Four piece instrumental rock band CHALLENGER DEEP have an album out there with some weekend shows in sight, plans on taking over the world and wanting this act to consume their lives for years on end! Bassist Jason Murray talks of the instrumental music.
1. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
Challenger Deep is an Instrumental Progressive/Math Rock band from Atlanta, GA. Our members are James LaPierre (guitar), Jordan Frederickson (guitar), Grant Wallace (drums) and myself, Jason Murray (bass). Each of us has played in several bands in our teens and twenties, leading us on different musical paths that eventually brought us together. When we met all of us where somewhat between projects that were doing much. After going to a few shows and parties together we decided to start meeting up on Thursday evenings each week to hang out and work on music. James and Jordan had been putting songs together for the past couple years and Grant and I joined around the end of 2017. The Thursday meetups stuck and within a few months we were starting to play local shows, our first one being a house show with World’s Greatest Dad and Mighty.
2. What’s the origin of the band’s name?
Challenger Deep refers to the lowest point of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean. It’s a not too subtle metaphor for the feeling of being at your lowest possible point in life. I think this is a feeling that many people in their twenties can relate to, when you have no idea who you are or who you want to become. Life typically doesn’t give you time to sit around and contemplate these ideas, instead it throws a wide variety of experiences at you including challenges and hardship. The more we overcome the more we grow and sometimes the answers to these questions become a little clearer. Having the opportunity to be in this band and work together to create music that people seem to really enjoy, then getting to go play our music for friends and fans… it’s really been a wonderful experience. It’s been a great lesson to pursue and do what you love, in spite or even because of these low moments where it feels like the weight of the entire ocean is crushing down on you.
3. Where is the band based out of and what is your music scene like there? Are there any local bands you could recommend?
We’re all from various parts of Georgia, now we all live within 15 minutes of each other in Atlanta. I think we’re really fortunate to be part of an amazing wave of music that’s been growing over the last few years. I could spend hours listing some of these awesome bands, here’s a few that I think have really been doing some cool things. World’s Greatest Dad and Mighty I already mentioned, they probably fall into a catch-all of Emo/Punk Indie Rock, alongside Microwave, Blis., The Carolyn, Tenth Row, Fox Wound and Clavicle. Bands that are closer to our sound would be Satyr, Things Amazing, Cascadent, Champagne Colored Cars and Coletta. Some other amazing groups are Little Tybee, Starbenders, The Callous Daoboys, The Funeral Portrait and more that I can’t remember right now!
4. How would you describe your style?
We’re a blend of heavy and upbeat, technical and listenable. We all love creating huge sounds and showing off our ability to play our instruments but also want people to move and have a great time. We’re not just a live show, it’s a party.
5. What have you released so far and what can someone expect from your works?
We released our self-titled debut album in the early Spring of 2019. We were blown away by the response, getting 100k listeners in the first couple months and 200k at the start of Summer. We’ve released two music videos, including the world’s 1st Instrumental Lyric Video (you read that right) and we’re currently working on a 3rd. People should expect more music out later this year!
6. Do you have any new music in the works?
Definitely, we’re really excited to be working on new music. Some of the new stuff builds off what we did with the self-titled and some of it expands our style. We’ve been experimenting with members playing different instruments and bringing in influences from other genres. Our fans should expect it to be upbeat, fun and LOUD.
7. How about playing shows and touring, have anything planned out?
We’re currently focused on opening for larger acts in Atlanta and playing shows in the South East. We recently played in Tallahassee and Panama City, those shows were really fun and we got to play our first true encore. We’ll be playing the 2 Year Anniversary of The Radio Room in Greenville on June 29th and we’re opening for Light The Torch (Howard Jones of Killswitch Engage’s new band) and Moon Tooth on July 16th at The Masquerade. We’ve got a few more things we can’t talk about yet, but can’t wait to share.
8. What plans do you have for the future as a band?
Take over the world, nothing too unreasonable! We want this to be a project that will be a part of our lives for years to come, a platform with which to share our music and grow as artists. Short-term goals include continuing to release content and book weekend shows to reach 1m streams. With those numbers we hope to attract a booking agent and get put to work!
9. Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
Links to our Music, Videos and Merch:
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2V6fxzk.
Bandcamp: http://bit.ly/challengerdeepbandcamp.
Youtube: http://bit.ly/challengerdeepyoutube.
Big Cartel: https://challengerdeep.bigcartel.com/.
Apple Music: https://apple.co/2Vhmkq5.
10. What is it you’d like a listener to remember the most when hearing your music for the first time?
If you like our music you’ll love seeing us live, we genuinely love performing. We want people to move and we try to set the bar for that level of energy! Mosh Pits + Beach Balls baby.
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