The Road to CukoRakko: An Interview with Zach Deputy May 13, 2016 10:13
-
Photo by ShowLove Media
-
Our latest segment, "The Road to CukoRakko," consists of a series of interviews leading up to CukoRakko Music & Arts Festival this weekend at Horse Pens 40 in Steele, AL. We recently caught up with Zach Deputy, one of the most entertaining nationally touring solo act's in the country.
-
Zach Deputy has made his mark thus far as a touring powerhouse. As a boy, the music of his Puerto Rican, Cruzan and Irish heritage was cooked up in the South Carolina heat. The Calypso rhythms and folk songs of St. Croix competed with the R&B / soul of pioneers like James Brown and Ray Charles for space on the family stereo. As Deputy honed his craft, a unique hybrid of these influences emerged, ultimately creating the signature Zach Deputy sound.
-
To bring this sound to the stage, the big, impossibly upbeat South Carolinian with the infectious smile puts on a solo show– enhanced by looping technology– that is essentially a one man dance party offering up what he calls “Island-infused, Drum ‘n’ Bass, Gospel-Ninja-Soul” to the enthusiastic crowds of dancers who flock to clubs from coast-to-coast. It is these late night dance parties— more than 250 per year– that have made Zach Deputy one of the hottest up-and-coming performers on the camping festival circuit and “jam band” scene. For Zach, most days begin in a hotel room and end a couple of hours after walking off stage.
-
Zach Deputy is set to play CukoRakko at 10:30PM on Friday night.
-
Interview by Jordan Kirkland: Live & Listen
-
The Zach Deputy live experience is like no other, with a truly unique energy and a whole lot of music coming from one guy. What is your general approach toward the multi-instrument looping process? Do you follow any general pattern when building each song?
-
Zach: I don't follow a pattern. I think more times than not, I start the loop with my guitar, but that's not every time. That's the closest thing to a pattern. The cool thing about it is...usually I don't even write a setlist. When I finish a song, I just go with whatever is in my head. I don't ever say, "Oh, I'm gonna do the bass line second" or "I'm gonna do the drums next" or anything like that. It's more about, "What am I hearing next?" As I'm hearing things, I just put them in.
-
So I don't have a process. I've never thought about a song and said, "The quickest way to do this would be to do this, this, that, and the other." I just kind of go for it, but I'm always listening to my internal song. For me, my whole goal as a musician is always to get the song that's in my heart out to the world. So when I do looping, I do the same. I just try to listen to what's on the inside, and externalize whatever that is on the outside. That's pretty much my process.
-
So you essentially let the song build itself...
-
Zach: Yeah, because it's always a little bit different. I don't try to reach back to the past and develop some machine-like way of doing something again. I always want to keep it fresh and ask myself how I am feeling about it today, and what am I hearing that would be best with this today. You know? That way it's always alive, and it's always changing. It always makes me feel like it's real and living, instead of dead and machine-like.
- -
Watch Zach Deputy perform "Put it in the Boogie" in 2010 here:
-
-
2016 has already shaped up to be a busy year. You have been known to play over 200 shows in year's past. How do you go about balancing out the touring w/ personal time? Is that something that just develops throughout the year?
-
Zach: Oh yeah...we've already been back and forth between the West and East Coast twice this year. We do have a forecast, and at the beginning of each year, I send in my black out dates. I try and pick the most important days of the year which I don't plan to play, and I go ahead and black those out. Then I try to make some rules where we will have a certain amount of days off when we are off. I don't care about the work. I always tell my agent that if I am on tour, I want to play six days a week, but I want my time off to be at home. I don't want to be out touring and have three to four days off. If I'm out there, I want to play music. That's what I do. That's what I love.
-
I try to work really hard so I can have a couple weeks at home here and there. So I work really hard, and when I'm at home, I really just try to soak it all up. You have to have a lot of "me time," you know? I think the thing about being a musician is that we are all influenced, whether we like it or not, by the world and our surroundings. You have to stay grounded and make sure that you separate yourself from the world constantly, in your own head.
-
For me, it's spending time with God. I try to do that every day on tour. I try to make time that's away from everybody. When I'm at home, I try to just shut out. If you ask any of my friends, when I am home and they try to hit me up, it might be two weeks later before they hear back from me. I just shut everybody off, you know? You have to create balance in your life.
-
No doubt about it. The balance is what keeps you sane.
-
Z: Exactly. It keeps you sane. It's kind of funny to me because I play music, and I play these festivals where I am around thousands of people. But really, the reality of who I am...I just like to chill out. When I'm on my own, I'm just relaxing, and I like peaceful things. I can't remember the last time that I was "out" in my hometown, but that's just because I'm overstimulated all of the time, you know what I mean (laughs)? So when I get home, I pretty much play disc golf, maybe go fishing, and things like that.
-
-
Just last month, you released an album with your three-piece band: Zach Deputy and The Hashtags. How long has this project been in the works? Was this your first full album working with a full band?
