Sharks In The Deep End

Sharks in the Deep End
Killin' Machine
REVIEWED BY BRYAN ROLLI, FRI., SEPT. 9, 2016

Austin punk sextet Sharks in the Deep End wears its New Wave influences proudly on debut full-length Killin' Machine, mixing the punchy pop of the Cars and David Bowie with modern-day arena rock heroes Kings of Leon and the Killers. Lead single "Shadows in the Sunset" explodes with synths and percussive guitar slabs, a post-punk anthem with a sugary exterior. Frontman Tucker Jameson deals the band's trump card, fluctuating between a gritty howl, nasally sneer, and falsetto croon that lend a much-needed sense of urgency to more meandering numbers like "Love in Reverse" and "Loveyoutoo." Jameson coos on the Brit-pop "Cherry Blossom" and spews his best Bowie-isms on the title track and epic slow-burner "How Many Reasons." It doesn't even matter that "Crash Test Doll" is an outright lift of MGMT's "Time to Pretend," since SITDE sell their thievery with such conviction that you'll be humming those wonky synth leads all day. - The Austin Chronicle

Meet Sharks in the Deep End, the Indie Rock Band That's Seriously Influenced by Sharks

Meet Sharks in the Deep End, the Indie Rock Band That's Seriously Influenced by Sharks

JUNE 21, 2016 @ 7:00 PM
BY: CLAIRE STERN
Most musicians will attest that finding a band name is no easy feat. You want to find something unique and catchy—and, most importantly, one that comes up relatively quickly when you search it on Google. So when we first heard about Austin-based indie-rock group Sharks in the Deep End, we were admittedly intrigued by their choice of moniker. Seeing as how Shark Week kicks off this weekend, we asked them to drop by InStyle HQ to talk about their favorite voracious fishes and their new album, appropriately titled Killin' Machine. Here's an excerpt from our conversation.

Tell us the story behind your moniker.
Tucker Jameson: Childhood fear. I was learning how to swim and I always used to think there were sharks in the deep end, because the sun would cast long shadows beneath the floats in the deep end of the pool. It's an ode to facing your demons and overcoming them. You'd be surprised how many people come up to us and say, "I had the exact same fear!"

There seems to be a theme of dealing with problems head-on throughout the album. What came first, the name or the music?
Tucker Jameson: The songs came first actually; the name came after. It definitely interconnects. [The band name] is a good representation of the music.

What's the inspiration behind your new single, "Shadows in the Sunset?"
Tucker Jameson: It's about time and how it affects the decisions we make; the pressure you feel in life to go down certain paths because you feel time creep up on you—and how much power we let that have over us.

You recently covered "Heroes" by David Bowie, too. Is he a big musical influence?
Clayton Lillard: We all come from very versatile backgrounds. Bowie is someone we all really respect, so we wanted to do a tribute when he passed away.

Samuel Thompson: Hunky Dory is one of the first CDs I ever had.

Tucker Jameson: He's a huge influence, especially production-wise. We're all fans of The Beatles, too. And The Killers, The Talking Heads, The Smiths, and The Clash.

Seeing as it's almost Shark Week, do any of you have a favorite shark?
Tucker Jameson: I like the hammerhead. It's badass.

RELATED: How Australian Singer Meg Mac Caught Lena Dunham's Attention

Have any of you ever eaten shark?
Matt Shearon: I recently caught a couple in Galveston, off the coast of Texas—a tiger shark and a baby hammerhead. I didn't eat them, though.

Tucker Jameson: My grandfather used to tag sharks to track them up and down the coast of Brooklyn. That's why he never taught my mother how to swim.

What's your favorite shark movie?
Chris Konte: Jaws.

Henry Miles Schuler: I'd have to say Jaws, too. Or Blue Crush. There are probably sharks in the water [in that movie] ...

Clayton Lillard: I'm going with Henry on that one.

Samuel Thompson: Sharknado!

Tucker Jameson: Finding Dory is out, too. That's going to be good.


Watch the video for "Shadows in the Sunset" above, and buy Killin' Machine for $10 on the iTunes Store.

POSTED IN: MUSIC, REVIEWS & COVERAGE - InStyle Magazine

Sharks In The Deep End is an Austin quintet with a uniquely developed sound that melds jilted New Wave vocals with infectious dance-pop, and they’re currently gearing up to release their debut LP Killin Machine (April 22). The first single off of that debut album is called “Shadows In The Sunset,” and it’s a smart fusion of eclectic influences that rattles along to the urgent warble of vocalist Tucker Jameson. The secret weapon of Sharks In The Deep End is the pounding punk influence that adds backbone to the pop melodies and doesn’t allow the listener to become complacent for a second. If the full Killin Machine album proves to have the same alchemy as Sharks In The Deep End’s first single, then it should be a special debut. Catch the single below, and if you see this today (February 18), you can get an eyeful of these guys at their very first show ever tonight at 8pm at Studio C.

-

Lee Ackerley
@slackerleemusic - The Deli

80’s pop and fast paced punk, the Austin based band Sharks in the Deep End carries the torch for new wave music with an unbridled, contagious energy. Aside from having a name that evokes irrational fears as a child, the band’s influences of The Smiths, The Killers and Talking Heads come through with high intensity guitar licks, deep echoing vocals and some seriously sinister synth playing. Sharks in the Deep End are set to release their new album, The Killin’ Machine, this Friday, April 22nd, and are having a release party at The Sidewinder at 8 p.m., so make sure to get tickets while you can!

Sharks in the Deep End were able to stop by Studio 1A and play music from their upcoming album. If you weren’t able to catch their studio session live, we got you covered, you can stream the session here, on KUTX.

-Andrew Conroy - KUTX

Sharks in the Deep End went to Austin with their nod to early '80s alt-rock and it worked. The five-piece released a gem of a debut in April; Killin’ Machine harkens back to Thatcher’s London with its blend of Juno synthesizer and single-coil rhythm guitar. The album itself comes from a different place altogether—writing it back east in Connecticut, where frontman Tucker Jameson grew up, then on to DeGraw Sound in Brooklyn for recording.

The guys like to cite David Bowie and The Smiths when they talk about influences. Listening to the group made me nostalgic for Elvis Costello. The resemblance is more in visual aesthetic and attitude than sound, but still a good play for getting a rock writer’s attention. (We all default to Costello, in case you didn’t know.)

Sharing the video for “Make It With Me” produced by Flaming Lips art director George Salisbury, Sharks’ Jameson talks about coming to Austin and finding the band, the dice rolls and dumb luck of playing music for a living, and dangers of mixing of whiskey and go-karting. He also discloses that Myspace helped take the virginity of one of his bandmates, and few other dirty secrets along the way.



Hometown: I grew up in Connecticut; Chris Konte in Anaheim, CA; Clay Lillard in San Antonio, TX; Matt Shearon in Houston, TX. Sam Thompson and Henry Schuler both grew up in Austin.

Homebase: For one reason or another we were all bit by the music bug and found our way to the mecca that is Austin, TX.

How did you all meet?

Konte and I met about three or four years ago right as he had moved to Austin. I was looking for a keyboardist to hit the road and tour just a few weeks later but wasn’t having much luck. As a last ditch effort I texted a friend of mine who worked at a local music shop thinking he probably knew some talented local musicians, turned out he knew just the guy!

However, Konte was literally moving to Austin that day, so he wasn’t able to get to his keyboard, which was still packed away. He ended up learning all the keys parts on an acoustic guitar, then he came to the first rehearsal, sat down behind the piano and played them all perfectly. We’ve been playing in bands together ever since!

Clay and I had actually known of each other from our college days up in Boston but hadn’t actually met until we were both down in Austin and crossed paths via a series of concerts he took part in organizing called $2 Shows.

