Seattle, Washington's Deep Sea Diver began as Jessica Dobson's solo project in 2007. Deep Sea Diver evolved into a band including Peter Mansen on drums and John Raines on bass in 2012. The group released their debut album History Speaks in February 2012. Prior to the group being formed, Jessica self-released an EP as Deep Sea Diver titled New Caves in 2009. Jessica is also known for performing with Beck, Connor Oberst, Spoon, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Jessica currently serves as the guitarist for The Shins. Watch Deep Sea Diver perform "You Go Running" from their debut album History Speaks live on KEXP below.
You recorded a solo album for Atlantic records that ended up not being released. What was the story with that?
"When I was nineteen I signed a record deal to Atlantic. It’s the age old story of: signed too young, didn’t necessarily have the right management influence, I didn’t have the right team around me. I got lost in the system and recorded a record that didn’t even sound like me. So by the time it was finished I was adamant about it not being released, and so we scrapped it. Then we recorded another one with Phil Ek up in Seattle, which was awesome, but it never got released because all the momentum was lost. There’s actually two full lengths I recorded from age nineteen to twenty-two on Atlantic records. Then I got off the label and released New Caves Ep- self released it, this is Deep Sea Diver. At the time at Atlantic I was just going under my name, then it became Deep Sea Diver. It’s funny because I’ve recorded two full lengths, but this [History Speaks] is the first Deep Sea Diver full length, which is really exciting." -Secretly Important.
You recorded a solo album for Atlantic records that ended up not being released. What was the story with that?
"When I was nineteen I signed a record deal to Atlantic. It’s the age old story of: signed too young, didn’t necessarily have the right management influence, I didn’t have the right team around me. I got lost in the system and recorded a record that didn’t even sound like me. So by the time it was finished I was adamant about it not being released, and so we scrapped it. Then we recorded another one with Phil Ek up in Seattle, which was awesome, but it never got released because all the momentum was lost. There’s actually two full lengths I recorded from age nineteen to twenty-two on Atlantic records. Then I got off the label and released New Caves Ep- self released it, this is Deep Sea Diver. At the time at Atlantic I was just going under my name, then it became Deep Sea Diver. It’s funny because I’ve recorded two full lengths, but this [History Speaks] is the first Deep Sea Diver full length, which is really exciting." -Secretly Important.