Baxter Teal, Lead Vocals/Guitar
Aron Robinson, Drum… Read Full Bio ↴Deepfield is:
Baxter Teal, Lead Vocals/Guitar
Aron Robinson, Drums
Sean von Tersch, Lead Guitar
PJ Farley, Bass/Vocals
Deepfield was formed in Charleston, SC, after Teal, Lee, King and ex-guitarist Eric Bass became weary of the music scene that surrounded them. Only after shopping a 3 song demo the band found themselves playing a showcase in New York, where they were promptly signed by industry legend Bill McGathy to his new label, In De Goot Recordings. After several months of development, with the writing of some 70+ demos, the band was then sent to Memphis, TN, to record with producers Skidd Mills and Paul Ebersol (Three Doors Down, Saliva, Third Day). After brief stints on the road with a few different bass players, the band decided on Columbia’s Dawson Huss, who offers the missing piece to Deepfield's live act with skill and vocals that live up to the musicianship the founders established in Memphis.
The band's name is a reference to the Hubble Deep Field, an image of a small region in the constellation Ursa Major, based on the results of a series of observations by the Hubble Space Telescope. It covers an area 144 arcseconds across, equivalent in angular size to a tennis ball at a distance of 100 metres.
Deepfield have picked a small point in the murky planescape of often-watered-down, overly-safe music, and tried to inform the thirsty public of the diversity of sound possible within modern rock music. Says Teal, "We didn't write our record to revolutionize the mainstream, but to make an impact, to be a catalyst." Their sound is not pre-cognitively singular, but definitely rock, influenced by metal, punk, and progressive: guitar and melody driven with a lot of riffage. The songs on "Archetypes and Repetitions," their debut release on In De Goot Recordings, are varied, dynamic, and diverse.
Their songs, vocal and guitar led, each present a different musical idea. These ideas are explored from "Get It" (the first radio single) a guitar driven piece, to songs whose melodies you will want to belt out at shows, like "Into the Flood," to songs like “Wayside” whose lyrics you will explore in the isolation of your headphones. Within the tapestry, the band is able to show elements of smart-pop mentality with songs like “Fall Apart”, potentially yielding a crossover smash and tapping in to a much larger market than their hard-rock sensibility would ever allow. All of this while maintaining the edge of the rest of the record, and showing furthermore that they are set on not being “pidgeon-holed” in one particular genre. The music is sonically full with tasteful parts, and intricate harmonies. Solid hooks are woven together by brilliant bridges within the song structure, creating an album ready to light a fire under radio.
Deepfield's live show is a high-energy response to the influences each individual brings to the group. Teal, intelligent, always offering his opinion and challenging everyone around him to think, brings it onstage, but if you are watching this defiant frontman carefully, he will show you his vulnerability. Lee, Teal's antithesis, normally reserved and introspective, let's loose behind his Bonham-style kit, bringing a driving energy with solid, smart drum parts. King, often sarcastic and rarely serious, is never more serious in his obsession with perfect tone, perfect parts, and perfect sonic ambience. Huss, the newcomer, complements Teal vocally, and Lee/King with his solid bass work and onstage energy.
Wayside
Deepfield Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Will you think of the world?
Where will you hide when your saviour laughs in your face-
At the joke you've made of his name?
Here in this world how would you know
What the angels look like?
Here are my wings, flightless and tired of the burden
When things fall by the wayside
I have my faith in reason
What a man tells a man becomes institution
In your book of dead words
And it never ever fails how the idiots prevail
Or at least outnumber us
Here in this world how would you know
What the angels look like?
Here are my wings, flightless and tired of the burden
When things fall by the wayside
You have no reason for faith
Wise men still seek him now
But i'm skeptic of the holy epileptics
And the seers of visions
And the mocking of a fabulous fairy tale
Here in this world how would you know
What the angels look like?
Here are my wings, flightless and tired of the burden
When things fall by the wayside
I have my faith
You have fallen by the wayside
The lyrics of Deepfield's song Wayside deal with the loss of faith in religion and the disillusionment with the concept of a higher power that governs and controls the world. The first stanza questions the idea of faith in the face of upheaval and challenges to one's beliefs. It suggests that if one's belief system is based on a flawed foundation or a mistaken understanding of the world, then it is bound to crumble and fail eventually. The second stanza speaks to the notion of knowledge and how one knows what is true and what is not. It poses a difficult question about the nature of knowledge, suggesting that we only know as much as we can see and experience in our immediate environment.
The refrain, "When things fall by the wayside, I have my faith in reason," gives us some clues as to the overall meaning of the song. It suggests that faith in a higher power is no longer enough to make sense of the world or to give us answers to our questions. Instead, we must rely on our ability to reason and think critically about the world around us. The final line of the song, "You have fallen by the wayside," seems to be a condemnation of those who still cling to religious faith despite their loss of reason and critical thinking.
Line by Line Meaning
Where will you run when your kingdom falls?
If your power and influence crumbles, where do you go?
Will you think of the world?
Will you consider the impact of your downfall on others?
Where will you hide when your saviour laughs in your face- At the joke you've made of his name?
When your supposed protector mocks you for misrepresenting them, where can you escape?
Here in this world how would you know What the angels look like?
In our reality, how can you be sure of what heavenly beings appear as?
Here are my wings, flightless and tired of the burden
I'm worn down by the weight of my responsibilities, unable to soar.
When things fall by the wayside I have my faith in reason
In moments of difficulty, my trust in rational thought keeps me grounded.
What a man tells a man becomes institution In your book of dead words
Individual thoughts can become solidified beliefs over time, recorded but unchanging.
And it never ever fails how the idiots prevail Or at least outnumber us
For some reason, foolish or irrational ideas tend to win out, or at least dominate over sensible ones.
You have no reason for faith When things fall by the wayside
When things go wrong, you lack any justification for hope or belief.
Wise men still seek him now But i'm skeptic of the holy epileptics And the seers of visions And the mocking of a fabulous fairy tale
While some intelligent people search for religious truths, I remain doubtful of those who have seizures or visions, and dismiss the fantastical stories as pure fiction.
Here in this world how would you know What the angels look like? Here are my wings, flightless and tired of the burden
Once again, existing in this world makes it difficult to distinguish divine imagery, and the singer feels drained and unable to fly.
When things fall by the wayside I have my faith You have fallen by the wayside
In times of crisis, I maintain my confidence, but you have given up hope.
Contributed by Nathaniel C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.