Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Murray. They and their team shared their story with us below:
Challenger Deep was started by James LaPierre as a solo writing project, with the desire to write music in the style of Protest the Hero and The Fall of Troy. Fast rhythmic playing, unique melodies, sick riffs, and a level of booty shakeability made this style stand out compared to “heavier” bands that mostly inspired a lot of crossed arms and musical gatekeeping. After bringing in Jordan Fredrickson (guitar), Grant Wallace (drums), and Jason Murray (bass) and working with Corey Bautista as a producer and engineer, the band put out their first single, “Welcome to the Show” in 2018. The song was well received by friends and the local Atlanta rock scene, but it wasn’t until the second single, “Immersive” and the release of the self-titled album that the band was noticed on a larger scale, thanks in part to the music video for “Immersive” being found and played on the well-known Twitch Streamer Destiny’s channel.
Prior to the pandemic and the music industry shutdown, Challenger Deep played a string of three sold-out shows with Bit Brigade, Norma Jean w/ The Callous Daoboys, and Satyr’s Album Release of “Locus” w/ Cascadent. Once the shutdown was in full swing, the band made the most of a collective hardship and wrote their 2nd album, “The Stuff of Legends.” This period of creativity also brought about a new artist partnership with Taylor Adams, who has since provided all artwork designs for the band. The first single, “The Great Calamity” was received with online acclaim, notably with the support of the incredible artwork by Adams. The band released several more singles throughout 2021, with an album release later that year. It was during this time that Challenger Deep parted ways with guitarist Jordan Fredrickson. After some trial and error with fill-in guitar players, the new and current lineup found Jason Murray moving to guitar and bringing in Jake Russell on bass.
The band is now in the process of writing and recording a 3rd album and performing on an expanding touring schedule including a full Mid-West/East Coast run with Ok Goodnight from Boston, MA.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Like most bands, we’ve experienced our fair share of peaks and valleys. Just as we found our footing as a live band, playing back-to-back sold-out shows in Atlanta, the pandemic hit. We were by far less affected than other more established touring artists that relied heavily on touring income, but we definitely found ourselves without direction or purpose like many others. Fortunately, as the new normal started to take shape, we were able to channel our focus into writing our 2nd record. However, once it seemed like we were back on track, we faced the obstacle of needing to replace a guitar player. For some bands, this might not be as big of a deal, but as a guitar-driven Instrumental band, this was like needing to replace a lead singer. Fortunately, our bass player Jason was primarily a guitar player so he was able to learn the songs within the course of a few months. Even better, we found Jake while he was filling in with his brother’s band Glimmers, offered to have him come try out as a bass player and it’s been a perfect fit ever since.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Challenger Deep focuses on writing high-energy, complex but engaging songs that focus on instrumental composition. However as we’ve developed relationships with other artists, we’ve begun collaborating with artists to include vocals in our music. We released a vocal version of “The Great Calamity” at the end of last year featuring JD Long and Michael “Soup” Campbell from fellow ATL prog band Satyr. We’ll also be releasing our second vocal version of a song on June 9th, “Like Giving Wings to a Tiger” featuring Brett Bellomy of Empire Springs. We feel that our music stands apart from other progressive bands in the fact that while we aspire to include complex musical ideas in our music, our songs don’t require a highly-trained musical mind to appreciate.
Any big plans?
We’re currently enjoying writing our 3rd album. Getting things started can be scary when you aren’t sure what direction the next round of songs will take or if you’ll be able to live up to your own creative expectations. Now we’re well on our way and are more excited for these songs than anything we’ve done before. We’re also looking forward to our tour with OK Goodnight this July, more shows that we’ve already booked and more to come later this year and in 2024.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.challengerdeepdude.com/
- Instagram: instagram.com/challengerdeepdude
- Facebook: facebook.com/challengerdeepdude
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChallengerDeepDude/videos
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4UeFbnKOjmVX7tQoxEhw2G?si=C-udm2uwS6SpfQ6nRZYhWg
Image Credits
Artwork – Taylor Adams Photos – KT Claire, Smiling Eyes, Alyssa Hudson
