In Conversation with This is The Deep
Image from @thisisthedeep on Instagram
There are times when you heard, randomly, a song that makes you feel you listened to it when you were a kid. A music video that looks like a place you’ve been in your dreams; the multidisciplinary works of London-based band, This is The Deep, transport you to those feelings in a much needed time.
Image from @thisisthedeep on Instagram
They do it without attaching their sound to any kind of label or categorization; sounding as much Toy Story, then Blue Velvet and indie rock, to jazzy dream pop in their debut album – The Best Is Yet To Come, Pt. I.
The band, which blossomed online during the COVID-19 pandemic, has seen an amazing year of success. Notably, their celebrated headliner at a Halloween event organized by Hard of Hearing, to their sold-out collection of artsy long-sleeved tees, and recently their album artwork was featured in REDEFINE magazine’s review, Best Album Covers of 2021: Sculpture and Object.
The smoldering collective consists of Susie Honeyman (Mekons) on fiddle, Sammy Silue on guitar/vocals, Ranald Macdonald on synth/vocals, Hannah Tilson on Trombone/vocals, David Bardon and Oscar Robertson on bass/drums, and Liam Toon coming in with electronic percussion.
I had the privilege of asking some questions about their influences, artistry, and the road which the collective will take in the future.
1. This is a question you probably get asked a lot, but what's the meaning behind your name?
This Is The Deep: The meaning is open. There isn’t one specifically. I think we liked the idea of it as a deep space, underwater, or an internal thing. We got the idea off an episode of David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II – an episode called, “The Deep”.
2. What's the first song 'This is The Deep' played together on stage?
TITD: It was a cover of “Don’t Go Near the Water” by The Beach Boys from the album, Surf’s Up. It opened our first gig at the Sebright Arms in 2018.
3. Choose: David Lynch or Tim Burton?
TITD: David Lynch! His work has always been quite a big influence on us visually and conceptually, especially Blue Velvet. Angelo Badalamenti’s scores are also something we’ve looked at quite often as reference points too. Tim Burton seems to be more about an aesthetic than a deeper idea, and too much Johnny Depp.
4. In some interviews you guys talk about the room one song has, as in ambiance. What does that mean?
TITD: It’s a way to think about the whole recording as a ‘space’ that a listener can experience. Where that is depends on what we’re trying to achieve– and probably changes as we move forward with a track. It could be an underwater jazz club, or a landscape from a 90s video game.
5. What's one album you all could get together and listen to without saying a word?
TITD: Monty Python’s Contractual Obligation Album.
6. What's the meaning of the music video for "Glass"? Why stop motion?
TITD: As with most things we do– we don’t intend to have one singular meaning, but space to hold meaning is important. The song is about overreaching. The video runs with this theme through the central character. They sit in their penthouse apartment, getting pulled into the plasticine universe. It’s a kind of fall.
You could see it as being about watching or spectating too. The effect those processes have on a viewer. The character starts by watching TV, and the cartoon desert world they get pulled into could be read as representing western visual media. That cowboy with popcorn eyes being a kind of genie/guardian of this place.
We used CGI and stop motion as that’s what was available at the time and also popcorn. As material, popcorn was important in what it says to us, and how it relates to cinema so we used it in the video as much as possible by making the clouds out of it and a few other things.
7. In a connected world, talking about a 'music scene' happening in one city, be it New York or Tokyo, seems a little bit passé. Would you guys think that London's music world, without the pandemic issue in the talk, is as vibrant as it was?
TITD: We were lucky in that Oscar and Dave, from our group, have their own studio where they work producing other artists and their other group Sunglasses for Jaws; we were able to continue making things there, and keep our local music community alive.
Now things have generally eased up a bit, it feels like the live music scene has come back. If anything it feels stronger than it was before. Maybe in some way the lockdown made people realize how important live music is – it seems pretty healthy all things considered.
8. Is this music project one that will last long after this first LP? Or is the second one already in the kitchen?
TITD: The plan for this project is that it will continue for a while. We have a lot of music currently in production. There’s so much love between us we don’t really have any reason to stop.
9. Obviously, the visual aspect of the group is a great factor in this magic. What are the main inspirations behind the overall aesthetic of the band?
TITD: The artists Alice Macdonald and Mark Connolly who paint the sets we perform in play a big part in our aesthetic. Having their work on stage creates an important meeting place for the visual and audio aspects of what we do.
Also, we have the artworks and videos we have made ourselves. Various collaborations with artists close to us making things you could call merch, but that doesn’t really do them justice as we see them more as pieces in their own right. We were lucky early this year to make beautiful masks with artist, Jade Chin Yuk Ng, and sustainable clothing brand Pikol. We made our line of long-sleeved screen-printed shirts for the most recent album with artist Lucille Hefflinger and the Ethical Tee company.
The video and album artwork come from our research and practice as visual artists, as well as musicians – which is quite varied and extensive. Recently we’ve taken inspiration from Looney Tunes and The Simpsons, early Pixar films, and visual artists like Alex Da Courte and Paul Mcarthy (Not to be confused with McCartney - although we do like his music).
10. 'This is The Deep' saw the light during the pandemic. Would you say that your cult status owes a little bit to the fact that your music, as suave as it is, could be defined as comforting?
TITD: Music can do so many things, and if our music can be comforting, that’s amazing.
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You can follow the band as @thisisthedeep on Instagram and support their music on Bandcamp and Spotify.
Image from @thisisthedeep on Instagram