South Carolina-based artist Zach Deputy will be bringing his talents to Gainesville with a concert at Heartwood Soundstage tonight.
The show, which will be one of the many times Deputy has played in Gainesville, will take place from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Artists Andrew Fagin, Dillon Rose and Drew White will open the show. Tickets range from $12 to $20.
The event will be one of the first held at Heartwood Soundstage, a performance venue and recording studio that opened in Gainesville on Feb. 25.
Deputy is known for his one-man shows, utilizing looping technology, instruments and vocals to create a unique experience for concertgoers. His funky, soulful sound comes to life onstage, something Deputy does effortlessly and with a constant smile.
Deputy’s love for music is evident through every track performed, but it doesn’t stop there.
His dedication goes so deep that he’s spent the past nine years touring the country, and he doesn’t plan on slowing down anytime soon. This cycle began in 2008, when the 25-year-old Deputy decided to leave South Carolina and began touring around the U.S.
“I made the conscious decision to go out there and try to see if I could get any attention across the country,” he said. “I went broke, and then I went broker so many times. Instead of giving up, I borrowed money from friends and just kept going and kept believing that it would work out.”
Deputy said he still faces these struggles now, just in different ways. For him, money has nothing to do with it.
“All the money that I make, I’ve invested it right back into my art,” he said. “I don’t need money. I just want a house, and I want to play music. If I got a million dollars today, you wouldn’t believe how quick it would go to equipment that I want. That’s how I’ve always been.”
Two Gainesville production companies, Over Easy Creative and Organic Vision Presents, teamed up to bring this event to Gainesville.
Deputy is an unexpected artist for Over Easy Creative, a mostly electronic-focused team, to recruit for a show. Les Voss, the owner of Over Easy Creative, said the move made sense given the technology Deputy utilizes.
“This show definitely sits outside our usual electronic sound,” Voss said, “but, these days, more artists than ever before are using electronic tools to craft their sound. Zach Deputy is the master of loops, and all of his instruments are ran through software to allow him to play multiple instruments at the same time while still keeping full control of the output.”
Voss said he became friends with Charlie Bilsker, the founder of Organic Vision Presents, after he attended one of their shows back in 2011. The two groups have teamed up more and more over the years.
“For a crossover act like Zach, it makes perfect sense for us to get involved too,” Voss said.
Beyond being blown away by Deputy’s talent, Voss said Deputy’s passion for what he does is a motivator for him.
“Music is what he loves, and he gets to do it every single day,” he said. “Zach is as nice and genuine as that grin you see in all his pictures would lead you to expect. Seeing anyone doing what they love so endlessly inspires me to push on with my projects.”
This love for the music is something guaranteed to strike listeners, no matter what Deputy song they’re listening to, from his “Wash It in the Water” album released last fall to what should be a memorable live album set to be released this summer.
“I’m always excited to play,” Deputy said. “I don’t care if it’s one person or no people — I love music. It blows my mind that I get to do the thing that I love most, and people like it too.”
