Band Members

Nick Franceschina - Vocals, Bass, Keys
Tennis Mounts - Guitars, vocals, keys
Jesse Waits - Guitars, Vocals
Jason Coulter - Drums, Percussion, Vocalsombs: Drums/Vocals

Booking info:Sheryl Waite - Booking (513-600-2685)

Bands Website

More Pics

Upcoming Shows

Sep 4 2008 10:00P Beer Sellar - Newport, KY Kentucky
Sep 5 2008 8:00P JD Legends - Franklin, OH
Sep 6 2008 8:00P MLTs - Mt Lookout CINCINNATI
Sep 12 2008 10:00P Longworth’s @ Mt Adams
Sep 13 2008 3:00P Harley Davidson Eastgate - daytime event
Sep 20 2008 9:30P Putters - Milford Milford
Sep 26 2008 8:00P MLT - Mt Look

Eastside Vibe Interview

EV: Introduce the band members and tell us how you all got together.

DW: Well lets see... we have Tennis Mounts on guitar/vocals, Jesse Waits on guitar/vocals, Jason Coulter on drums/vocals, Nick Franceschina on vocals and bass and KEYTAR (hellz yeah), and the incomparable Sheryl Waite as “super manager.” Tennis and Nick grew up together and have been in bands together on & off for years. Tennis and Jason started an all-original band called “Geralds Rainbow” back in 2000. That went on for many years and then Nick came in to play bass for them in 2005. Jesse showed up in 2006, then in late 2006 we said “you know what, I hate playing 30 minute shows with 4 other bands at Top Cats for nobody and no money. We want to setup once and play all night and have lots of people enjoying what we’re doing... plus get paid for it! We thought “lets learn covers” so we did. We made a new band name to clear away the baggage (“Deeper Water” was the name of one of Geralds Rainbow’s songs). We’ve been doing the cover thing for over a year now and it just gets crazier and crazier.
WE LOVE IT!

EV: We first saw the band at J&B’s Tavern, how long have you been playing on the eastside?

DW: We all grew up on the eastside... Tennis, Jason, and Nick all went to Amelia High School, and Jesse went to Turpin. Our first year we played a lot in Mt. Lookout (MLTs and Millions), and we still rock out there as much as we can (we love it there!)... we also play in Milford (Putters and Sneaky Petes), Mt. Adams (Longworths and Pavilion), Northern K.Y. (Beer Sellar)... and this weekend we’re breaking onto the west side in Cheviot at a place called Black Sheep, next stop: Japan.

EV: Your style is eclectic to say the least, songs like “Scotty Doesn’t Know”, “Beetle Juice” sound tracks, and “Dick in a Box (Justin Timberlake) are not common covers. What influence drives your set list?

DW: We like all kinds of music... and we don’t want a band that fits in any sort of mold. We don’t stick to any sort of genre... we do it all. Classic rock to hip hop. You can go see any cover band in Cincinnati that will play all the “common fair” (Sweet Caroline, Brown Eyed Girl, Laid, Tainted Love, ugh)... if you want to hear the songs you’ve heard 1000 times, then go see those other bands... we don’t mind but if you want to hear songs that you love, but haven’t heard in a long time... and you want to watch them being performed with ridiculous energy and spontaneity... then come see us! That’s what we do, we try to find songs that everyone knows, but haven’t heard in a long time. But don’t expect to come and just have us play nicely in the background... we demand your attention and if we don’t get it, our wireless units will let us walk right up to your table and tap our feet until you give it to us! Sometimes the bar managers don’t agree with us... they want us to be safe and fit in the mold... but results matter, and the phrase we almost always hear at the end of the night from the bar staff: “you are one of the best bands we’ve ever had in here, and we’ve never received so much positive feedback” we don’t just play songs, we put on a show.

EV: You have many Eastside shows coming up in August so I’d say the response to the show has been great so far. Are there any particular clubs you’d really like to play on the eastside that you have not been booked at yet? (Maybe we can help with that).

DW: Well... last year we played Rhinos three or four times... and it was a lot of fun, we’d really like to play Rhinos again soon. Not to mention we would love to play at Jefferson Hall, Lodge Bar and Party in the Park, we are also looking into Put-in-Bay and some gigs in Louisville and Dayton” Lately we have also thought it would be a blast to rock some wedding receptions as well!

EV: Did ya’ll here that? That would be a rock’n reception folks. Bob, get these guys back at Rhinos!

EV: You guys put on a real good show. Anyone who has seen your show can see that you all have some real enthusiasm for your work, jumping on pool tables, playing on the bar and all around “Mexican jumping bean” inspired mayhem seems to be common place. What keeps the excitement level so high?

