Julie Edwards and Lindsey Troy may not be the coolest moms on the block, but they come close.
As Deap Vally, the hard-rocking duo they launched in 2011, the two have performed multiple times around the world, shared a backstage meal with Robert Plant and made a joint album with Flaming Lips. They have released three Deap Vally albums and toured as the opening act for Blondie, Muse, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Lumineers and more.
That’s in addition to opening concerts for Arctic Monkeys and Queens of the Stone Age, and performing at such major festivals as Coachella, Lollapalooza, Desert Daze (which was founded by Edwards and her husband in 2012) and — in Europe — Glastonbury and Reading (in England), Pohoda (in Slovakia) and Musilac (in France).
“We also played in Singapore and at a castle in France,” said singer-guitarist Troy, a San Diego native whose father is a noted Grateful Dead expert. “There have been so many high points.”
“We stayed true to ourselves and our vision,” added drummer-singer Edwards. “And we stayed civil with each other, even in the most challenging times. We powered through, in spite of all kinds of major setbacks that began in the early years of the band.”
Now, alas, Deap Vally’s co-founders have decided it is time for their acclaimed band to call it a day. They will bow out with one final album and an extended fall/spring farewell tour.
The album, “SISTRIONIX 2.0” — an expanded and re-imagined two-LP version of the duo’s 2013 debut release, “SISTRIONIX” — will drop in February on the band’s Deap Vally Records label.
The tour begins tonight at the Casbah in San Diego and will conclude April 18 in Mexico City. The band will perform all the songs from the album in its entirety each night. They will also likely include their new single, a sizzling cover of the 1972 Rolling Stones’ gem, “Ventilator Blues.”
For Troy, 37, and Edwards, 40, Deap Vally’s farewell tour is an opportunity to celebrate what they have accomplished since teaming up 12 years ago in Los Angeles. The music they have made together is equal parts rock and blues, glam and grunge, swaggering riffs and pop smarts.
“I grew up watching (the movie) ‘Woodstock’, and it was just a dream — a rock ‘n’ roll dream — to do that,” Troy said, during a recent Zoom interview with her musical partner from Los Angeles.
“From a logistical standpoint, we were at an impasse,” Edwards noted. “So, rather than fade away and disappear — and slowly stop making records and never tour again — we thought: ‘Why not put everything we can into this year and next year, and put a nice bow on it, rather than let it fizzle?’ ”
Deap Vally’s Lindsey Troy and Julie Edwards are shown backstage following their concert at England’s Bournemouth Academy Nov. 30, 2012.
(Nicky J. Sims / Redferns)
TikTok and motherhood
The decision to end Deap Vally was brought on by the combination of two key factors for Troy and Edwards.
Both are mothers, each with two young children. In an era dominated by TikTok and other social media platforms, Edwards and Troy are now confronted with the daunting economic challenges faced by indie-rockers at a time when the landscape of the music industry has been dramatically changed — seemingly forever.
“Parenthood is a huge factor,” Edwards said. “The economic reality of being in a band now is that the level of success you’d have to achieve to sustain the childcare requirements for touring — to be able to pay for their care and still make a penny — well, we’re not there.
“It’s a double-edged sword because, at the same time, we can’t make the level of commitment to (regularly) tour because we have all these kids.”
“The years go by so fast,” Troy said, “and I like the idea of being a full-time mom.”
Starting when Edwards was first pregnant in 2015, Troy undertook several Deap Vally tours with stand-in drummers, all women. With or without Edwards, the path for non-mainstream artists is markedly different today, especially those who focus on their music rather than their image or brand.
“When we started off,” Edwards recalled, “we were able to have our primary focus be on the music and the art, and that’s like dead now. If you are starting out as a band now, no one will work with you, sign you, or do anything at all unless you’ve already demonstrated a certain level of marketing savvy.”
“That’s where TV shows like ‘America’s Got Talent’ come in,” said Troy, who was just 15 when she and her musician sister, Anna, were signed by Elektra Records. The label had them record a full album, then shelved it and terminated the sisters’ contract.
“When I was younger,” Troy said, “our family friends would say: ‘You’ve got to do those TV shows, like ‘America’s Got Talent’ and ‘American Idol!’ I was like: ‘That is so stupid. “And, now, Julie and I think it’s a good idea because bands and solo acts who were on those shows have legitimate careers.”
Edwards sputtered.
“There are people who don’t do anything but open a bottle and make ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) videos, and they have 6 million followers!” she said.
“The good news is, the old gatekeepers are gone and no one can make you you. Only you can make you you. The bad news is, you have to spend six hours a day creating content for your social media. And if you are on TikTok, you have to be able to post three to five times a day. We don’t do that, because we’re not the type of band that goes online and says: ‘Hey, I just picked my nose’.”
“It’s hard for me,” Troy interjected, “because I’m so private, at this point in my life, that I don’t want to ‘share.’ I always thought ‘American Idol’ and the ‘Eurovision Song Contest’ were so cheesy. And then (Italian retro-glam-rockers) Maneskin became like, the biggest new band in the world, after winning ‘Eurovision.’
“I thought Julie and I should do something like that. But we’re not European.”
Lindsey Troy and Julie Edwards of Deap Vally are shown performing in London in 2018.
(Katja Ogrin / WireImage)
A close-knit band
The two co-founders of Deap Vally met in 2011 when Edwards was working at The Little Knittery, a Los Angeles crochet and knitting shop. Troy had come by to take lessons and the two discovered they had a shared passion for the music of Joan Jett and Led Zeppelin.
“We used to knit and crochet a lot on tour, and we would sell our wares at the merch booth and even teach lessons in different cities to make some extra cash!” Edwards said. “Now that I have kids, there is no extra time for that.”
Troy and Edwards clicked quickly and teamed up. A major record label contract and management deal soon followed. In 2013, Deap Vally delivered a memorably spirited performance at Coachella. A few months later, the duo opening an outdoor concert for Soundgarden and The Stooges at London’s Hyde Park.
In any country, the fact that Deap Vally featured two musically gifted and no-nonsense young women helped them stand out. Ditto the fact that their well-constructed songs pack a mighty visceral punch.
“When we made our first album, we wanted to show people:
‘This is how you do it!” Edwards said.
“Recording that first album was so much fun,” Troy said. “It was like a dream come true — until the record company (executives) came in and wrecked our psyches.”
“They undermined us pretty quickly,” Edwards agreed.
Now, like Taylor Swift — who is re-recording her previous albums to reclaim them from her former record company and ex-manager — Deap Vally is re-recording its first album, “SISTRIONIX,” and adding to it. The band’s farewell tour coincides with the 10th anniversary of the album’s release.
“This time around, we knocked the record out really fast,” Troy said. “And it’s different because we’ve played all these songs through the years.”
With Deap Vally drawing to an end, Troy hopes to make a solo record. Edwards, meanwhile, anticipates a major career shift.
“This is like so off-topic,” she said, “but I started a master’s degree in criminal law, justice and society. And one of the first classes they have you take is in policing, because they are really trying to recruit officers with advanced degrees and critical thinking skills.
“I’m going to transit to forensic psychology and be a sentencing mitigation witness.”
Perhaps at court trials for former music industry executives?
“Probably,” Edwards said with a laugh. “I want to get close to incarcerated people!”
Deap Vally, with Death Valley Girls
When: 8:30 p.m. tonight
Where: The Casbah, 2501 Kettner Blvd. Middletown
Tickets: $26 (must be 21 or older to attend)
Online: casbahmusic.com