Matt came on board through a Craigslist post of all things—missed connections. Kidding. Henry, Chris and I had played music together in a band now long gone.

And finally there’s Sam! He had played in the Austin music scene for a while and was friendly with Chris’ nephew. So, when it came time to put the perfect band together, Chris and I reached out to the these guys and the rest is history.

Who are your musical influences?

David Bowie is a big influence on us. From his soundscapes to production techniques, we borrowed a lot from him. A lot of British rockers have left their mark on us such as The Beatles, The Stones, The Clash, The Smiths, New Order, Blur and the list goes on. Stateside, we’re influenced greatly by soul greats like Otis Redding and Sam Cooke. Ultimately there are just too many to list here, but those are some of the biggies.

How do you describe your music to someone who's never heard you before?

An indie rock mixture of new wave, punk and soul all wrapped up in a modern bow. If Willy Wonka distilled the essence of Bowie, The Smiths, and Sam Cooke, and made an everlasting Gobstopper that he sprinkled with some 21st century powdered sugar, that would be our music.

Why are you called Sharks in the Deep End?

A long time ago, in a pool far, far away… I learned how to swim! As a kid I was damned sure there were sharks in that pool, but I eventually overcame my fears. As an adult the sharks become a metaphor for the fears we keep hidden just below the surface. By taking this as our moniker, we embrace our fears and face them head on.

How did you end up working with Flaming Lips' art director George Salisbury?

George had worked with a bunch of bands that we are fans of and when it came time to shoot our video, we reached out to him to see if he’d be interested in working with us. Turned out he was a fan of the music so we were able to brainstorm ideas and pull something together.



Does living in Austin influence your music?

Absolutely! Austin has a storied history of music, especially in blues, but it has also turned out bands like Spoon who have definitely helped carve out a path in this modern era for bands in our genre.

Who would you love to collaborate with?

A talented producer and engineer named Dave Fridmann. Known for his bombastic mixes, he has been the man behind some of our favorite albums of the last couple decades. He’s produced great artists like MGMT, Tame Impala, Spoon, The Flaming Lips, Franz Ferdinand, Ok Go, The Vaccines and many, many more. The guy is a beast and we’d be honored to work with him.

What do you do for fun?

On the road we’re always looking for ways to let off a little steam. Often we end up going mini-golfing, go-carting or taking some swings in the batting cages. However, hitting the town, exploring the sites, cuisine and hanging with the locals in the different cities we visit, is high on our good times list. Personally I always like going to the movies. Letting yourself get lost in another world for a couple hours is a great way to decompress.

What's the craziest fan story so far?

We had one fan tattoo his entire face with our band logo; they were temporary but those things still last for four days or so!

If you were a hashtag, what would you be?

#whiskey

Tell us an awesome Myspace story that you've experienced as musicians.

One of our bandmates lost their virginity to a girl they met on Myspace back in his high school days. - Myspace

Sharks in The Deep End–and indie/rock band from Austin, Texas–is a lot of fun. As cheesy as it is to say something like that, it’s true. We first got to hang with the guys at Middle of The Map Fest this spring, where they impressed us with their live performance. The crowd–who largely wasn’t all too familiar with them before the show started–had their hips swaying within moments of the band starting up. The ambience lent to the performances, as it was outside on a clear, beautiful night, surrounded by twinkling patio lights that we were first encapsulated by Sharks in The Deep End.

They recently performed “Make It With Me” live in their home base of Austin, Texas. To get an idea of how amazing their live performance is, check it out! Then, be sure to take a gander at our interview below. (If you like Waffle House, Star Wars, or concrete, you’ll love this.)



Give us a little run down about each of you, if you please!

Chris Konte (keys): I’m just a guy lookin’ for love. Austin found me and now I’m a full-time rock musician.

Clay Lillard (percussion, keys, aux): Born and raised in San Antonio, TX, I juggle sounds & light for SITDE.

Henry Schuler (bass): I was born in Austin! I like things and stuff. Juice, pizza, parakeets.

Matt Shearon (drums): I grew up in Houston playing drums and continued to do so when I moved out to Austin. It’s always been the only magic in my life. I play the drums in the band and make sure we all get the right amount of pasta in our diets.

Sam Thompson (lead guitar): I was born and raised in Austin and have been playing music since childhood. I toured the world with my first band during high school and afterward I received an engineering degree from the University of Texas. I worked as an engineer for almost a year and now I play guitar in Sharks In The Deep End.

Tucker Jameson (lead vocals, guitar): I sing and play rhythm guitar in the band (also dabble in a little bass synth). I grew up in a small town in Connecticut, not too far from NYC. Though I tried damn near every sport in existence, it was the arts and music that called to me and eventually lead me down to Austin.

You’ve been touring in support of your debut LP Killin’ Machine. What has the tour experience been like for you guys? (Do you even like each other anymore?)

Tucker: As far as interpersonal relationships, it has been a pretty smooth ride. I don’t think these things are ever perfect, but we’ve done a good job dealing with the bumps in the road. The album itself has struck a chord with our audience; even our most critical fans know that it’s something to be proud of. The best part of all is seeing folks respond to our performances and connecting with them after the shows – that’s what truly fuels us through all the difficult parts. On top of all that, we get to travel the country doing what we love, meeting new people, visiting new cities and eating great new food.

We grabbed the vinyl when you made your appearance at Middle of the Map Fest. “Love in Reverse” is one of our favs. Do you find that there is one song off the LP that people have responded best to during live performances?

Tucker: That’s one of our favorites too! But at the shows it really differs from city to city, venue to venue. Every audience has a different vibe and what moves them one night will be completely different on another night. What’s nice is that a lot of our songs really take on a new life during our performances. Lately we’ve been starting shows with “Make It With Me” and that seems to get folks moving right away.

When we last spoke, you described your tour as more of a “tour of American diners”. Did you have a favorite diner or dish that you enjoyed on your adventures?

Tucker: Haha yeah we’ve been eating at a lot of diners. What’s great is that they are usually cheap, consistent and they have a large variety of options on the menu.

Chris: Waffle House or bust. Large hash browns with everything on ’em and over easy eggs on top. It’s probably like $5. And there are always interesting people…

Clay: No favorites–just breakfast 24 hrs.

Henry: Breakfast quesadilla. So versatile, quesadillas are.

Matt: Diners keep the band alive, literally. I had this fluffy omelet in Panama City, FL that was great! But way to greasy so I didn’t finish it.

Sam: I change up what I order every time. Sometimes breakfast, sometimes burgers, sometimes salad. It just depends. Honestly, I’m somewhat sick of diners for now.

Tucker: I like to keep it classic with two eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast and tea (sometimes I’ll also go for the sausage).

Speaking of adventures, any crazy stories from the road?

Tucker: Overall we are pretty tame — no TV’s being thrown through hotel windows or anything, so, there aren’t too many “crazy” stories. However, there was one time where we spent a day off in Panama City Beach, FL which is a frequent destination for spring breakers. After a day of heavy drinking, swimming, go-carting, carnival rides, etc. the night peaked at this massive club. Sometime around 2 or 3 a.m., while we were in a drunken haze, Matt disappeared. We tried texting and calling him a couple times with no luck. He had ghosted. By the time 4 a.m. rolled around, we called it quits, hit the hay and hoped he would find his way back safe and sound. I think is was around 8 a.m. that Matt came crashing into the hotel room still hammered and covered in sand. Turns out a security guard had politely suggested that Matt exit the club and journey towards the beach. Last thing he remembered, he was lying down with some random group of folks looking up at the stars. Next thing he knew, he was alone, awake, and the tide was at his waist — good thing he hadn’t passed out with his head towards the ocean!

