In 2 Deep: Deeper Purpose’s Year of Growth and New Directions

Deeper Purpose. The stage name signifies that the music he plays and creates has a purpose. Now, as the head of his own label, "In 2 Deep," he aims to build a platform that truly celebrates original music and ideas. From Croydon, London, Stephen Galloway’s journey spans from open format DJing to becoming a respected producer and label owner. His career highlights include releases on prominent labels such as Off The Grid, Insomniac Records, Repopulate Mars, Toolroom Productions, and Spinnin’ Records, showcasing his ability to create tracks that resonate and keep the house music enthusiasts grooving.

Over the past year, Deeper Purpose has performed at renowned venues and festivals like Club Space, EDC Las Vegas, and Imagine Music Festival. Some of which can be found on Youtube, if you’d like to relive the exhilarating sets. His recent track “One by One,” featuring vocalist Jalja, marks a departure from his usual style, exploring an old-school deep house vibe that first drew him to the genre. House music fans will appreciate the depth of insight and behind-the-scenes stories from Deeper Purpose in this candid interview. Join us as we dive into his journey!

Welcome back to another Gray Area party, Stephen. It’s great to have you here again after our last event with you and Joshwa. Looking back over the past year, what has been the standout highlight of your career?

It's hard to really pinpoint any one moment from the past year. But if I pause and take a step back, I have to see the whole year as a highlight. I played so many great shows and met loads of new people. I spent the year growing and developing more as an artist.

Your last track, “One by One,” is different from the stuff you’ve put out before. How did you connect with Jalja, and how was it working with her?

Jalja's team contacted me because they loved my music, and they had the "One by One" vocal written and wanted to bring me into the project to see what I could make of it. You are right in pointing out that it's quite a different style for me. I went with more of an old-school deep house vibe, which was the sound that first got me into house music. Working with Jalja was a great experience. It was my first time working with an actual vocalist, and she's great. She's very talented, and you'll definitely start hearing more about her.

What do you find yourself obsessing about most in the studio or when working on a track?

I’ve kind of taught myself over the years not to obsess so much over small details. I'll set myself time blocks to work on certain things, like 30 minutes to write a cool bassline, and if after that 30 minutes I have nothing, I'll move on to a different part of the track and come back to that. This helps me not get caught up on one part for too long, obsessing over it. It also helps keep me in a creative workflow and not overthink things too much.

With the launch of your label, In 2 Deep, what are your long-term goals for the label?

The long-term goal for the label is to build a platform that really celebrates original music and original ideas. Giving upcoming and established acts the same chance of putting music out, regardless of how big of a following they have, just letting the music speak for itself. Hopefully, ending up with a few great hits on the label along the way. I remember how hard it was for myself being an upcoming artist, and labels caring more about my online presence than how good the music was. This is something I want to try and do differently.

What’s a lyric from one of your songs that fans scream to you or comment under your posts the most?

Haha, this would either have to be "Deeper Daddy" or "Party Diva."

Does any of your early material before the big stage days make you cringe?

I listen back to some old tracks and definitely cringe a little bit about how bad they sound or watch old interviews and think, "What the hell was I thinking?" But this is all part of the process. Having my whole career as an artist from day one available online shows people the hard work and dedication I have put in over the years to make my project successful. It also gives upcoming artists the proof that the music you may be making now might suck a little, but by sticking at it, things will improve. I need to also say that the process of becoming an established artist is the most fun part of this job, so having a timeline to see everything you've done over the years is great.

If you ever turn your upcoming label into a party/event brand, what is something you must have at your event to make it a kick-ass show?

Not a case of if but more of a case of when, haha. The most essential part of any show always has to be the sound! The sound system has to be bumping!! Lighting and everything is cool, but the foundation should always be a great sound system.

We know you’re a big soccer fan. Who is your favorite player?

That would have to be a young Argentinian player, Alejandro Garnacho, who plays for my team, Manchester United.

Name an artist, dead or alive, that you would want to hop on a track with. What would you ask them?

I would love to make a track with either Green Velvet, Chris Lake, or Jamie Jones. Production-wise, they are all unreal and are originators of their own sound and create great original music. I would definitely ask them all about how they maintained such long careers, but I think the answer to that is in the fact they are all original creators and have never really followed trends—they have set them.

We know your guilty pleasure is drum and bass. If you could create an alter ego to explore a sub-genre within DnB, which one would it be?

I actually already had an alias called “Signature,” which me and a friend created for fun and started making some liquid DnB, haha. This was a long time ago, and we sucked, so I stuck to house music, thankfully.

If a Saturday gig gets canceled, what do you do instead?

I'm chilling these days. Maybe go out for some food and do something wholesome. Unless there is a sick show on, but it would have to be something special.

If you could take a holiday and be able to reconnect with yourself spiritually, where would you go?

I really want to do this at some point this year and go somewhere that is off the beaten track, so to speak. It has a lot of nature and isn't developed. A jungle in Bali or something along these lines, just to reconnect and re-focus on what's important in life.

If you had to choose a completely different career path, what would it be and why?

I don't think that I could ever work in anything but music. I've had various jobs over the years, but music is my life, and I couldn't do anything else and still be happy doing it for the rest of my life. Plan B distracts from Plan A.

What’s the funniest or most surprising reaction you’ve ever received from a crowd during a set?

I had a whole crowd start cheering my name—like 1,000 people chanting "Deep-er Pur-pose." It was a really nice moment, so I played them one more track.

What is the definition of a true Party Diva?

I don't want to ruin it by sticking a definition on it from how I see it. People since I released it have all interpreted it in their own way, which is what I feel made that record so special. Everyone kind of had their own moment with the lyrics and came up with a meaning that was relevant to them.