The core of Deep Blue Something is the Pipes brothers, Todd (bass/vocals) and Toby (guitar/vocals), from Denton, Texas, who were both attending the University of North Texas in 1992 when they formed Leper Messiah (a quotation from David Bowie’s ‘Ziggy Stardust’) with Austin-born drummer John Kirtland and guitarist Clay Bergus, later replaced by Kirk Tatom. After a period juggling their academic studies with gigs around Denton and Dallas, the band, now renamed Deep Blue Something, hit the big time with the clever ‘Breakfast At Tiffany’s’, a tale of lovers failing to resolve their differences. The single, with its layered acoustic guitars, was catchy enough to make the Billboard Top 10 (and was number 1 in the UK for a week). By this time Bergus had returned to replace Tatom. The band achieved some level of notoriety when Todd was fired from his teaching job at a Christian school when parents got wind of his hedonistic rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle. Despite this whiff of scandal, most of their material is a variety of country-tinged indie-lite, ever-so-slightly alternative guitar pop for people who find R.E.M. too challenging.
