Photo by Ben Lozovsky

In 1994 Bassist Rob Fisk and drummer Greg Saunier were playing in a San Francisco band called Nitre Pit. Inspired by seeing Nels Cline play a concert of completely improvised music, they began to come early to practice to try their hand at improvisation. When Nitre Pit broke up suddenly, with shows still booked, Rob and Greg decided to substitute their duo, and Deerhoof was born.

Having no songs, and their stark instrumentation allowing little room for melody, harmony, or tonal variation, they created structure in their music through a violent push and pull of rhythm and dynamics. They created the illusion of songs with that "musician's E.S.P." that can develop when improvisers connect deeply.

Before long they began to write songs, and singer Satomi Matsuzaki joined the group. Partly as a result of Satomi having no prior musical experience, Deerhoof retained its primitive and improvised basis.

Fast forward to 17 years later, in 2011 Deerhoof consists of Greg, Satomi, and guitarists Ed Rodriguez and John Dieterich. They have released many albums and done numerous tours all over the world. Though they have earned a reputation for songwriting and production during those years, that primal, aggressive, and telepathic improvisational style is still a key feature in Deerhoof, as anyone who has seen them in concert knows.