DW: Alcohol... and Jesse. You just can’t contain that guy, but really... we’re all about putting on a show. Like I said, we demand your attention, and we’ll do what it takes to get it. At first it was just a few little things here & there but every month my “prop bag” gets bigger and bigger, our hat collection is getting a little out of control actually. Before we had a banner, and people didn’t know who we were, we had girls coming up and asking “are you the band with the hats and wigs?” Aha ha ha... love that. And a few weeks ago at Putters in Milford we had an entire table of people brought by one lady that said “I told them all about you and your costumes!” We just like to go crazy and run around and interact with people at the bar... there are a lot of people at bars that just show up and you can just see on their faces that they aren’t having the greatest time ever and all it takes is a little bit of personal attention and they get super excited! Then that makes us super excited. Some places get crazier than others (MLTs usually gets pretty nuts)... and we can run down and dance with people, and halfway through the night you’ll see our hats on half of the audience and then we’ll bust out “Hey Ya” (by Outkast) and we pull out our Polaroid camera and start snapping photos at the “shake it like a Polaroid picture” part, and start throwing them out... we might jump up on the bar and get people to stare (they either love it, or they think we’re totally dicks and hate us... but just like press, any attention is good attention). We try to be as crazy as possible, we want people to walk away thinking “holy crap... that was entertaining”. Next up on our list: a fully wireless band - if we can get Jason (the drummer) wireless, then the entire band could leave the stage. Holy crap that would be cool. Choreography!

EV: One look at your set list reveals, hip hop, country, pop, hard rock, classic rock and a few twists thrown in for good measure, yet in the live
show they all come together with a consistent flow. What creative effect is applied to make this work so well?

DW: It works because we all love each of those songs we play and each of those styles of music we delve into (well, Jesse isn’t a big country fan, but then he’s young still... ha ha!) and we play them with passion. If we find ourselves sitting there playing a song and thinking “holy crap, I hate this”... then it gets cut (there are a few exceptions of those songs that people love so much that it trumps our own hatred of them... but those are few). If you’re an actor, and you go in for an audition the best thing you can do is interpret the part for yourself and play it as you would feel it. That will be your best possible performance and it will feel authentic, which is what the audience wants. It doesn’t do any good to walk in and try to do a part that you don’t feel... try to act like someone you’re not because it won’t come off as authentic. So we play the songs we love and we play them the way we hear them... we “rock them out” a little harder & faster than the originals. We do it our way and then no matter what the song is it feels authentic and “real” to the listener. We love what we do and it shows.

EV: It almost seems like you all have a “Frat Party” band background, much like the “Scotty Doesn’t Know” scene in the movie “Euro Trip”. Is it my imagination or have you all bashed a few college parties before you hit the bar circuit?

DW: I wish that was true... individually we may have done some college parties in the past... but this band really hasn’t had that experience yet. We’re heading up to Miami (Oxford) soon and start banging on some doors, because the school season is about to kick back in and we want to be at those frat parties this year! We would also love to get down to spring break next year and show those people a good time.

EV: What’s the next step in the Deeper Water evolution?

DW: When I was in college I remember that there were certain bars & clubs you would go to on certain nights and you would know what band would be there, everyone went because it was the cool place to be. That would help build a bands following. The Websters were the one’s that did it for me. I forget the nights... I think it was Wednesday nights at Quigleys, and Thursday nights at Sleepout Louies (Waterfront) but because you went there every week and the band was always the same you got to know them and love them. That kind of thing doesn’t happen much anymore (not that I notice). The band Livid has built up a decent following by playing Thursday nights at Rhinos and Paul Otten used to do Thursday nights at Millions and that used to be huge (not that he needs help he’s pretty much famous anyway). Most of the places now seem to be using DJs. They are cheaper, they are less complicated and they can play the exact music people want to hear. So we’re talking with some bars to find a night that will be our night to play, then we’ll work on making that place and that night “the place to be”. We have to work at trying to get people to say “Oh it’s Thursday night... we have to go to ______! It’s the place to be!” They’ll know that we’ll be playing and they’ll know what to expect.... entertainment. I think that’s the way to really build up notoriety... consistency.

EV: Any chance we’ll see some Deeper Water original tunes on CD soon?

DW: We haven’t mixed covers and original yet. The originals are done under other band names and groups. Tennis has his other project called “A Continuous Now” which is all originals (and all of the same people... us!). Jesse works with Jessie Lynn ( http://www.myspace.com/jessielynnmusic ) and other various things. Jason is also starting up some other side projects.
We have talked about it (original releases)... and we probably will... but it’s not time yet. People that come to see Deeper Water don’t care about our music yet. Over this year we’ll continue to build our popularity and then perhaps next year we’ll start writing our own stuff. Then see what happens. Cincinnati doesn’t view original music favorably... I mean, sure there are tons of original bands out there playing in various places but the only people coming to see them are their families and a few friends. We know, we’ve been there. It’s not like some other cities where people flock to hear original stuff... in Cincy people want to hear what they know so that’s what we’re doing. They are two different types of businesses and we don’t mix them together.

EV: What (if any) is the single most important message the band is trying to get across?

DW: CELEBRATE LIFE!!

If you haven’t seen Deeper Water yet check them out, they play all over the Eastside and it’s a show just about any music lover will get into. In fact, here’s the tentative upcoming show dates: Aug. 1st Longworth Hall, Aug. 2nd Sneaky Pete’s, Aug. 8th Putters Tavern (Milford), Aug. 9th Millions Cafe, Aug. 30th J&B’s.
Go to www.deeperwater.com to see more.
You’ll see some cool videos soon on our site.