You were just featured in InStyle. How did that happen, and what was that experience like?

Tucker: Our badass PR team set it up! It was a very cool experience. Their office in a building near the freedom tower in NYC. Security was intense, X-raying our bags checking our IDs, taking our photos etc. Eventually they let us through to the elevators and up we went. Our interviewer Claire was super nice and very complimentary of the tunes. She asked us a lot about sharks, cause shark week was coming up, but beyond our name we didn’t have much to add to that topic other than Street Sharks (look it up). Then we went back downstairs for a quick little photoshoot which we think turned out pretty badass.

Any plans for an upcoming music video?

Tucker: There are plans but they are TOP SECRET! Let’s just say those plans will most likely involve stunts…

In an interview with MOSHERY, Sam ranted about how underappreciated concrete is. Sam, how do you intend to appreciate concrete more? Do you think there’s a cause to rally behind something like #CrazyForConcrete?

Sam: Concrete has been around for hundreds of years and will most likely always be the most common building material in the world (and other worlds, if we ever make it out there). And, like I mentioned in the MOSHERY interview, the abundance of concrete is overwhelming. For now, all I can hope to do is continue spreading the word and raising awareness. Perhaps in the future I’ll rejoin the engineering force and help design more concrete that contributes to the well-being of the nations infrastructure and community. I would love to see some sort of following like #CrazyForConcrete but I’ve only met a few people who give any fucks about it. Maybe we can get something started!

I’ll depart this response by leaving a tidbit.

Concrete is extremely susceptible to cracking when placed under tension (bending). When cracks occur, water is allowed to infiltrate and it starts to corrode the concrete and reinforcing steel within which could eventually lead to failure and even death( - Impose Magazine

by Joel Greatbatch

Photos by Andrew DeThomas

Sharks in the Deep End Geraldine's

For those not in the know Sharks in The Deep End are an Austin band, who released their debut album Killin’ Machine back in April and have been doing a bit of touring around the country to spread the word. On July 8th they returned to remind us of how impressive an outfit they are at a very unique venue. I’m becoming gradually familiar with the multitude of music venues around Austin, so when I was informed that Sharks In The Deep End were performing at Geraldine’s I wasn’t quite sure what I was in for (doesn’t have quite the same ring as Chuggin’ Monkey). But when I walked up to Hotel Van Zandt I did wonder if Google Maps was playing with me. I asked the well dressed doorman if I was at the right place and he directed me through the Hotel’s revolving doors and from there I headed towards Geraldine’s marked elevator, was asked for a standard ID check by another well dressed man, then as I was ascending the audio speakers suddenly turned on to start the set of songs I had recently become familiar with. The doors parted in time to be hit by the sparkling sound and sight of six men confidently filling a room with some of the snappiest music you’ll hear right now.

All members of the band played their instruments with a cool swagger of assurance but it’s frontman Tucker Jameson who does what most good frontmen do, assuredly capture your attention. He glides around the stage singing with pitch perfect charisma and swiping some jagged edges off his guitar strings. Plus he has the best hair in indie rock (kind of like a forward growing version of Albert Hammond Jr’s cuddly afro before his male patterned baldness kicked in). While all the tracks they played from their album Killin’ Machine were great, it was the sizzling “Shadow in the Sunset” which proved why it’s the album’s lead single. Its sizzle was perhaps a bit too much for some, as a number of others who were sitting down at tables and plush booths were trying in vain to speak to each other as the band played on with their expected live band gusto. I saw one girl put her fingers in her ears with a bit of a grimace on her face.

The patrons around the venue weren’t the typically dressed casual gig goers, but when the tune “Make It With Me” starts you have no excuse but to tap your feet or at least bob your head like any respectable music listener. Seated women that were blocking their ears now turned their heads to listen to its 80s tinged merriment and it proved the songs are not something you can easily ignore. And there was still a good loyal crowd in attendance all standing in front of the stage who regularly let the band know they were enjoying themselves.

While it was all certainly loud, I found every instrument was well arranged and the vocals were coming through nicely. I then noticed I had been standing next to the sound guy with his roaming digital sound-desk (aka the iPad) the whole time, and it reminded me that the best place for audiophiles is always next to the sound guy.
Tucker began introducing his fellow Sharks with each member getting a healthy crowd roar when their respective name was mentioned (Matt on drums seemed to get the biggest holler, so he maybe had more friends there or was just awesome). Things got even more fun with a short tease of The Everly Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” and then went all out with a rendition of “Benny and the Jets”, with Tucker commenting “Where’s Elton John when you need him?” Dude, he’s right here singing in some fine falsetto (“Benny!” is not an easy note to hit).

The rest of the set went on with more of their debut album tunes and after the epic three guitar solo jam in “Your Heart is Changing,” Tucker gave the venue a good night and proclaimed “let the drinking commence.” I heard a surprised girl say “Is it over?” And indeed it was. There was no opening act, no drawn out set of needless noodling, just a short and sweet display of why this is a band you should genuinely get excited about and why their album is definitely one for you to listen to. Plus they had their classy name and album cover printed on the kick drum, and you know a band is taking things seriously when their drummer dedicates his kit to show what gang he’s in. Tucker and The Sharks? I’m sure that will be their short lived moniker if Geraldine’s ever gets round to an Elton John covers night. - OVRLD

In this Tour Tips segment, the indie rock band, Sharks In The Deep End, give you some advice for being on the road. You can check out the feature, after the break.


This is our first tour together as a band but we have all collectively toured for years in other projects, allowing us to have a decent amount of wisdom when preparing to hit the road. We’ve tried to consolidate our list into four categories to avoid pitching a grocery list of to-dos to other bands who are just going to do whatever they want anyway…

1. Van Essentials
The first obvious van essential is pack your favorite music for the road. Actually, firstly you should tune up your vehicle and make sure your AC works, especially if you’re touring in the South. Also, podcasts help to break up the pace so you can actually learn a thing or two while driving across country to play a new room every night to who knows what kind of crowd. Here’s a few of our favorites: Tuesday’s With Stories, The Tim Ferriss Podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, Radiolab, How Stuff Works, and the Ari Shaffir Podcast.

If you’re using an app for navigation be sure to download the Google Maps App because Apple Maps is only good for Nascar drivers. A huge safety must for us is having a boot with key lock for our trailer. There are so many horror stories of bands getting their trailers or vans or both stolen while on the road—you can find them for under $100 and taking an extra 45 seconds to attach it is totally worth not ruining your entire year when your shit gets stolen. Also, bring two sets of van keys and assign the responsibility to the same two band members—locking yourself out of the van post after-party is less than ideal. If you have the room in your vehicle or trailer for this they are fucking great—IKEA single sleeper pads. We bring our own sleeping bags, pillows & blankets to help with sleeping situations but we have two of these sleeper pads and they make sleeping on the floor incredibly bearable. Plus, they fit perfectly in a van bench seat to turn it into a much better bed while driving. Go to your local thrift store and find a few Snuggies, they are ridiculous to wear but actually fucking amazing to use—trust us. Always have a pocket knife handy, freshly sharpened, for all of the things. And a flask and cheap whiskey will transform the back seat of a van a tiny party.

2. Health & Hygiene
At times, this is the most important list to be aware of, other times, fuck it, you’re in a rock n’ roll band so suck it up.

