Smells like Deervana: Beloved PVD band Deer Tick rings in the new year with a surprising twist

It’s 1993 and Nirvana walks onto the “MTV Unplugged in New York” studio set. When Cobain sat down with his signature sweater and guitar, little did the world know they were watching a dead man carve a set of initials into the infinite record of the world. Five months later Cobain committed suicide, and seven months after that their first live album, MTV Unplugged in New York, was released. MTV Unplugged in New York became a landmark album, as essential to Nirvana’s oeuvre as the band itself. Their earnest sorrow and soul-scraping lyrics inspired countless bands that followed, including Rhode Island’s own Deer Tick.

Ian O’Neil, guitarist for the band, says “For myself, John [McCauley] and the other guys, we grew up with Nirvana. Most people our age throughout the 90’s did. Watching the ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ music video when I was seven was the reason why I started playing guitar.” O’Neil continues, “Nirvana has been a perennially inspiring band; I love Kurt Cobain and his politics for the time he was living in. He was an open and compassionate person, a great role model for anti-toxic male masculinity, as well as being an excellent song writer.” Deer Tick decided to start their own Nirvana cover, Deervana, by accident. They started it as a favor for a friend’s birthday party 12 years ago, and the footage went viral. They have been repeatedly asked to revive Deervana for, as O’Neil remembers, “enormous sums of money. It really spiraled out of control.” O’Neil believes Deervana pays homage to the lasting influence of Nirvana because “it’s part of a long thread that keeps getting pulled on. A lot of our peers are on the same path, and we’re all working in the same direction.”

Since then Deer Tick has taken a hiatus from Deervana, but plan to bring it back for a twonight-only show in their hometown of Providence at The Bend’s Fête Music Hall, on the days before and of New Years Eve. The band will be covering the infamous album MTV Unplugged in New York alongside a set of originals. The live album was acoustic, and performed entirely sitting down, which O’Neil thinks will be interesting to replicate. He says, “That’s the funniest part. This is the only show they did that wasn’t a total rager, they sat down the whole time. So we’re going to do just what they do: Play the songs.” Deervana is going to have a cast of local musicians on stage to help them as well. O’Neil expects this show “to be a lot of fun. We weren’t going to [have] a show in our hometown until the release of our next record, but we wanted to do something that would be like a big hug to our local community, to do something that we don’t do for other people, only our most loyal fans. People are usually really excited to hear these songs, and our own set. Whenever we have done this before it has been all smiles.” Every New Year brings something, good, bad, and usually unexpected. O’Neil believes in the new year he can count on “being rejuvenated by our most loyal fans. Looking them in the face and saying, ‘Thank you.’ They give us the energy we need so we can move onto our next project.” O’Neil concludes, “Thanks to everyone that has bought tickets so far, we’re really looking forward to it. It is going to be a hell of a party, and make sure to get Olneyville NY System weiners after… we’ll see you there.”

• Deer Tick x Deervana will be playing at Fête Music Hall at the Bend Dec. 30, 31 at 9pm. Find tickets at fetemusic.com. To learn more about Deer Tick you can find them at deertickmusic.com.