While first-day-of-class icebreakers may bring dread to students, one specific icebreaker at the University of South Carolina brought together a band aiming to introduce a new subgenre to Columbia's music scene.
USC third-year music students John Barnes and Aidan Storey had to answer the generic icebreaker of "name one of your favorite things" in one of their classes. In response to the prompt, Barnes said playing the drums, and Storey said playing the bass.
"The teacher jokingly was like, 'Oh, we got a whole band in the class,'" Storey said.
A few days later, Storey introduced himself to Barnes and invited him to a jam session. It was there that Barnes also met lead vocalist and guitarist Alston Bick, who Storey knew through a common guitar teacher three years prior. That day, "Deprived" was formed.
Their latest song, "Why Remember? (Shed)," released June 1, marks the Columbia-based band's third single as they work to make a name for the self-coined "nu-grunge" subgenre.
The near 6 minute long song combines elements of multiple alt-rock subgenres, but what sets it apart from Deprived’s other tracks are the vocals.
“(The vocals) kinda sounds like trash, but on purpose," Barnes said.
The self-described "harsh" vocals were created when the band was configuring the microphones for the release party of their debut single, "Out of Spite."
"We started playing in the settings... it was loud, and the microphone distorts," Barnes said.
Bick said he was experimenting with shoegaze vocals on "Out of Spite." It's shown in the soft enunciation, blown out mixing and psychedelic sound paired with the heavily distorted guitars, commonly found in shoegaze. The soft vocals combined with heavily mixed instruments is often meant to make the voice in a shoegaze song sound more like an instrument and stick out less from the songs other sounds.
The band however, does't usually build its songs around the shoegaze subgenre.
"Like how 'nu-metal' (takes) metal and incorporate(s) other genres, that's kind of what we try to do," Barnes said. "Take grunge and take in other (genres as) inspiration."
"Out of Spite," is one of their more mellow tracks. Originally titled "Black Death," Storey said the band felt the need to change the title to better fit the song's energy.
“We’ve had songs start off so fast, but by the time we’re done with it, it’s completely different," Storey said.
Bick said the instrumental on the band's second song “design” takes its influence from black metal, which is evident by high-speed instrumentals and heavily distorted guitars. The song's vocals, however, are less hardcore , replacing the traditional screeching vocals of black metal with a slower vocal pace that complements the more enunciated and sorrowful lyrics.
“It’s a kind of menacing sound," Bick said. "It’s very eerie and melodic at the same time."
The band has performed in large local venues like TLC Sports Bar & Grill, but Bick said members of the band prefer local house shows.
“It’s a cultural difference, honestly,” Bick said. “House shows are so intimate, and (the audience) is so into it.”
Bick says Deprived has faced difficulties while trying to perform in some of these large venues, as many are exclusive to 21-plus patrons. They've seen fans turned away and even band members stopped by staff while trying to perform at their own shows.
"(The security guard) was like, 'I can't even let (a 20-year-old fan) in because I'll lose my business license,'" Bick said. "Then (the security guard) was like, 'I'm gonna need your ID now.'"
Deprived does, however, see positives from its larger performances. This includes a show in front of their biggest audience yet — 800 people at TLC. During this specific performance, Bick said he felt they had a good chance to introduce themselves to a broader audience.
Barnes said the band has also helped him interpersonally outside of making music.
"Starting a band, you form a bunch of new (friendships), and you gain confidence," Barnes said.
All three members of Deprived said collaboration is a big component of their song writing process.
“We try and (make) most of our decisions on a group basis… since there's three (of us), there’s always a tie-breaker,” Barnes and Bick said.
While the band has only released singles at this point, the trio said they have plans for an album in the future. Barnes is currently building a home studio for the group, which he said will allow the band to increase their output soon.
"We definitely have enough songs learned to drop (an album)," Bick said. "We just have to record them."