Seven dudes sharing one bathroom gets pretty gnarly at times so try to bring your own towel, eat as healthy as possible and try to get all of the fiber you can because being seventh in line for the toilet shouldn’t be seven hours away from the first guy. Also, buy a bulk pack of flushable wet wipes, because everybody should be cleaning their nasty asses with these anyway, plus they are equivalent to grandma’s homemade pie versus an old gas station honey-bun. For avoiding constant body cramps and aches it’s a good idea to get a memory foam neck pillow ($10-15 most truck stops) and a mesh lumbar support ($10 Bed Bath & Beyond). There’s only one guy in our band who does this but he’s also the only one who’s not complaining about his sitting situation in the van. Other essentials, for obvious reasons, are deodorant, fingernail clippers, Emergen-C & ibuprofen for the day after, and sunscreen for the fair skinned on day off adventures. Also, Lactaid & Gas-X because even those lactose intolerant dudes sometimes need a slice of cheese pizza.

3. Etiquette
No matter how old you are or what kind of band you’re playing in, hopefully, you’ve learned some manners by now and know to always respect your sound engineer and how to tip your bartender correctly, this should go without saying but we’re saying it anyway. Golden rule suckas! Another golden rule is CONDOMS! It’s only polite that you don’t knock somebody up before you drive to the next state in the morning—add this one to hygiene as well because nobody likes an itchy crotch. When you’re with the same group of people for weeks on end it’s a good idea to remember to take some time for yourself so you don’t go all Darth Vadar on the rest of us. But also be sure to let everyone know where you are at all times so we don’t have to waste time searching for the lone wolf.

4. Performance & Show Tips
These are highly classified pieces of information that have been systematically crafted by the greatest artists in history and are kept in a vault buried seven miles underground somewhere in rural Connecticut. If you’d like a meeting with one of our consultants you’ll have to greet us at our next show with a shot of whiskey and a smile—a fucking huge smile.

In conclusion, be on time to the gig, don’t be a bag of dicks, and don’t let one guy in the band handle the copy so he doesn’t write whatever he wants muahahaha!

Keep up with the band on Facebook and Twitter!

Let us know what you think of this feature in the comments below or by tweeting us! - Digital Tour Bus

Sharks in the Deep End are a six-piece band from Austin, Texas. Their debut LP, “Killin’ Machine” was released at the end of April and they’ve been on the road touring since.

Music Existence had the chance to catch up with Sharks in the Deep End at their tour stop in Chicago. Check out photos from their Chicago show here.

ME: Could I have you guys introduce yourselves and what you do in the band?

Tucker: I’m Tucker Jameson. I sing in the band, play a little synth, and some guitar as well.

Sam: I’m Sam Thompson. I play guitar and do a little singing.

Clayton: I’m Clay. I do lights, and all the other stuff core band members don’t do at any given time. The three other guys that are eating dinner next door are Matt Shearon, Chris Konte, and Henry Schuler.

Tucker: Henry plays bass, Matt plays drums, and Chris plays keys.

ME: How’d you all meet?

Tucker: Chris and I were the first to meet, years ago we played in a different project together. We were about to hit the road and I had asked a friend of mine if he new any keyboardists and he said actually I got the perfect guy, he’s my uncle and he’s moving into town like next week. So he learned all the songs in a week…He’s a super talented guy. He learned all the stuff, he hadn’t unpacked yet and all he had was his guitar. So he learned all the songs on guitar, then showed up at the first rehearsal and sat down on piano and played the songs on the piano for the first time and killed it. We’ve been playing together ever since.

Clayton: The rest of us have been in the music scene in Austin for a handful of years. Sam and Henry were born and raised there.

ME: Did you guys always plan on doing music in your life?

Clayton: Most of us are all pretty much music centric.

Sam: I was an engineer for a short amount of time, but I’ve always done music since high school.

Clayton: I’ve done a lot of other like, art production things. I produce a lot of shows and have done a lot of design stuff for those types of things, but mostly music. Through us all being in Austin playing music for the past handful of years, when Tucker was trying to put this band together we all were acquainted in one way or another.

ME: You guys just released your debut album “Killin’ Machine,” which is a great album by the way! How did you formulate your sound? There are a lot of different allusions to pop and rock—how did you decide on that sound?

Tucker: There were a lot of influences going around at the time. The guys that worked on it—Henry, Chris, and I—we all had a lot of different influences that we pulled in. Bowie was a huge thing. We definitely wanted to tap into The Smiths and a lot of the new-wave sounds like The Talking Heads—things like that and sort of update it and bring it to the sensibilities of what it would sound like now with everything that’s happened since the 80s. The guy that mixed it is actually a guy named Mark Needham, who is Grammy nominated and worked on The Killers, Imagine Dragons, and a bunch of other cool artists. It was a real pleasure getting to work with him and seeing him do his thing.

ME: So you mentioned Bowie—I saw that you guys did a Bowie tribute, which I loved. What kind of inspiration has he had on your lives and music?

Tucker: He’s somebody that we all really respect.

Chris: I’ll tell you about Bowie. I went about six years without seeing my cousin, who’s my age, and when we reconnected our parents let us go record shopping and we spent way too much money on CDs at Best Buy. And “Hunky Dory,” the Bowie record, is one of the ones we got. And it just stayed in my car for the last six years. So that’s a personal inspiration of mine. And as a piano player, David Bowie is pretty good at what he does I would say. He’s got all that quirkiness to him too, which I think Tucker likes. He’s got melody and sound, two really deep aspects.

Tucker: And production. He’s just a wizard with the ways he has sort of innovated how to do the sort of lo-fi do-it yourself production thing and he was just able to transition when he got his record deal and he had just pristine pop songs.

ME: Back to the album—“Killin’ Machine” is a very bold title for a debut I would have to say, what made you guys pick that song to be the title as opposed to any of the other songs on the album?

Matt: Hot lady man—killin’ machine.

Tucker: The song kind of chronicles somebody that’s hurting you to the core, you know—twisting the knife a little bit. The album as a whole I think is an extension of that to a large degree. About finding love, dealing with love, dealing with how time affects decisions you make in a relationship, you know that kind of stuff. I think [“Killin’ Machine”] pretty much wrapped up overall what the album was about.

ME: Would you say this album is a concept album?

Chris: Well you’re telling a story through reverse in time, starting where you’re at in your life, in your love life, in your relationships…Time is a concept throughout the whole album so I think that qualifies it as a concept album.

Tucker: Yeah, it definitely has some overarching themes that tie it together.

Sam: And sounds.

Tucker: What’s cool about it is that we sort of all went for three to four weeks and wrote the whole thing. We didn’t know what we were gonna come up with, we didn’t have any ideas coming into it, and I had never done anything like that before. We just sort of locked ourselves in a room and worked on the music and did nothing else and came out with that. So that in and of itself was a bold leap and concept from which we built the album.

ME: You guys also worked with George Salisbury who did lots of Flaming Lips videos for your video of “Shadows in the Sunset.” What was that experience like?

Tucker: It was badass! You guys want to take it?

Clayton: It was a lot of fun! He came down and hung out with us for a few days in Austin and set up a green screen in our rehearsal space.

Sam: He put green tape all our faces.

Chris: It was all sorts of fun. We didn’t really know what to expect. He kept trying to let us know what he was conceptualizing but it was really hard to verbalize.

Matt: He also wanted us to take it too. He wanted us to be natural and do our own thing.

Clayton: He kinda wanted to watch us individually perform. We stood in front of this green screen and what was really cool about it was that the way he was doing it, he sped it up so he was shooting it at 30 frames per second or something like that…We had to speed the song up to like one and half times as fast. So we had to play it and record it like that, and so when he was editing the video he dropped it down to normal speed so it has this cool sort or warpy, wavy effect to it.

Tucker: You should’ve seen this guy…

Matt: 11 takes oh my god.

Tucker: …playing that over and over again. Playing it super fast on the drums and it’s a fast song to begin with.

Matt: Nothing a little Red Bull can’t fix!

ME: Are you guys working on any other music videos?

