July 2003
In Conversation with Mera from Mercurine
by Andy
N.
There is quite a long story I could add in the development and
background of this story, but since I can't remember half of
it myself, I won't go into too much depth.
Mercurine are this really interesting perhaps Gothic/Pop band
who manage to merge influences as wide ranging as New Order,
Cocteau Twins, Curve, My Bloody Valentine and Sonic Youth.
I stumbled onto them through a few of their tracks on mp3.com
simply (Check them out - they are enclosed on my links page)
and dropped them a quick line to say how much I enjoyed their
tracks.
What then followed was a copy of their self produced demo (2001),
which was a nice little 5 track sampler, and everything sort
of started from there, I guess.
When Setting Sun first went on the air in May, they were one
of the first bands I contacted for a interview and while it
took a while to get the interview, it was well worth the wait.
For more information, contact them on their website.
They currently have just bought out their first album, "Music
Is Chemical " and from what I have heard off it - it is
well worth checking out certainly..
Setting Sun: How are tricks
and what are you up to at the moment?
Mera: We just had our second show
last month, with two more lined up for July plus a few dates
in the works as we speak. We've been concentrating on performance
now that our first release is out, which means that the bulk
of our time is spent in the rehearsal studio or working to tweak
our sequences so they cut through the live mix. In the next
few weeks or so, Byron and I will concentrate on working up
new material and possibly remixing a few of our existing tracks
so they're more DJ-friendly.
Setting Sun: Now I've spoke
to you for a little while, but clearly there are quite a few
people who don't know you or of your music - so can you introduce
yourself, tell us what you do if you like, the general history
who fired the starting pistol and so on?
Mera: OK, this is going to be a
very long reply so grab yourself a drink and get comfortable.
Don't say I didn't warn you.
I am a Chicago native, and I've been playing music since I was
five years old, with plenty of solid classical training. From
then through my pre-teens I was in competitions on guitar, accordion,
piano and organ. I picked up cello when I was in high school,
and held first chair in the school orchestra during my junior
and senior years.
My Rock and Roll track record began in 1987, when I was the
keyboardist in a local Chicago band called The Hail Marys. Those
early days were rough for me, as I'd often get kicked out of
a club right after playing because I wasn't legal drinking age.
That only contributed to the delinquency of a minor because
I'd just go drinking in the alley with a few friends, being
obnoxious until the rest of the band was packed up at the end
of the night! School pretty much threw a wet blanket on my performance
career at that point; I didn't re-appear on the club scene until
I joined Garden of Dreams in 1995 as their keyboardist and cellist.
I joined Black Tape For A Blue Girl as a cellist in 1996, performing
in three consecutive Projekt Festivals as well as touring the
US with them in 1996 and 1997. I was featured on their 1996
release Remnants of a Deeper Purity (I was even the album cover
model for that one). I joined Faith and the Muse onstage as
a cellist at the 1998 Convergence Festival in Toronto and the
1998 Projekt Festival in Los Angeles, then went on their Blackout
A.D. Tour as cellist and bass guitar player the following year.
In 1998-99 I was still living in Chicago and got involved recording
and performing with several local bands. I recorded vocals and
cello for Bed of Roses, performed a few times with My Scarlet
Life, and even laid a cello track for Ministry's Dark Side of
the Spoon! Though that was great fun to record, the cello got
scrapped in favor of a rabid saxophone. And I have to confess,
I didn't do very well in the session. I don't blame them for
canning it!
In addition to playing with various bands, I started my solo
project, Oblivia, and released
an EP in 1999 called Spitting Embers. Oblivia started to get
a name for itself and I took it live a few times, but some personal
issues were coming to a head for me and I decided that it was
time for me to make a change. So I moved to Los Angeles in 2000,
putting Oblivia on hold and focusing my attention on something
new: a band, rather than a solo venture. Something incorporating
musical influences of New Order, Curve, Sonic Youth, Cocteau
Twins and My Bloody Valentine, with a harder edge along the
lines of old school house music and early industrial music.
I even had a name for this new band: Mercurine.
I put out ads for musicians, and as luck would have it, Byron
Brown answered one of them. Byron had experience from being
in bands such as Kommunity F.K. and The Superfiends, as well
as having his own solo project, Human Rhythm Composer. After
meeting Byron for the first time and working out a riff over
a simple beat it was very clear to me that I'd found the perfect
musical partner. Byron is amazingly talented, which was apparent
from the start but over time proved to be something bordering
on pure magic. I've never before or since enjoyed working with
someone as much. He's simply the best possible partner I could
have found.
I began working with Byron in the fall of 2000, but before we
could really get rolling in the songwriting process I met Rodney
Orpheus of Cassandra Complex. Rodney was about to embark on
a condensed US tour: 5 dates, Cassandra Complex opening for
Front 242. He needed a keyboardist. That was an opportunity
not to be missed, so I did that tour and came back to LA to
pick up where I left off with Mercurine. But before we really
could get back into things I put our work on hold again so I
could tour with Cassandra Complex in Germany during the first
few weeks of December. It wasn't until 2001 that Mercurine really
started to gel some material together, and all of 2002 was spent
in the recording studio (though I did sneak in some cello recordings
here and there with Omewenne and The Last Dance, as well as
did a one-time guest appearance with Pigface). So we're really
just making ourselves known right now, in the middle of 2003!
