Out of the unexpectedly bustling ‘90s Denton music scene, a band — and a musical journey — was sparked by two brothers. From selling out clubs and getting their debut single on the radio to reaching No. 1 on the United Kingdom charts and touring worldwide, Texas A&M Music Industry Relations Coordinator Toby Pipes and his older brother, Todd, have trodden the musician’s path with their band, Deep Blue Something, for decades. 

Today, Toby spends much of his time in the College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts, or PVFA, recording studio, serving as a bridge between the music industry and students in a fitting continuation of his longtime immersion in music.

Rise to stardom

Toby was exposed to and worked with music from a young age; according to him, his parents were vocalists, and he would often record songs on four-track tape machines with Todd, making original tracks rather than covers. Eventually, he was invited by Todd, who was earning his masters degree at the University of North Texas, to form a band in Denton: Deep Blue Something. 

“We were called Leper Messiah first, from a David Bowie lyric in the song ‘Ziggy Stardust,’ but supposedly Metallica had a record called ‘Messiah’ or something, so there was confusion that we were going to be a metal band,” Toby said. “So we had a song, and we couldn’t think of a name for it to put on the set list, and [Todd] was like, ‘It sounds like a deep blue something.’ And something came up with a DJ in Dallas and we had to pick a name real quick, so we just picked the name on the setlist.”

Deep Blue Something went on to have its singles played on local radio stations and sell out clubs in the area, beginning its rise to fame.

“Now we’re playing shows that people that aren’t our friends are showing up to, and it’s cool,” Toby said. “After that and then years and years of touring, we got signed to Interscope Records, and it just took off from there. And then the biggest thing of all was when we went No. 1 in the U.K.” 

Deep Blue Something’s single “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” was No. 1 in the U.K. for a week in 1996, in addition to reaching top-10 status in the United States, Australia and several European countries. 

“It’s awesome because with Second British Invasion, The Cure and The Smiths and New Order and all that stuff, those were my bands, and they’re all English bands,” Toby said. “And then we were right in the middle of Brit pop, so us making it to No. 1 in the middle of all that was a huge deal. It was like, ‘Where do you even go from there?’ It was almost more important to go No. 1 there than in America.”

According to Toby, one of the greatest takeaways from his time as a touring musician has been the people skills he gained from interacting with numerous individuals over the years.

“I think you kind of learn, especially with touring and everything, how to get along with people and how you have to work with all different types of personalities,” Toby said. “And you have to realize that things, even though you’ve done them a million times, just come out of nowhere. This morning, though we’ve recorded [in the PVFA studio] a million times, for some reason we couldn’t get the headphones to work, and it took 30 minutes. But you just have to be calm.”

Bringing it to Aggieland

Toby has now lived in College Station for several years with his daughter, a freshman at A&M Consolidated High School. His current position at A&M is a unique role that only exists in a few other universities, according to Toby. 

“It’s mainly a liaison and guide for the students who want to do this for a living,” Toby said. “And it’s bringing people in, like Lyle Lovett, that are producers, musicians, people that own studios or people that can help them out to get their foot in the door. And it’s to get them involved with performing and not just doing it in their dorm room because you’ve got to get out and do the thing.”

Toby plays a significant role in facilitating musical careers for interested students with the help of his own expertise in the music industry. While part of the process is networking, another is maintaining and organizing the PVFA recording studio in the Liberal Arts and Arts & Humanities building, which is part of a relatively new music program at A&M.

“We got an awesome donation from the WoodNext Foundation, and so the whole studio is about to be redone,” Toby said. “Since I got here it’s really taken off, because people weren’t really using this place that much, and now it’s become a big deal. So the foundation giving us that donation at this time is insane because people are going to have awesome new stuff.”

Besides instructional and organizational work at A&M, Toby helps coordinate several music-related events in the Bryan-College Station area, including an Aggieland Music Industry Summit featuring a panel with country musician Lyle Lovett, seasoned bassist Leland Sklar and other PVFA members. Nonetheless, he continues to be an active member of Deep Blue Something.

“Last week we played Vegas, next week we’ll play Louisville, Kentucky, then we play [in College Station] on the 30th and then we have a mini-tour,” Toby said. “And I think we’re going to Montenegro this summer and then North Dakota, and it’s just such random stuff. So I’m still flying out and playing with the band all the time, which everyone here is cool with because I can tell stories about how we’re really doing it.”

Toby said his goal is to help his department at PVFA grow through increased awareness and reach its full potential in extending musical opportunities to students.

“A lot of the students that are in the department now came here for a different reason and then found out this was here,” Toby said. “So it would be cool if people knew, ‘I want to learn how to be a performance major,’ or ‘I want to learn how to be an audio engineer,’ because they have such a great department for that at A&M, and I want for it to be known for certain things like that.”