Clayton: We have some live videos that we’re currently editing from some previous shows that we’re working on. Just developing concepts for other music videos for songs on the album right now.

Tucker: We’d like to have a new video out by the fall.

ME: Awesome! One of my favorite songs on the album is “How Many Reasons.”

Tucker: That’s one of our favorites to play live!

ME: What was the inspiration behind that?

Tucker: One of the instruments we were recording a lot with and we use on the road is an old analog synthesizer called the Juno 60. It has this really distinct sound that comes with it. One day we were sort of messing with that and that’s what came out.

ME: To me, that song is the climax of the album. I thought it worked very well. And so kind of going off of that, “Your Heart’s Changing” as the conclusion I thought wrapped up the album perfectly.

Chris: That was the first song we recorded.

ME: Interesting! How do you pick the order of the album then?

Tucker: It’s so tough. It’s so tough picking an order because as a listening experience you want people to keep listening. And so when you have so many different types of songs on there it’s not the same. You really gotta figure out what the best journey is.

Chris: We got a different order every night we play too.

ME: So you’re on tour right now—how has it been going? Have you been having fun at the shows, have the crowds been reacting well?

Clayton: It’s been great, it’s been a lot of fun.

Tucker: We just played New York last week and that was awesome. We had a packed room. The kick off show in Austin was great. This guy [Clayton] likes to make all sorts of production stuff. Set pieces and things like that.

Clayton: Yeah we did a lot of set design for the home show.

Tucker: Neon trees. It looked like we were underwater.

Clayton: It was like a neon, coral reef forest. It was pretty fun.

ME: How do you guys like the Austin music scene? Do you find yourselves fitting in there?

Clayton: We’re still there.

Sam: Always been there.

Tucker: We’re looking forward to going home and playing a show July 8th. Hometown show. Homecoming!

Clayton: Yeah our tour return!

ME: What’s up next for you guys after you finish the tour?

Tucker: Writing some more. Hit the studio.

Matt: Can’t stop wont stop.

Clayton: Keep taking gigs in Austin. Work on releasing a new single.

Tucker: We want to tour again in the fall so we got to have a couple new songs to put out.

ME: If you guys could tour with any band what would it be?

Henry: Ooh Ty Segall.

Chris: I’m not gonna say my favorite band but I’m gonna say a band I like a lot that I think we’d be a great with—MGMT.

Tucker: I’m also not gonna say my favorite band. A band that would be a good fit I think is Bleachers—that would be really cool.

Sam: I’m gonna go ahead and say my favorite band—The Rolling Stones.

[Laughs]
Clayton: Ah man, I’m gonna say Portugal. The Man.

Matt: Broncho!

Tucker: YEAH!

Matt: [Tucker] showed me Broncho and I’m in love with them.

ME: Well hopefully one day you guys will get to tour with them! And last but not least, do you guys have any message you’d like to give to your fans? Anything you’re trying to get across with your music?

Matt: Shoot the gap.

ME: Can you explain that?

Clayton: No. There’s no explanation.

Matt: It means go for whatever you think you should go for. Don’t ever have any regrets. That’s why I’m here.

Sam: It’s a book he’s been writing.

Tucker: It’s advice for everybody…it just means live life you know.

Matt: 236 chapters, 5 pages. Yeah it’s gonna be great.

Tucker: Live life. Enjoy yourself. Take chances.

Clayton: It’s wisdom from a drummer.

Tucker: But we also want to thank all the fans for tuning in, listening, supporting, coming out to the shows.

Chris: Thank you to all the people who have taken care of us. We stayed at a lot of friend’s houses. Friends, family, you know, people that have our records in their house, that like our stuff on Facebook, everything man.

Clayton: Thank you for coming out and taking the time to talk to us! - Music Existence

Sharks In The Deep End Premiere new video for "Shadows In The Sunset."

Frontman Tucker Jameson describes the meaning behind the unique band moniker as a callback to his childhood fear of venturing beyond shallow waters while learning to swim. “I think it was the pool floats casting their long shadows across the bottom of the pool that triggered those visions,” Jameson states. “Eventually, it became a bit of a child’s game. How far can you wade into the deep end? How long can you stay there before the sharks get you?”

Leaving behind their obligations in Texas, Sharks In The Deep End began the writing process holed up in a garage in Jameson’s home-state of Connecticut. For a month they worked alongside producer Dan Drohan (whose credits include Ang Low and indie darling Wilsen), to conceive the songs that would come to fill the binary code and vinyl grooves of their debut release. The songs were recorded at DeGraw Sound in Brooklyn before finishing up at Jim Eno’s Public Hi-Fi in Austin. “This was an experimental and eye opening experience,” Jameson recalls, who counts David Bowie, Talking Heads, Sam Cooke, and The Smiths, among his primary influences. “The approach was wholly new to us and I think resulted in a sound deeper and more layered.”

The haunting memory from his childhood now has broader significance to the twenty-something singer-songwriter. “These fears that we have, like sharks lurking in the depths of the pool, are often just fictions we make up… Killin’ Machine is the direct result of owning our fears and facing them head on.”

Directed/shot by Flaming Lip’s legendary creative and video director George Salisbury.

Tour Dates:
06/08 High Dive- Gainesville, FL
06/09 Mosey’s Downtown, Panama City, FL
06/16 Piano’s- New York, NY
06/17 The Rock Shop- Brooklyn, NY
06/18 Barn Party- Philadelphia, PA
06/29 Notsuoh – Houston, TX - Northern Transmission

