Merry DSD-mas!

This post is an effort to lull you, our website audience member, into the warm lap of ole DeepSaint Nick for the most up-to-date holiday report that DSD can provide. So hop on up, give us a hug, and free your mind from all other troubles that may have followed you here. They go away. NOW.......

Deep Soul Deities played a modest 13 shows this year, but damn they all felt great. Cheers to you in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Cedar Falls.

We probably rehearsed as many times, or even less frequently than our show schedule. This isn't to say we were not prepared for shows, just that we wanted the shows to feel/sound fresh by leaving more to chance. 

As for a record, the next has been in the works now for quite some time. We have a lot of material worked out, and even more in the slow cooker being tasted and basted every time we get a chance to jam. We are working out how to step forward from our EP release which showcased our live energy in the studio. The resulting Strange Brew was a raw funk; refined yet off the chain. Since those recordings, we've been searching for even further depth and definition to our sound.

2011 saw our rapid progression of "ideas into action" become stalled at times. These troughs came as we were attempting to can all of our ideas into certain identifiable forms and soul/funk sounds that would best-serve our listeners. We wanted to provide a sound that had a name and could be related to other acts of a similar nature. Our attempts to fit true ideas into contrived packages were mostly fruitless though, except of course for the lessons we learned. In breaking this barrier we've found ourselves on a creative kick that is welcome and teeming with promise.

On our most recent songs, we have learned to experiment with the variety of song-writing approaches each of our band members brings to the table. All of these song ideas deserve consideration on their own terms, as they each contain qualities that we as a band can house. In this sense, each song deserves its own uniquely constructed home in order for it to grow in the light that we all provide. This nurturing approach has only revealed its qualities late this year.

What you'll be hearing on a record coming up (when it's warm outside, PROMISE!) is going to be a variety of flavors, not tasteless like a suicide soda pop, but palpable like a 4-star brunch buffet. We're tapping into the tried/true, the new, the unfamiliar, the analog, the digital, the thriving, and definitely the great and ageless soul sources of creativity. Most definitely there will be some sort of sandwich theme, which is probably best explained on another blog entry.

Ultimately, we're just doin what we can to make the most positive and affective artistic impact our sextet can provide. Thanks for sticking with us during the thick sticky goodness and the thin ice which passes under all of us.

Peace: Dan, Jake, Tim, Dave, Kyle, & Rachel

Update on Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 07:50PM by Deep Soul Deities

This is a taste of what we're playing these days. Though this song is several months old, this rehearsal demo contains some magic that we've been working to inject into all of our tunes. The visuals are provided by Ryan Drake, with whom we hope to do more collaboration in the near future.

2-Year Holler

We would like to introduce and acknowledge those who have helped us thus far on our journey through band-dom. Some were key ingredients in our Strange Brew production, some are friends just helping friends, some are artistically inspiring, and all are active components in today's thriving arts scene in the Twin Cities.

Thanks to:

Eddie Ciletti, who volunteered his precious time and masterful ears as a tool for his students (who were awesome to have around in the studio). Eddie recorded our live tracks and lent his skills as a mastering engineer to help fine-tune our mixes for mastering.

Erin Stubbs, who sang with us last summer as we were performing and arranging our songs for recording. Her presence and melodies were inspiring and we wish her the best in her musical career.

Kalen Passa, and local band Daybreak, with whom Deep Soul played their first show (July 10th, 2008 at the Uptown Bar). Kalen helped in recording junk percussion on "Dead Lung Lounge" and penned a very thoughtful website bio for our band. We love performing with Daybreak, and we highly recommend going to their shows and listening to their upcoming record.

WireDarts, who are Jamie Millard and Meghan Hanson. These young professionals designed this website from scratch and were so thoughtful and thorough in their work. They are also part of the team producing Paper Darts, a local arts magazine. Meghan also came through in the clutch and produced the graphic artwork for "Strange Brew" with one week's notice.

Tim Dodd, Brooke LaBrie, Katie Mae Dickinson, and Seanie Cash who have provided their keen eyes and photographic expertise. Thanks for making us look cool.

Krista Vilinskis, Lily Troia and Adam Levy, who provided their influential voices and humble wisdom as we made our first attempts in music marketing.

YOU!!! many many thanks to our friends and fans for your presence and generous hip-shaking. We're filling our tune book with a grip of new grooves, funky covers, and fresh twists on the re-runs. So holler back at us, keep in touch with our show calendar, and we will see you in the future!!


The First of Many

First of all, if you’re reading this, you deserve a big hug and sloppy kiss on the cheek, which you’ve probably already received if you know any of us at all.  This is the first in a series of discussions led by the various band members, so on an introductory note I decided to go with a topic I know – our music.
We are trying to hang in a space that balances what we feel and what we think, in the channel between mind and heart.  What we feel, as instinctive rhythms and riffs that just make you feel GOOD and what we think, as explorations into the world of musical possibility.  It’s my goal to create a comfortable environment for you, the listener, the dancer, so that I may be better able to expand your worldview by taking you somewhere new.

This goal is made of a gooey mash-up of two very different ideals—to push music into new territories while still putting that music into the hands of the people listening.  We’re not innovators in this sense; in my mind this is Priority Number One for any passionate musician. Mostly because it’s a very alluring idea, the thought of finding a way into the most enchanting realm of music – a world where music lives and breathes in the past, present, and future simultaneously.

Now for the challenge– how do you ask for something new, somewhat bizarre, and possibly intimidating to join hands with something instinctive and primal?  You have to set up an ideal situation for the fusion of the two – by creating a comfortable home-base, using rhythms and harmonies, instruments and voices, that we as listeners, dancers, singers (drinkers, players, smokers, and all the rest) can latch onto together without effort, and on top of that laying melodies, solos, and verbal ideas that push the boundaries of our comfort.  This way we allow ourselves to follow new ideas off beyond the beaten path without fear, because we always have that anchor to hold onto.  As far as we may temporarily sail off to a world without tonality or blues licks or other tricks, you and I still have a safety net – the common groove of our voices and instruments, the rhythm of our feet on the ground, and the awareness that we are all in this together.

The goal here is to be a part of music that is for people to live INSIDE OF and also to LEARN FROM.  It is to create a music over which we bond, through which we speak, and within which we grow.  Music as a form of communication is not a one-way street.  Ideally you and I as listener and player are equal contributors to the conversation. 

We can communicate very simple, broad ideas, and we can also tell stories and more concrete messages verbally, using rhythms, melodies, harmonies, and movements (and whatever else we can think of) as enhancements to the message.  We can try to communicate things that we don’t actually understand ourselves, perhaps hoping that by bouncing new ideas off of you we may gain some clarity and insight into what is happening in our own hearts and minds. 

This brand of message is the most interesting and the most exciting to share with a listener.  In my mind, this is where the REAL communication lies in music—it’s an exploratory conversation in which neither the player nor the listener knows how the story might end.  It is a pure example of the language of thoughts as directed by the movement of feelings, a balance between mind and heart. This is a cornerstone of music, and a basis for the flow that goes into the band.  We consciously and unconsciously do a lot of things in an effort to get a little closer to that world of living, breathing music. 

So please, live with us, breathe with us, dance with us. The actions we take are reactions to our environments, just as you, the listeners, are reacting to us.  Too often, the symbiotic relationship between musician and listener is overlooked, so I will tell you right now--never underestimate your influence as a listener. Because we know you're doing a lot more than just listening. 

Peace,

Rachel Audrey