-
Z: Well, most of my albums have been a mix of me and a full band. This is the first album that has been entirely a full band, and I think we recording this album nine months to a year ago. We recorded it in two days. It's funny that it took this long to get the finished product. The actual recording process...we were just becoming a band. I was up in the Northeast, and like I said I don't really like to have a night off. So I might have a Sunday night off, and we would end up playing a show as The Hashtags. They would usually be secret shows.
-
So we decided to go to the studio to have a recorded practice. We weren't even intending to make an album. We started recording the songs mostly for practice purposes, then we were like, "Man, I really like this stuff. Why don't we just push it out, you know?" So it was really the birth of us as a band. Everything is coming together, and we're really vibing and enjoying each other so much. Most bands never get to capture their "birth moment", but we did.
-
It was really an album that was never intended to happen, but it did. It's all so raw. I didn't overdub any of the lead vocals. They were all done live. Everything with the band was done live. It's just this really raw album, and I really enjoyed it. I love when things happen naturally instead of trying to force them, and that's what that album is all about.
-
Watch Zach Deputy's Live Funky Improv here:
-
-
With the evolution of digital music, many artists seem to be headed towards recording 3-4 song EP's, rather than the typical full length album. Do you see yourself doing anything differently in the studio moving forward?
-
Zach: Well, I'm releasing another album in about two and a half months. It's going to be twelve tracks. I recorded this one all on my own. I did all of the instruments. The way I think of it is that I record albums for me, and I hope everybody likes them, but I don't really recording albums thinking of how people are going to take them. For me, it's a waste of time as an artist. If you're really an artist, you're creating things that you love in hopes that other people will feel and understand what you love. But if they don't get it, you don't change for other people. You've gotta remain true to yourself.
-
I think a four song EP is great, if that's what you wanted. If you're a baby band, and you're just trying to get started, that's great. If you're an artist and you're making music, then make music. Release a single, 3 tracks, 4 tracks... just do it for the art and not the marketing. In the scheme of things, I believe in the 70's there were around 2,000 albums put out each year. Now, there is something crazy like 200,000 albums put out each year. We have this whole overstimulated thing, and everyone is trying to find their way and their niche into it.
-
For me, I'm not trying to find a niche into where I fit in with what's popular or what's going on, I just want to create art and let the art speak for itself. I want to make art that I love, and even if nothing ever happens, I still love what I do. That's what art is. Art is a reflection of the soul. So why would you be worried about other people?
-
-
Over the years, disc golf has become a major part of your life. You've even started your own festival, Zach Deputy's Disc Jam, down at Suwannee. How often do you get a chance to play, and what makes this such a proactive hobby for you?
-
Zach: I love disc golf because it's an analogy to life, you know? Stay on the path. Keep it simple. Keep it within your means. Stay relaxed. Believe in yourself. Everything that happens in golf happens in life, and it breeds a gentleman-like character, you know? It's a really cool sport, and it's different than most sports. You rarely play a sport amongst other people, and they're all supportive. The cool thing about disc golf is that you're playing with a group of five and you're competing. But when you shoot a cool shot, everyone goes crazy.
-
Everyone is in it with each other. You meet the coolest people, and it's just a great analogy to life. It gives me an excuse to go out hiking. I'm like a typical guy. We all like to go out and explore the countryside, but if I don't have a purpose, I'm not gonna go out there. Disc golf gives me a reason to go explore the country. I've seen pretty much every one of the main 48 states through the eyes of a disc golf course. It's a beautiful thing, and every once in a while you throw an ace, and it's amazing (laughs).
-
The love for the sport just grows. I've been playing for six years, and I probably play more now than I ever have. I probably get out there four days a week, but when things are working good, I'm out there six days a week. I love it. It's a good hoppy. It's a cheap hobby. It's a great community. It's a funny thing; playing from California to Maine and down to Florida. You meet people out on the disc golf course, and they're always just genuine and nice. It's a great community to be a part of. You've gotta get out of the house. Get away from the machines and get out there with nature.
-
-
We're coming up on CukoRakko, one of Alabama's young, growing music festivals. Horse Pens 40 is often referred to as "the best secret in Alabama," with a vast amount of history and natural beauty. Does this type of natural, outdoor setting have much influence on your set, as opposed to an indoor club gig?
-
Zach: Oh yeah. There is an energy to everything, you know? When you're in a club, there is an energy to it, but when you're outside, you feel alive. There is no better stage than a stage outside with a backdrop of nature's beauty. So for me, I always play my best sets outside. I'm stoked about this one.
-
CukoRakko will give you guys an opportunity to play in front of many music fans who might be seeing you for the first time. How would you best describe what the crowd at Horse Pens can expect from you guys on Saturday night?
-
Zach: So, they'll start feeling this weird shaking, and they'll look down and see their legs shaking before they even realize it. Then they'll start saying, "What is happening?!" I will make people boogie who have never boogied before. That's pretty much what I can promise. That's what I like to do. My accomplishment every night is to get that one person who has been holding it in his entire life to let loose and dance. That's my goal. You gotta release and let it go. Life is such a blessing. You gotta soak it in and live in the moment. Music is a great way to remind people of all of the great things that we have.
--
Watch Zach Deputy perform "Walkin' On The Moon" here:
-
-
-
-