Sharks in The Deep End is a band you really don’t want to miss out on. Based out of Austin, their new-wave punk flair is the unique sound that your ears have been missing. After locking themselves away for an entire month to record their debut LP Killin’ Machine, the feedback has been incredible. IMPOSE Magazine described them best saying, “Sharks In The Deep End bombard the listener with catchy collections of progressions and chords that are tightly cued and programmed in a unison where Jameson’s spirited delivery is further reinforced by a sound that both swims and flies between the spaces of sea, earth, and sky.“
The praise for the music exists for obvious reasons. Their sound is tranquil, yet overwhelming at times. The gorgeous compilation of lyrics and melodies brings up emotions we don’t encounter on a daily basis, and it is not enough to say that this album simply makes us feel. But we were curious about the men behind the music. So we caught up with lead vocalist/guitarist Tucker Jameson (and, briefly, the rest of these stunnaz) for a quick interview to delve into their lives, the tour they’re currently on, and free alcohol. Check it out!
___
MOSHERY: If you could introduce yourself to our readers in any way, with money not being a factor, how would you do so?
Tucker Jameson: Smoke ‘em out and give em a vinyl, sky writing, say “hello” politely, free alcohol, maybe some flames, Star Wars discussions, give em a flow chart of how the marvel universe film rights connect, and free tickets to a Paul McCartney show.
M: You are our hero. We know you’re all in Austin now, but where do you originally hail from? How do you think that has aided in shaping who you are?
Tucker: Some of us were born and raised in Texas, however Chris Konte is from Anaheim, CA and I’m from Connecticut (Tucker Jameson). Having folks from different areas of the country makes the sound of the band interesting – the Texans bring their bluesy southern growl to the table, Konte brings his beach boys sun-soaked-rays, and I bring that North Eastern edge mixed with the soul and motown radio stations I grew up with in CT. We all ended up in Austin, which is a pretty appropriate city for liberal musicians to let their freak flags fly.
M: When did you all meet, and how did Sharks In The Deep End come to be?
Tucker: Chris Konte and I met 3 or 4 years ago when he had only been in Austin a few days and I tapped him to come on tour with an old project of mine. He hadn’t even unpacked yet and he flawlessly learned all the keyboard parts to all the songs in less than a week, on guitar no less because his keyboard was still packed away — been making music together ever since! Konte and I assembled our first band mate from a Craigslist reply! The key to a great band is a great drummer, and Matt Shearon has that feel that just can’t be taught. Clay Lillard and I went to Berklee in the same class but didn’t meet until we were both in Austin. He adds the extra magic sauce wherever it needs to be added. He’s a multi-instrumentalist and jumps between all sorts of toys during our set. Then we have Sam Thompson; born and raised in the ATX area, immensely talented. Konte knew him through a friend and found out he was looking for a new project right around the same time we were looking for a lead guitarist, and so, as they say, the stars aligned. Lastly, we have Mason Hankamer who connected with us over our mutual love of The Killers!
M: Isn’t it funny how things work out? And the name. How did you ultimately decide on it?
Tucker: We definitely had a few names on the list that just didn’t make the cut- Chasing Kaiju (a reference to big Japanese monsters like Godzilla), Blank Emoji (one of those silly throwaway references that has about a 1 minute lifespan), Fay Wray (the name of the actress who played the damsel in the original King Kong) and a whole laundry list of other ridiculous names. Sharks In The Deep End simply had a ring to it that the others did not. It carries with it with that visceral imagery, a childhood memory, and it can take on a much greater significance as it can easily be used as a metaphor for the often fictional fears we struggle to overcome.
Screen Shot 2016-05-02 at 10.29.59 AM
via @sharksinthedeepend
M: You just released your debut LP Killin’ Machine. (Congrats!) What has that experience been like for you? How was the album release party?
Tucker: It was a lot of work and a longtime coming but very gratifying to see it all come together. The show was a blast, it was like an undersea adventure with candy! We packed the place out, had left shark prancing around doing his thing, we made neon tree branches with candy hanging off the branches and loved hearing people sing along with the songs.
M: That’s awesome. You locked yourselves away for a month to complete the LP. First thing that comes to mind: how did you NOT kill each other?
Tucker: It was kinda nice to focus solely on what we were creating and not have to worry about the daily stresses we’re all normally inundated with. It’s really the touring that makes ya want to kill each other, 7 smelly guys in a van for weeks at a time — oof! But for real, I feel like we’re all pretty understanding of each others needs and respectful of each persons’ privacy. Head phones, head phones, head phones is all I can say!
M: Sage advice. Since you are based in Austin and began your writing process for Killin’ Machine in Connecticut, what made you choose to record at DeGraw Sound in Brooklyn?
Tucker: Where we wrote in CT was actually quite close to NYC. DeGraw was just a hop skip and a jump away. We had recorded a tune there previously and our producer and session engineer actually lived in Brooklyn so not only were we comfortable with the space, we were also able to crash at friends places with ease.
M: In a feature with BLURT, you discuss how “Love in Reverse” is a rewind through your relationship, and how you can appreciate it in that regard. Do you have any personal anecdotes or background stories for the other songs on the album?
Tucker: Well… every song has a story! But, one of the neat ones to come out of making this album was how we made “Loveyoutoo“. During the 3 weeks we spent writing the album, we had a little recording rig set up in the room above the garage at my parents’ house. We had had a long day of trying out different melodies, but it wasn’t until about 3 am when inspiration struck and we fell upon this sweet little piano riff. Feeling inspired and in the WTF kinda mood, I plopped down behind the drums and started messing around. Of course the neighbors called (understandably so) asking us not make such a racket so late on a school night, but we just had to get this out. So we played as quietly and gently as we could. I sang while tapping on the drums all the while fully intending on recording the “real” track later. It just so happened that there was such a charm and closeness to the little demo we made, that we felt compelled to use it for the real thing and so, it made the album as-is, complete with sleepy mumbling lyrics and all — it’s our little wee small hours lullaby!
M: That’s kind of sweet. Having looked back at your relationship, is there anything you have learned about love or life that could help you (and us) moving forward?
Tucker: Love is a very humbling experience. When you find the person that is the one, that you’re willing to do anything for, everything changes. You become far less selfish and far more patient or at least you try to be. A lot of people don’t believe in love… I mean in all fairness it is kind of this crazy romantic idea, yet most of us still chase it in the hopes that we’ll have that joy in our lives. Well I’d encourage anyone and everyone to not lose hope and to keep searching because whether you find it or not, you’ll eventually find yourself in the process.
M: “Crash Test Doll” comes highly recommended by IMPOSE. What do you find the reaction to your music to be most often?
Tucker: At the shows most folks seem impressed, some like the danci-ness of it, some folks like the rock elements. We hear lots of “Hell yeah, do it again” or “y’all are great, you’re gonna be huge!” Hopefully they are right.
M: We KNOW they are right. Every song on the album has such a unique sound. We can imagine you jammin’ out at all the music fests! Which music fest would you play if you had the chance, and why?
Tucker: Glastonbury – because that’s where all the greats have played.
M: Good choice. You count Sam Cooke, The Smiths, David Bowie, and Talking Heads among your influences. What other people/art/circumstances have influenced and shaped your sound?
Tucker: I’m a big fan of all kinds of art and lately, POP art. The painting on the cover of the album is actually by a local Austin artist named Ian Shults. The painting was featured in a show he had at a local gallery. One day I went to check out the show and fell in love with this painting. There’s something penetrating, dangerous and hypnotizing about her, she makes you uneasy, she’s looking right through you, right into your soul.
M: We are absolutely enamored by it. You’re touring right now. What have been your tour essentials?
Tucker: iPhone chargers, sleeping bags, ear plugs, water, weed (no more than you can swallow) and whiskey.
M: Sounds easy enough! You’ll be making a stop at Middle of The Map Fest in KC. What are you most looking forward to about that show?
Tucker: Meeting you guys! It’s our first time at the festival and we’re excited to share our music with so many new faces.
M: We are so excited! What songs are you listening to right now?

Tucker:
Picasso’s Last Words – Wings
London Calling (the whole album) – The Clash
(Stranded on) The Wrong Beach – noel gallagher’s high flying birds
Hotel Chelsea Nights – Ryan Adams Love Is Hell pt. 2
Here Comes The Sun – The Beatles
Up On Cripple Creek – The Band
Freedom at 21 – Jack White
Fade – Kanye West
Hanging On The Telephone – The Nerves
Back Pocket – Vulfpeck
Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
Molasses – Hiatus Kaiyote
Mark II – Loading Screen
Bird Set Free – Sia
M: SUCH great taste! What do you think is underappreciated in the world? Rant about it!
Sam ranting about Concrete:
The three key ingredients in any concrete mix are water, cement, and aggregates. The aggregates are just little rocks and sand that range in size from less than a millimeter up to over an inch. The cement is a powdery substance made from clay and lime, and it also happens to be one of the largest sources of carbon dioxide emissions. The water is just water, believe it or not. All three of the ingredients have to combined in specific way, depending on the conditions of the environment.
It’s under appreciated mainly because of the amount of concrete that is produced in the world. Think about it. Every sidewalk, some roads, and most buildings and structures are constructed with concrete, steel, and wood. And all those aggregates had to come from somewhere close-by. There’s some huge hole in the ground somewhere around the outskirts of town where all of the aggregates for the concrete in the city originated.
They told me I have to wrap it up. I really want to keep going but dammit we gotta get some food.
M: Haha! LOVE the enthusiasm, though! Alright, this is the most important question you’ve ever gotten. Who is your favorite superhero, and why?
Sam: Spider-man cause he has spider powers like climbing and web-shooting and that’s badass!
Tucker & Clay: Batman cause he’s human and still heroic. His powers are simply his mind and whatever gadgets he can build and purchase. Animated series all the way!
Chris: Kick-ass
Matt: Thor cause he’s strong and learned how to be humble through his experiences as a part of human society. Hammer time!
Mason: Iron Man because he’s a raging alcoholic.
And that’s as good an excuse as any. For more info on the fabulous gents of Sharks in The Deep End, check out their site. Be sure to follow them on Instagram to get a behind the scenes look at their tour! And be sure to check them out at Middle of The Map Fest on May 4th in Kansas City! - Moshery