Setting Sun: What have
you also released to date and where can people get your releases
from?
Mera: As far as releases I've put
out, there are officially two. The first one was my solo project,
Oblivia, for which I self-produced and released an EP called
Spitting Embers in 1999.
For Mercurine, Music Is Chemical is our first official release,
out in the Spring of this year. Of course, the Mercurine demos
are self-produced and manufactured (that's why they're all slightly
different from one another). All these are available through
the official Mercurine site.
Other bands with whom I've done recordings:
Garden of Dreams
black tape for
a blue girl
Bed of Roses
Omewenne
The Last Dance
Setting Sun: I became familiar
with you both through your original demo. How does the newly
released album compare to your original recordings?
Mera: The album evolved quite a
bit in the studio, but not everything turned out the way we
were trying to make it sound in the demo. However, I think the
album is pretty solid and is still different than a lot of the
music being churned out right now. And because it's professionally
recorded and mastered, it's a whole lot more polished than the
demo.
Setting Sun: Considering I know
until quite recently, you have really been a studio band, how
does it feel playing live now? How would you say the Mercurine
sound live compares to the studio/album sound?
Mera: Mercurine live is more rock and roll than our studio
version. We're using live drums, bass guitar and guitar as well
as running real-time MIDI. Depending on the venue, the vocals
have been either in-your-face raw or completely drowned out,
but there's nothing like playing live! It feels so good to be
back onstage again. In our live line-up we have Stevyn Grey
on drums, who is well known from his past involvement with Christian
Death, Mephisto Walz, Sex Gang Children and most recently Frankenstein,
who he is still currently drumming for. On bass guitar is Oren
K., who has been involved with bands such as The DeepEynde and
Wreckage. Byron is of course on guitar and does occasional backing
vocals. Between the four of us, we all pull a decent draw from
those who remember us from the past.
Setting Sun: What are your plans
for the future? Do you have any releases in mind or major tours
etc? How do you see future recordings developing? Is their any
sort of path you could see new stuff following?
Mera: First, we take over
our "home market". Meaning, we stay local until we're
well enough known in SoCal to pull a pretty big draw whenever
we play and we become a household name. Then we take over the
world! We would like to take some select tracks from Music Is
Chemical and turn them into more club-friendly mixes, so we
may release a little EP with dancier remixes. Then we'll work
on the next full-length.
Setting Sun: I am sure you dropped
hints to me what you have been listening to, but again for those
who don't know - can you tell us your influences and what have
you been listening to recently?
Mera: Mercurine's influences are
lots of New Order, Cocteau Twins, Curve, My Bloody Valentine
and Sonic Youth. What have I been listening to lately? Shoegazey
stuff. And most recently, the new Faith and the Muse album.
I was just turned onto a Canadian band called The Birthday Massacre,
and I've been listening to them daily for the past week. VNV
Nation has been a constant over the last weeks too.
Setting Sun: Why Mercurine as
a name? It is certainly unusual…
Mera: Mercurine has been a word
in my head for the past 6 years. It's been something I've used
a little bit here and there, and I really have no idea why it
came to me. Sometimes I like to think of it as a substance which
can be bottled, like the extract from the planet Mercury.
Setting Sun: When you are not
in Mercurine, what do you do?
Mera: I try to be social whenever
I can, however I'm basically a hermit. Being social is difficult
in LA when you don't know a lot of people. Sadly, I admit I'm
still hacking at a day job. To pay the bills I book surgeries
for a plastic and reconstructive surgeon at a cancer center.
Not very rock n roll, I'm afraid.
Setting Sun: What's the live
scene like up in your town? Have you been to any good gigs recently?
Mera: Hmmm. Well, the LA scene is
pretty big, though that sometimes makes for poor draw at shows
because there's always something to do and there's such a large
geographical area to cover. I think the last good show I saw
was Frankenstein (props to our drummer!)
Setting Sun: Lastly, hacking
a question one of my friends used to use in her magazine, if
you were stranded on a desert island with a record player (although
I could be tempted to let you upgrade it to a CD Player if I
was feeling nice), what 5 records what you choose to have with
you?
Mera: That's a tough question. Too
much to choose from! Let's see…I guess I'd have to say
The Police - Synchronicity, Cocteau Twins - The Pink Opaque,
New Order - Power, Corruption and Lies, The Cure - Disintegration
, and Ministry - The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste. But
to be honest, I'd get pretty tired of the same things over and
over again…maybe if I had a chance to burn myself 5 CDs
with various favorite artists on each of them, that would be
a better answer.
Setting Sun: Thanks for everything.
Do you have any plans for playing the UK ever? Have fun either
way and thanks again!
Mera: You're very welcome! I would
have us playing the UK tomorrow if I could; that's something
I'm definitely working toward. Thanks for taking the time to
interview us, and for being so patient waiting for these answers. |
