On Sunday, Sept. 22, I met with Deep Blue Something’s Todd Pipes to discuss “Home,” the band’s college days and the history behind their 1995 biggest hit.
Deep Blue Something is an American rock band from Denton, Texas., created in 1991 by brothers Todd and Toby Pipes (vocals, bass, guitar). Their lineup consists of John Kirtland (drums), Kirk Tatom (guitar, backing vocals) and Clay Bergus (guitar, backing vocals). The band achieved global mainstream success following the release of their chart-topping single, “Breakfast At Tiffany’s.” To dedicated fans, their first major studio release, “Home,” paints a broader picture of the band’s musical prowess.
The album opens with the echoing acoustic riffs and dreamlike fills of the instrumental track, “Gammer Gerten’s Needle.” “I think people that see us live, they’re like, oh, that’s what they really sound like. ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ is one thing, but we’re a lot more moody and that song kind of encapsulates it,” Pipes said.
“Gammer Gerten’s Needle” introduces the album’s aesthetic of wistful optimism, the perfect soundtrack for the start of a new school year. As Pipes notes of the album, “It’s all about being in college and how things change.”
“There’s a point at which in college that you reference your college town as going back home,” Pipes explained. “Like you’re home for the holidays, but you tell your parents, ‘Well, I’m going to head back home now.’ And that always freaks your parents out, and it freaks you out when that happens for the first time. Because you know that this isn’t home, that that’s home. And so, a lot of that record is based around some of those sentiments, you know, that you’re kind of reluctantly becoming a grown up.”
The second song and a muliplatinum single, “Breakfast At Tiffany’s,” is a catchy, timeless song that lends itself to replays. The defining tune brought Deep Blue Something to the world stage, and it’s clear why—the bright chorus and power-pop sound transport you to your very own Hollywood movie. But the song’s widespread success almost didn’t happen. As Pipes described, they “almost didn’t get a record deal.”
“The record company was having a difficult time getting it on stations because it didn’t fit a genre, really,” Pipes said. “And so, it was this state by state, country by country, just slugging it out, right. And then it just kind of all happened. The last country that we hadn’t really done any promotion in was England. So, we sit down with the record company in England, and they literally say to us, ‘Congratulations on your success in the rest of the world, but we don’t think it’s going to work here. It’s the era of Brit pop, Oasis and Blur. We’re not going to release it.’ And we went number one there. We went number one in a country that they had decided it wouldn’t work. So… no one predicted it.”
The following single, “Halo,” is nothing short of ethereal. Todd’s deep, introspective lyricism and Toby’s resounding delay fuel the epic atmosphere of the track. The layered instrumentation especially stands out. “[Prior to ‘Home’], we hadn’t really thought too much about adding layers, because the only experience we had really had was sort of making demo type things where it’s like, well, I play the one guitar part, you play the bass, and, you know, everybody just has their one thing,” Pipes said. “With ‘Home,’ we layered things a little bit more and that was really it. Some of those techniques stuck with me for decades [as far as producing].” “Halo” sounded even more dynamic as part of their live set.
“Josey” is a real gem. It is pure fun throughout, with Toby Pipes making an appearance on vocals alongside Todd Pipes’ bumping bassline. “Josey” is the first track on the album written and sung by Toby. The brothers follow an unconventional method of writing music, as Pipes mentioned. “Funnily, we don’t really collaborate that much,” he stated. “Usually I write a song, he writes a song. Occasionally you’ll write as a group. The general rule is if you write the words, you have to sing it.” Guitarist Kirk Tatom’s influence is also extremely prevalent on the track. Together, the band composed a pop-rock classic that leaves listeners wondering how “Home” has flown under the radar for so long.
The album encapsulates a bittersweet charm that rivals the major players of its time. Yet, the band wasn’t focused on domestic music trends. DBS gathered much of their signature sound from the British alternative and indie rock era of the late 80s and early 90s. Pipes recounts this with reference to the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s own musical history, stating, “In the 90s… there was Nirvana, Mudhoney, Melvins, which all sound like the Pixies. Well, I’ve already got all the Pixies records.” The Pixies, an American alternative rock band, formed in 1986 while attending UMass Amherst.
“We were listening to Stone Roses, Charlatans, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin, of course, The Jesus and Mary Chain, all of those bands,” Pipes said. “So, and we just decided, because at the time there were lots of bands that were, ‘Oh, we’re going to be a grunge band now,’ we’re not going to do that. We still really do love The Smiths, and Morrissey’s making amazing records. We’re just going to stay jangly.”
This becomes apparent with tracks like “A Water Prayer” and “Done,” which resemble their British influences far more than any Texan compatriots. “Song To Make Love To” and “The Kandinsky Prince” fortify their punky sound that’s made for the big stage, with “The Kandinsky Prince” nailing down themes of transience and reflection.
The titular track, “Home,” is a nostalgic ballad that harkens back to days of youthful uncertainty. “Red Light” and “I Can Wait” stand out as tracks with gorgeous instrumentation, bringing a playful tone to darker, melancholic verses.
The track listing closes off with the sentimental “Wouldn’t Change A Thing.” A heartfelt conclusion to a remarkable album, it comments on the band’s independent nature and, in retrospect, on the band’s varied recognition throughout the years. As Pipes sang, “the best songs go unsung.”
“Home” is a project that transcends far beyond its time, with lasting concepts and a grand, multifaceted sound. A gateway to the band’s notoriety, “Home” is filled with passionate, genre-defying hits and thoughtful deep cuts that teach us that the highlights of our life often go overlooked.
Deep Blue Something rocked The Big E’s Court Of Honor Stage from Sept. 20 to 22. The band is releasing the first single from their upcoming album, “Lunar Phase,” this November. For a recommendation from Pipes himself, check out “Daybreak And A Candle End” a spectacle of their live performance originally featured on their album, “Byzantium.” The group will continue to perform throughout the year in their home state of Texas.
Daniel Estrin can be reached at [email protected]