Pop music has been around for so long, that you have to work really hard to come up with something unique, something vital for listeners. In the case of Austin’s Sharks in the Deep End, the band had to leave Austin to hole themselves up in Connecticut and just focus on the songwriting, leaving us with the dynamic Killin’ Machine. “Love in Reverse” is the album’s statement piece, the one that led to the recording session; the way the song builds slowly and opens up into the chorus is pretty magnificent. It all leads you to the record’s standout “Shadows in the Sunset,” which seems to up the ante on modern indie rock, both in energy and songwriting. Perhaps my favorite thing about the Killin’ Machine is it’s cohesiveness, whether the band is blasting forward or offering you a slower mood as in “Loveyoutoo.” Every little detail, every little synth note seems united throughout the entire LP. You want a pop record done right? Look no further than this here album.

The band is releasing it on April 22nd, celebrating by throwing a release party at Sidewinder with Ruby Jane and the Reckless and Flavor Raid. - Austin Town Hall

Lone Star State continues to pump out the quality rock ‘n’ roll!

By Blurt Staff

They’re called Sharks In The Deep End, and they hail from BLURT’s favorite city on the planet, Austin. With their debut album Killin’ Machine slated to drop this week, April 22, we felt it was a timely, er, time to unveil a track for you, the discriminating BLURT readership. Check out “Love in Reverse” from the album:



“Love in Reverse was actually the spark that lead us into the studio” explains frontman Tucker Jameson. “We had grand visions of recording the entire album in reverse, each song would be another piece of the puzzle. Eventually we realized that not only was that impractical, but that the story would actually be most impactful as its own entity.

“It’s a very personal song, near and dear to my heart, I’m rewinding through my relationship, left in awe at how wonderful the sum of it is. Realizing that whether the moments were bitter or sweet, I’d do it all again. Looking back at those moments is like time travel for the soul.”

Amen. Everybody, let’s go swimming. The album was mostly recorded in Brooklyn with producer Dan Drohan, subsequently wrapping in Austin and ultimately being mixed by Grammy-nominated engineer Mark Needham. While the band has described itself as “new wave” let’s just call it stellar rock ‘n’ roll.

On the web:

http://www.sharksinthedeepend.com/

https://twitter.com/sharksinthedeep

https://www.instagram.com/sharksinthedeepend/

https://www.facebook.com/SharksInTheDeepEnd/

Tour Dates:

4/22 The Sidewinder, Austin, TX

4/23 Bear’s Den, Conway, AR

4/24 Hi-Tone,Memphis, TN

4/27 The New Vintage, Louisville, KY

4/28 Melody Inn, Indianapolis, IN

4/30 The Brass Rail, Ft. Wayne, IN

5/02 Des Moines Social Club, Des Moines, IA

5/05 Middle Of The Map Fest, Kansas City, MO

05/11 Last Exit Live, Phoenix, AZ

05/12 The Green Room, Flagstaff, AZ - Blurt

Austin’s latest big pop fuss makers are Sharks In The Deep End, whose album Killin Machine will be available April 22, and we present the big disco ball busting premiere for “Crash Test Doll” that delivers a big top sound set for any sort of festival. Made up of frontman Tucker Jameson, accompanied by compadres Chris Konte, Sam Thompson, Matt Shearon, & Clayton Lillard; these Sharks are on the quest for concocting the largest imaginable sound that they can muster with any and all instruments left to their disposable.

“Crash Test Doll” is Tucker & the gang bringing down the whole house with a unified sounds where all keyboards, guitars, and atmospheres soar like wings of eagles & doves flying feather to feather in formation to new horizons. Sharks In The Deep End bombard the listener with catchy collections of progressions and chords that are tightly cued and programmed in a unison where Jameson’s spirited delivery is further reinforced by a sound that both swims and flies between the spaces of sea, earth, and sky. The crash test dummy simile sends up the sentiment of impact when it feels like everything in the world is colliding into your world. But what could have been a song that wallowed in anxiety, pain, or frustration provides something of a big bright release into an ecstatic sound dimension of the band’s own devising (courtesy of an assist from Mark Needham’s engineering). Sharks In The Deep Ends’s own Tucker Jameson took the time to chat with us in an interview featured after the following debut of “Crash Test Doll”.


Give us the story about how you all met, and then formed a band under the name Sharks in the Deep End, and perhaps what other stories are behind said chosen moniker.

The band name actually comes from an old childhood memory; some of the very first experiences I had of being in a pool and learning how to swim as a young child. In the pool, I would avoid the deep end. Why? Because I was certain there were sharks lurking in the depths. Looking back, it was just the pool floats casting their long shadows across the bottom of the pool that triggered these visions. Eventually though, it became a bit of a child’s game. You were safe in the shallow end, cause the sharks were too big. So, how far could you wade into the deep end and how long could you stay there before the sharks got you?

Years later the topic came up in conversation with someone who had a similar childhood experience. It was then that I realized that “sharks in the deep end” could be used as a pretty apt and relatable metaphor for what one fears lies just below the surface. There are always the parts of us that we hide away from others for fear of hurting the ones we love or being hurt ourselves–in the light of day they are often silly. But, in our own minds they lurk and linger and can often cause us to build up walls and push people away.

As a name, it was memorable and as a concept it was compelling. If these sharks are what we fear most about ourselves, then naming the band after our inner demons, almost reverses the effect, owns it and lays it all out there, honest and true.

How the band met:

For me, it all started with the fine arts, sketching and painting—I was that kid in school, the artist, and that was fine by me. Eventually music caught my ear and yanked me in. I had dabbled in piano for a while but at the age of 13 I struck my first guitar chord and that was it–my fate was sealed. Stringing as many chords together as I could, I wrote my first song and I’ve been writing them ever since. After high school I attended Berklee College of Music, the first place where every soul around me felt the same passion and same reverence for the arts as I did. There I met up with some folks who hailed all the way from Texas. Next thing I knew, I found myself living in Austin, TX… drawn there, once again, by the music.

I met Chris Konte about four years ago, when my then project, was looking for a keyboardist to join us on the road. He had just moved here from Anaheim a few days before I came ringing and only 1 week before we were set to hit the pavement, he hadn’t even unpacked yet! He flawlessly learned all the keyboard parts to all the songs in less than a week, on guitar no less, because his keyboard was still packed away! Ever since, Konte and I have been making music together. When we were looking to form Sharks In The Deep End, Konte and I reached out different musicians in the area.

First, Matt came on board—a Craigslist find if you can believe it! The key to a great band is a great drummer, and Matt has that feel that just can’t be taught. Plus he’s got a sparkling, warm, go-getter disposition that makes playing and making music with him a blast…next up was Clay, who was actually in the same class as I was at Berklee. We actually ended up meeting though, through mutual friends here in Austin. He adds the extra magic sauce wherever it needs to be added. He’s a multi-instrumentalist and jumps between all sorts of toys during our set. Then we have Sam; born and raised in the ATX area, immensely talented. Konte knew him through a friend and found out he was looking for a new project right around the same time we were looking for a lead guitarist, and so, as they say, the stars aligned.

Tell us about the inspirations and motivations that informed the making of your album, Killin’ Machine, and a bit about you all go about the creative process of writing/drafting/recording.

