love Twin Peaks; they’ve been an integral part in helping up-and-coming talent breakthrough here. All our old projects played alongside them at one point or another and that helped refine our chops before we formed Deeper.
The scene in Chicago is really active and nurturing—in fact, we met through the web of bands constantly playing together and collaborating. I think we have to look after our own in a way that’s different from the East and West coasts. The city itself has certainly left an imprint on each of us, especially in our music. Being holed up for the entire winter really is really conducive to focusing on art.
Your sophomore record, Auto-Pain, came out March 27th—when going about writing this album, did you guys have any set intentions in regards to what you guys wanted fans to take away / what you hoped would be expressed?
In terms of the songwriting process, we started with a notion of creating a patchwork of ambient or noise interludes to bring the record together. Every time we created one though, we kept expanding the idea until it was a full-fledged song. It worked out differently than we expected, but the album feels varied, yet whole when we listen back.
Touching on the album’s first single, “This Heat,” what made you settle on that being the single that would introduce fans to this new Deeper era?
We chose this as the first single because it’s high energy and really encapsulates the best version of what we were going for on the first record. It’s an evolution though, we employ new instrumentation and production techniques. We wanted to come back with something upbeat that would make sense to those who knew us already, but still, feel fresh.
Of the tracklist, which song(s) are you most proud of/ do you hope fans pay special attention to?
We’re really proud of “Willing.” It was the first song we wrote without Mike and it shows a lot of the emotion we were feeling at the time. It was pretty spontaneous too, which is different than our typical process of experimenting with a lot of different parts. We didn’t want it to be a single, but always felt like there was something special about the energy we captured on that one. It really comes off live we would say, too.
With Auto-Pain, it seems as though you guys have stuck with classic post-punk inclinations but have embraced synth a little more, which is a good change in pace! Though a very cliche question, I’m curious as to which artists/ genres have impacted the direction you guys have gone down sonically.
It can certainly be cliche to add synth to a post-punk sound, but as mentioned earlier, our sound is more diverse than that, so it doesn’t feel like an unnatural extension. The first record was mostly us learning to play together and understand what we’re capable of. With this one, we hit the ground running and were more comfortable to pull in elements we didn’t have time to focus on before. The synth on the record fits in comfortably and rounds out some of the tracks. I think it’s a bit different from many post-punk bands who add it and it ends up sounding like an entirely new band.
Kind of bouncing off of that, which artists are you most excited about right now?
Here are some artists we’ve frequently been coming back to over the last few months:
– Spirit of the Beehive
– Kendrick Lamar
– Shopping
– Dry Cleaning
– Yves Tumor
– Cate Le Bon
– Nicolas Jaar
Content-wise, noting the wild state of our world right now, where did you find a lot of inspiration from in regards to writing this record? Personal trials and tribulations?
Thematically, we aimed to tackle mental health issues, particularly depression, and the various coping mechanisms people sometimes use to get through each day. We really sought to touch on harder topics, but through songs that aren’t necessarily slow and sad.
As you said earlier, a lot of this record touches on some pretty vulnerable subject-matter, hidden under really catchy, jovial instrumentation. When touching on emotionally-raw material, does that come easily or has it been a process to be able to open up?
Yeah, [on this record] the subject matter is about being cooped up inside during the winter when you feel most withdrawn and maybe seasonally depressed. We tried to bottle up the excitement of spring coming, when you feel the sun and see your friends again—definitely very relevant to now in the midst of social distancing. Talking about the stuff has come pretty easily—we discuss these topics pretty regularly in practice, so they were themes we wanted to raise awareness about.
Despite obvious hurdles, with this album cycle in mind, what should listeners keep an eye open for from Deeper? What are you guys most excited about?
It’s been a wild few weeks as COVID-19 has blown up plans and caused widespread postponements of tour dates. We’re excited to get this record out and, when this lockdown is over, get on the road to let people see it live. We had 4 months of touring lined up, much of which has been moved, so the latter half of 2020 is going to be really exciting.
In the meantime, what’s the best way that fans can support you guys right now?
The best way to support us right now is to buy t-shirts and records on Bandcamp**. Since we can’t be on the road, it’s basically the only source of income for us.
[**The band is donating part of the record’s proceeds to the suicide prevention organization, Hope For The Day, in Clawson’s memory.]
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Before COVID-19 rendered live music practically caput, I had the opportunity to catch Deeper supporting Corridor at Rough Trade in Brooklyn on March 4th. Seeing Deeper at coincidentally one of my last gigs for the foreseeable future was truly a treat, as melancholy as it was; despite the circumstances, the band still packed some “heat” (pun intended) to the point that the pandemic unfolding was the last thing on my mind. They’re definitely a group you’ll want to be paying attention to, especially with Auto-Pain’s charm considered.
While this is an unprecedented situation for musicians everywhere, make sure to keep supporting Deeper via social media (Instagram, Twitter, Website) and listen to Auto-Pain on your favorite streaming services now!
