Deep Sea Diver’s Jessica Dobson gears up for tour

Musicians hoping to play in the big leagues typically get one shot. For Jessica Dobson, a Seattle-based multi-instrumentalist, getting not one but several invitations to work with the largest names in alternative rock was just a follow-up to her experience writing and recording her own music on a major label deal. From tours with Beck, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Spoon, Conor Oberst and The Shins, Dobson gained a reputation as one of the best guitarists and bassists in the business. But, apart from her involvement with festival-headlining acts, lies her main motivation for being a musician — her own band, Deep Sea Diver, which she writes and records music for with her husband and two other band members.

The group’s first record, History Speaks, was released in 2012, and an EP came out last month in anticipation of a new, full-length album to be released sometime next year. Speaking about the differences between material featured on the new release and what’s to come, Dobson said, “What differentiates the EP from the album is that [the EP is] kind of a little bit more of my singer-songwriter side and the album feels a lot more collaborative and full-band.”

The EP felt like a nice break between the two albums, which was exactly what Dobson, who’s evolving as an artist and transitioning between sounds, needed. “It gives you leeway to put a mish-mash of songs together without it sounding too disjointed, wheras with a full album some things just don’t work in terms of cohesiveness.”

One of the highlights of playing with so many other talented musicians on the road is the potential to learn from one another and gain new influences. Though Dobson is currently taking a break from working with other bands to focus on her own material, she still relishes the opportunity to work with others.

“I really like collaborating with people, and thankfully, that doesn’t mean that you have to dedicate two years of your life to be on the road with someone else’s project,” she said. “Recently, I’m planning on working with an awesome singer-songwriter up here called Bryan John Appleby, and I’m going to be working on his record. I just love collaborating and getting outside of my own mode of writing.”

Dobson has also been recording with Delicate Steve, a New Jersey guitarist who has some opening dates this fall for alt-psych favorite Tame Impala.

It is no overstatement to say that powerful, jangly guitar played by Dobson and the musicians she works with is heavily featured on Deep Sea Diver songs, with ebbing and flowing levels of intensity. Having spent her career playing in a wider variety of venues than most artists, this musical style mirrors her constantly changing landscape. That’s not to say she doesn’t have a preference for certain kinds of shows, however.

“Big shows are really fun because there is a lot of hype around them and it can be very thrilling, too,” Dobson said. “But after a while you get used to playing shows where peoples’ faces just become a sea of masses. Hands down, I’ll always prefer playing relatively smaller venues where you can hear people singing and interact more.”

Now that she and the rest of Deep Sea Diver have embarked on a tour with Delta Spirit, Dobson will have the chance to get up close with fans at venues like the El Rey Theatre here in Los Angeles on Thursday, after having played the Neptune Theatre in Seattle, the Wonder Ballroom in Portland and The Fillmore in San Francisco. Dobson put together these dates with Delta Spirit out of a long unfulfilled dream to tour together; she grew up playing with the members of Delta Spirit, and has never been able to coordinate with them to do a string of shows. For those craving a concert full of driving, melodic indie rock, stopping by one of these performances would hit the spot.