Before jumping into writing and recording the album, we all decided that it’d be best to remove ourselves from our daily routines and completely throw ourselves fully into the creation of the album. So, we uprooted our lives here in Austin and traveled up to CT where we stayed above my parents’ garage for three weeks. Immediately following our three week experiment, we hopped over to DeGraw Studios in Brooklyn to cut the tracks. The engineer of the studio actually stayed with us in CT too and had a little makeshift recording rig set up so we could jam through different song ideas and go back and listen to what we put together. One of the recordings from above the garage actually ended up on the record!

The whole experience was a first for me, usually I have the songs written and ready to record before we even think about booking studio time. This time we threw caution to the wind and put ourselves in an environment away from our daily routines where we could totally dive in and focus on the music, all with the hope that we’d have enough material at the end of the first three weeks that we could cut in that fourth week of studio time. It was exhilarating and in my opinion, incredibly fruitful. The band was firing on all cylinders, really trying all sorts of ideas, all around the clock. We were writing together where usually those duties had fallen upon my shoulders. Here, the band was involved from every song’s conception.

Recording the album was all about discovery, all about self-exploration. We tried to push ourselves to tweak sounds and do things unconventionally and still find sounds that moved us. One of the centerpieces of the recording and writing process was the Juno60 synthesizer. It has a very unique sound and from it we drew much inspiration. We didn’t necessarily play it like it would normally be used, instead we crunched the signal through all sorts of guitar pedals, distortion, delay, octave pedals, anything that we thought might be exciting. We put guitar pedals on all the keyboards, warping the sounds to something less common. The guitars themselves weren’t even recorded traditionally. I remember at one point we had the guitar signal going into three different amps all mic’d up differently–we got some big sounds. We would stomp and whistle, clap and sing; these melodies would be twisted and warped until they were something entirely new. There are a lot of layers to all of these tracks, a lot of discoveries. On “love in reverse” we created a wall of distorted Juno’s. On “Cherry Blossom” we built a hook out of a lo-fi “ahhs” routed through delay, reverb and distortion pedals. On “How Many Reasons” pick taps on the pickups create rhythmic punctuations. The list goes on and on, we were kids in a sandbox transforming the sand into castles. After the album was cut, we went through several mixing stages. First we tried to mix it up in Brooklyn, which proved difficult because of traveling and time limitations. Next we brought it down to Austin with us where we mixed and recorded a few more parts at a great local studio called Public HiFi.

Finally, once we had the songs really laid out and the vibe on point, I reached out to Mark Needham in LA. He’s mixed some my favorite albums of the past decade one of them being Hot Fuss by The Killers. Mark was amazing, he dug the tunes and brought that extra magic to the mixes; bringing to it the clarity of sound we were going for while maintaining that vibe we had pinpointed. Overall this was an experimental and eye opening experience, the approach was wholly new to us and I think it resulted in a sound that’s deeper and more layered than your average record.

Tell us about what events and notions gave rise to the creation of the single “Crash Test Dolls”, and how you all went about making such an epic jam.

This was the one tune that wasn’t initially part of our Brooklyn sessions; it actually came out of a week we spent in Nashville. We wrote the song and cut the initial demo pretty quickly. From there we brought the tracks to Austin where we rerecorded some elements to try and bring the style of the song more in line with the other tracks on the album. Initially there were lots of mixes and different iterations; the track was definitely something we had to wrestle with a bit. It had a great hookiness to it but the vibe was different than the other tracks, eventually I think we found a great spot for the sound that suited our indie pop sensibilities. While the music is bubbly, the subject matter is actually pretty dark (which I think makes for a compelling blend).

Being in the music business, unfortunately, you see a lot of friends go down really destructive paths. It’s often like watching a train wreck or in this case, a crash test doll, in slow motion. You hope that you can help and reach them but their fate is ultimately up to them. Just like anything else in life, we are the stars of our own show but merely spectators of everyone else’s.

What’s good right now in Austin?

FOOD! Not only is Austin a great music city, it’s also become a wonderland for foodies. At every turn, there’s a new great spot opening up with some delicious twist on your classics, that you absolutely must try. It’s a good time to be hungry in Austin.

There’s also a really cool art scene, there are a bunch of local artist and street artists in the area that are beginning to make a name for themselves. One of my favorites, is a talented painter named Ian Shults, whose work we are actually featuring on our album cover. Many of his paintings draw inspiration from Warhol, but he add a darker realism to them that breathes fresh air into the medium.

Spring and Summer plans for Sharks in the Deep End?

We drop our debut album Killin’ Machine on April 22, and then… we hit the road! We have dates all over the US in the works and can’t wait to have the opportunity to share the new songs LIVE.

Sharks In The Deep End’s album Killin Machine will be available April 22, listen to more via Soundcloud. - Impose Magazine

Sharks in the Deep End is ready to drop an atom bomb on the indie scene and “Shadows in the Sunset” is your air raid siren. Killin’ Machine is due out April 22, but thank God we have this roar of a tune to keep us busy.

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Mixed by Grammy nominated engineer Mark Neddham, you can really hear that influence here in “Shadows in the Sunset.” Leaving Texas for Connecticut, the band toned up their skills with producer Dan Drohan (Ang Low and Wilsen). They then treked down to Brooklyn to record before finishing back in Austin at Jim Eno’s Public Hi Fi.

“This was an experimental and eye opening experience,” Jameson recalls. “The approach was wholly new to us and I think resulted in a sound deeper and more layered.

“Most of the songs that make up the record, [Shadows in the Sunset] especially, attempt to deal with how the passage of time affects a relationship and this one poses the question of whether or not it should,” Jameson explains.”How much power should we give time to dictate our choices? [Killin’ Machine] is the direct result of owning our fears and facing them head on.”

Sharksinthedeepend

Killin’ Machine Track Listing:

01. Love In Reverse
02. Shadows In The Sunset
03. Make It With Me
04. Cherry Blossom
05. Crash Test Doll
06. How Many Reasons
07. Killin’ Machine
08. Loveyoutoo
09. Your Heart Is Changing - Selective Memory

The Austin, TX new wave band share “Shadows In The Sunset,” its first single off their upcoming LP Killin Machine on April 22nd. On “Shadows…” the band’s take on genre and filters it through a grinder to create an track that’s unyielding with its driving rhythm. Expect great things from this Texas quintet. - Ghettoblaster Magazine

We have somehow failed in the past by not mentioning Austin band Sharks in the Deep End and their infectious pop tunes. Today I remedy this error by posting their new wave sounding tune called “Shadows in the Sunset”. I’m loving the heavy, driving bass line and the overall catchy feel to the song. Seriously, how could one not love this?

Sharks in the Deep End will release Killin’ Machine on April 22nd - Austin Town Hall

Austin newcomers Sharks In The Deep End have a sound that shows they're definitely beyond treading water. The quintet have garnered attention in their hometown, and are only beginning to harness their talent. We're premiering the band's "Shadows in the Sunset," a tune that has sharp riffs and a poppy, '80s infused new wave sound.

“I think most of the songs that make up the record, this song especially, attempt to deal with how the passage of time affects a relationship and this one poses the question of whether or not it should,” frontman Tucker Jameson explains about “Shadows In The Sunset.” “Does the feeling of time passing, force you to action? Do people you meet along the way make you feel time differently? Essentially, how much power should we give time to dictate our choices?”

Sharks In The Deep End's debut album Killin Machine will be released on April 22. - PureVolume

Sharks In The Deep End – Shadows In The Sunset
Chris Storrow – A True Christian
Badlands – Echo
Andrew Grant – Slow Burn
Mangoseed – Lucy
Du Tonc – Little Bird (Du Tonc Rework)
Database – PressPlay Mix
Neuman – Scarface (You Need People Like Me) - The Vinyl District