Deez NutsDeez Nuts originally came as a scream of desperation. Or boredom, at least. Prior to formation, JJ Peters had spent roughly seven years with Australian metalcore outfit I Killed The Prom Queen. A founding member of the Adelaide outfit, Peters had watched his band nab tours with bands like Lamb Of God and Between The Buried And Me, record an album with Fredrik Nordstrom and break through to ARIA charts and international markets alike.
Before they disintegrated, anyway. Unable to find a permanent vocalist and feeling their race had been run, I Killed The Prom Queen disbanded in 2007. As something to pass the time, Peters formed a random joke project. Deez Nuts would see the drummer mashing up his longstanding love of hardcore with his longstanding love of hip hop. Furthermore, it would be entirely solo. Peters would write, perform and record everything.
It was a success. A far greater success than Peters was anticipating, actually. Originally considered something of a non-project in regards to career ambitions, Deez Nuts were immediately invited to tour Europe with metalcore heavyweights Bring Me The Horizon on the back of their first EP Rep Your Hood. Since then, their reputation has only grown. The band have just recently returned from playing headline shows in Russia, for example.
“I think when the EP came out and immediately got a pretty solid response, I could instantly tell that this was going to be something that was going to stick around for a while. Even on our first tour, we were billed pretty high and got a pretty good response from the crowds,” Peters remembers. “And then we were lucky enough to be brought over to Europe with Bring Me.
“We got a pretty good response from crowds over there. Which was amazing, for a band that didn't even have an album out and were touring on their first EP. We already had strong responses from Europe and we didn't even technically have a release out over there. When that happened, I could tell that it was going to be something that would at least stick around for a bit. I had no idea it would go this far, though.”
The past five years have seen Deez Nuts release three successful albums and cultivate a truly international following. Locally, they've released on Stomp, Roadrunner and UNFD. Globally, they're consistent European performers. Such is their success, JJ Peters was even forced to quit a reformed I Killed The Prom Queen earlier this year to focus on Deez Nuts exclusively.
“It wasn't really a hard decision. Prom Queen had been on sort of a hiatus and then on-again-off-again for a period of about six years. Once Prom Queen decided to be a full-time band again and it came down to one or the other, it wasn't really that hard to choose,” Peters admits. “I was obviously going to go with the band I'd been putting my energy into for the past seven or so years.”
The band's most recent album is a sign of the times. Released earlier this year, Bout It! marks Deez Nuts' fully-fledged graduation from JJ Peters solo project to an ongoing concern. Produced by Shane Frisby and featuring guest appearances from members of Architects, Hatebreed and Madball, it's the band's first album to be written collaboratively – Peters having finally assembled a permanent line-up for the project.
“It was a little bit scary, I guess. That fear of change and that fear of things being different,” the frontman says of the shift. “But it was exciting for me also – because I was in a fortunate position where I was working with people who knew the sound and the life of the band and knew the direction I wanted to go in with the album. But, at the same time, I had people around me to bounce ideas off and tell me when a song was shitty.
“That was always one thing that was always kind of tough on the earlier albums. You know, I'd finish them up and I'd be listening back and I'd just find myself wishing I'd had someone around to tell me that a particular song could have been done a bit better. But that's what I had this time around. And, you know, more time to sit around and really think about vocal lines and production standards overall.”
The flipside of the band's increasing notoriety has been a handful of persistent misapprehensions about their work. A party band from the outset, Deez Nuts' hip hop-influenced lyrics and aesthetic have seen JJ Peters criticised almost since formation as an idiot and a misogynist. However, the frontman is untroubled by the accusations – maintaining a practical outlook.
“It was never part of the plan to offend people. I think that's just people lacking a sense of humour and taking song titles and certain stand-out lyrics at face value,” he says pragmatically. “I'm a huge fan of rap music and what I've been doing, right from the get-go, has been taking things that were, not necessarily appropriate, but a part of rap music and putting them within the hardcore context purely to take the piss out of myself.
“Not to take the piss out of rap music or hardcore music – but just to make something fun,” he clarifies. “I've been accused of a misogynist since the cover of the first EP featured me sitting around with four scantily clad women – but, once again, if people flipped through the booklet or asked the question, they'd learn that was my long-term girlfriend and the girlfriends of two of my best mates. One of whom was pregnant. It was a joke.”
Peters does hope the band will grow more serious over time. A committed vegan, he's not incapable of making intelligent comment on more complex issues. Yet, he's also oddly philosophical about the necessity of bands like Deez Nuts. The band have their share of detractors but even their most cynical critics would be hard-pressed to argue with the frontman's reasoning for their existence.
“We'd like to evolve and slip a few more serious things in there, yeah,” he says. “But, at the same time, there are a million bands out there singing about being depressed and singing about world issues or singing about whatever they find to be important. I have no problem with that. That's mostly the stuff I listen to. Music is a great pedestal to talk about important issues.
“But that's like 99.5 per cent of bands out there,” he laughs. “I think there's a little room for a band – aka us – to come through and focus on the lighter side of life. As much as I'd like to be more serious on occasion, we need to be that band that gives people something to drink to on the weekends. Or we'll all be depressed as fuck.”
