Their members may be spread all over the metroplex, but Deep Snapper is still one of the more prolific bands associated with the Denton music scene. Sure, none of the members actually resides in Denton, but the band's ties and identity are firmly fixed to the town—and for good reason.
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"We've had a lot better feedback in Denton than we have anywhere else," bassist Paddy Flynn says. "It's just the natural place for bands like ours to play."
The band, whose hallmark is the inconsistency they display from song to song in terms of format or even genre, is the type of act that might not be as accepted in other area cities.
"It's too bad that Dallas doesn't have the scene like it did way back when," Flynn laments. "But, in Denton, as long as what you're doing is real, they get behind you 100 percent."
Consisting of Flynn on bass, John Newberry on guitar and vocals, Aaron Bartz on guitar and Chris Smith on drums (although there is a considerable amount of instrument-switching), Deep Snapper was originally the product of Newberry and Flynn's attempt to pass the time while stationed on an Army base in rural Louisiana.
"There was nothing to do there and we spent most of the time playing guitar together," says Flynn.
Between the two of them, they amassed an extensive catalog of tunes and eventually began recording them. The original plan was for the project to be a vehicle with which to record and perform Newberry's songs, but with the addition of Smith after their relocation to North Texas, the songwriting became a group process.
And, despite Flynn's leave of absence from the band during all of last year for voluntary military service in Iraq, the band has still somehow managed to release a full-length album each year since its creation in 2006. Most recently, the band added Bartz, initially as a way to perform the tracks from the album that included so much guitar layering and big room-filling sound that one guitar wouldn't do them justice. Now, however, Bartz' input is not only in learning the old material, but in a songwriting capacity as well.
The new configuration for the band should have some impact on its next release, Bipedal Disorder, that's currently being recorded at the Echo Lab. Taking into account the band's tendency toward not having a tendency, though, the change shouldn't be too dramatic.
As for the live performance side of things, the band's hiatus ended officially in August when Flynn returned from Iraq. Since then, they've played six times, most notably at The Barn in Denton. Catch the band next on December 2 with Paper Robot at Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios.
