01/04 - RAG Magazine

Story: Joseph VilaneWhat makes a good band? No, what makes a great band? Ithink it’s really about work ethic, not necessarily when everyoneis on the same page, but when they feel that they want toimprove the project and make it the best it can possibly be. Asa whole, it’s important when everyone believes in each other,when you know what sounds good, and you can just feel thatreputation for themselves since forming in early 2003. Jonathan Murphy, his highvocal range is something that surely stands out in this project. It’s about time moremusicians started to treat their voice as an instrument once again. With a veryunique approach to making music, you can’t help but take notice. “The name Deepsetwas a scavenger hunt in the dictionary, we needed a name that no one else had,”explains guitarist Rick. “It’s an original name and we’re proud to say it’s ours.” Withthe name Deepset, you might think that it would throw people off at first glance,where they don’t know what to expect on stage, “I don’t know what the nameenvokes,” says Rick, “it wasn’t put in place for that, it just sounded cool. But I thinkthe band makes the name, the name doesn’t make the band.”there’s something there, something almost indescribable. Interms of dedication, Deepset (Jonathan Murphy vocals, RickBaum guitar, Jeremy Slusher bass, Marcus Suarez drums)represents integrity in how they go about presenting theirmusic. This is a band that truly goes out there to play the musicthat they love.16 • JANUARY 2004 • RAG MAGAZINEPAPA ROACHDeepset, the South Florida hard rock band has gained a goodWhen you think of a band, you shouldn’t necessarily rely on your immediate reaction,but a lot of people do. I asked Rick what he thinks of how people think in termsof music today. “Deepset sounds like a strong name to me, and hopefully it envokesthe image of something heavy and meaningful. Some of the songs that we wroteon this cd, I just love. And I said to myself if I heard that song on the radio and didn’tknow the band, I would want to know more and who the band is.” I think it’s reallygreat how this band trusts their instincts, where if they feel a song is very special,there should be a vast majority of listeners who would feel the same way.I can see that Jonathan has the long hair rockstar image. Unfortunately, there a lotof musicians these days who look like they just got done your pumping gas, I askedJonathan what’s his take on image in the music industry. “I think commercially, it’sobviously very important, there aren’t too many ugly bands that are very successful.Everybody is like, they’re breaking away from the long hair and all that kind ofstuff so we’re all gonna have short hair, and we’re all gonna wear certain types ofclothes. Just because it’s a different trend or different image doesn’t mean it’s anyless a cliche. As far as anything else goes this is just how we are, this is the waywe look all the time, so it works out well for us that it just happens to fit into thatmold.”A lot of bands these days are afraid to be themselves, Jonathan elaborated on thissubject, “You get caught up, and you start to worry about what people want youto sound like. I can see how it would be easy to fall into that trap, and start changingwhat you’re gonna play to fit what you think people want to hear from you. But sofar we’ve been pretty successful in keeping true to what we want to do, luckily sofar people seem to be responding to it which is good. And hopefully if we keepdown that road, and keep playing the stuff that we want to play we’ll find anaudience that wants to listen to it. And that’s all we can hope for.”In the song “Let’s fly Away,” Jonathan sings “Love Ain’t easy but it can’t be thishard,” I asked Jonathan what this song means to him, “A lot of the writing processfor this song, it’s about a lot of the things I’ve experienced. It was something whereyou can be in a relationship with someone and make it more difficult than it has tobe. Some people strive on the struggle, but that’s not what I’m all about. It’s not thatI think things should be simple, but it shouldn’t be so painful. That song is aboutgetting rid of all that stuff, you’ve been through the ringer, get away from it.” Thereare a lot of personal references on Deepset’s new CD, Jonathan has writtenpoetry for a long time and it’s all based on emotional experiences, most of the lyricson their cd are related from his life or they reflect an emotion that he’s had a lot ofexperience with.