ATLANTA — A band that's called East Atlanta Village home for years is traveling musical depths that few dare to enter.
Challenger Deep has made something of a name for themselves not only with local venues like The Earl, and 529, but all over the Southeast.
Their band name refers to the deepest known part of the ocean. And "deep" is a term that the band's guitarist, James LaPierre, felt described his emotional state - at least at the time the band formed.
But if you listen to Challenger Deep’s music, today, moody and maudlin are the last words anyone would use to describe the band or its members. That's not the depth they're going for.
For the past few years, they've crafted their sound by drawing on different inspirations and the decades of collective experience that each bandmate possesses.
And listeners may have trouble figuring out what genre they do belong to. First of all, they are a purely instrumental band, allowing for the arrangements of sounds created by their instruments to bring a voice all its own to the music.
‘Indie’ and ‘rock’ don't quite cover them and neither does ‘alternative.’ Like their namesake, they'd rather navigate a deeper and less defined space. Which is just fine with them.
On their Facebook band page, they have themselves listed as a ‘Prog | Math Rock,’ or progressive rock, a term coined back in the mid-'90s used to describe bands that utilized rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes.
However, the band made mention during their interview with My East Atlanta News that, “there’s no current band analog that we would compare themselves to.”
Still, that doesn't seem to be hurting the band's popularity. According to the tour calendar listed on their Facebook page, The Deep will have their hands full performing nearly every weekend in the month of February.
Their next event will be right at home in EAV, as the band opens for the Bit Brigade concert at The Earl on Friday. Upcoming dates are as follows:
2/7 - Roxie Roz Burlesque Show in East Point @ 10 PM
2/21 - Norma Jean House Show in Atlanta (Sold Out)
2/22 - Atlanta Institute of Music in Duluth @ 6:30 PM
2/28 - Satyr Album Release Show at 529 in EAV @ 8 PM
Until then, you can check out their latest music video, fittingly called 'The Start of Something New' on YouTube.
For more information about Challenger Deep, visit their FaceBook page to find links to all of their music. Their Self-Titled Album is available now on Spotify!
The Members of Challenger Deep are:
James LaPierre - Guitar
Jordan Fredrickson - Guitar
Jason Murray - Bass
Grant Wallace - Drums
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