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12/22/05
Hello. It's been a long time. But we bear good news. We have a myspace page now, just like everyone else, and we just added the new, FINISHED, recording of "P. Shepard." You can also just go here and listen to it. Recorded and mixed over the course of a year and a half, in 3 different studio environments, it is finally done. My god. Kevin and Tommy played an impromptu set at Magdalena's Tea House last night that saw performances of "P. Shepard," "Headbetter," and the onelinedrawing classic "Yr Letter." And it felt great. New projects are in the works and Drinking Mercury will return to the stage within the next few months. The CD should be out within a month or two as well. Thank you everyone for being so patient. We'll do our best to make it worthwhile. Merry Christmas.

9/12/05
Hey, Tommy the Fly here (I'm sure you all hate me by now). Well good news, I have just posted a brand new song for download here in the music section. The song is called "Mushroom Queen" and if it sounds familiar it's because it's based on an old Drinking Mercury song called "Samaratin." The subject matter of "Samaratin" became a bit old about 2 and a half years ago, yet we continued to perform it regularly until last summer. About a year ago I completely tore apart the song and built it again from the bottom up, throwing out parts, putting in new ones, and writing all new lyrics. Like many Drinking Mercury projects it got lost in the midst of whatever until today when I was sitting in my dorm room with nothing to do and going thru lyrics to songs that I had in my guitar case. I decided to record a demo of "Mushroom Queen" which is, for the most part, all live in one take (lead vocals and the main guitar are on the same track). I overdubbed a small lead guitar in one part and a buried-in-the-mix vocal harmony at the very end. Aside from that it's just the sound of me in my room... you can hear the fans in the background... it's quite quaint really. I finished this about 20 minutes ago (it's 4:30 approximately) so it hasn't had time to settle like most recordings, so I'm interested in anyone's comments.
In other news, Kevin and I recently hung out in Kalamazoo and we have ideas. But for the moment Kevin is in marching band and I'm in 9 million bands, so everyone will just have to be patient. Being patient is the one thing Drinking Mercury fans are unanimously spectacular at.

9/5/05
Hello, this is Tommy once again. I wonder if the other guys even remember how to update this site... heh. Well I think it would be unfair to me, Kevin, Michael, and anyone who's ever cared about us or our to band to say that everything has been all right with our band. Of course anyone could tell you that... no healthy (local/ indie) band plays 20 shows in one year and then 5 the next and still is peachy. And has a self-recorded EP take a year and a half to come out. So yeah, things are pretty messy in the band... it's odd how things like this can just happen; no real reason, but somehow everyone gets pulled in a different direction and before anyone realized it all 3 of us lived in different cities spanning the whole western side of Michigan. We know our band is something special, or it least it was and it still can be, but right now it just doesn't look like we're going to be doing anything incredibly active for some time. It would be a dream to take this band on the road... maybe finally do the "Unshaven Tour" (now that we're all older it would probably be more impressive than 3 or 4 years ago) and I honestly believe that we will someday. But yes, Kevin is working on finishing up the remaining tracks for the record. I hope nothing prevents it from being finished this year, cuz, you know, it will sound better to say "we started it in 2004 and put it out in 2005" rather than "we started it in July of 2004 and got it out in 2006... yeah, I know that's two years..." I hope everyone will be able to appreciate the record for what it is: an acoustic-based low key project that Drinking Mercury did on their own (with a little help from Tony Rodebaugh) to try and get something out that they could all honestly be proud of. This isn't our grand statement epoch-shifting album, it's just a collection of songs that we like, and we really hope everyone else will like it too. There's a possibility that we'll do a show in Ionia around Thanksgiving, at least that's what I'm hoping for. So don't give up on checking this website, stuff will still be posted. If anyone wants to harass me feel free to e-mail me at [email protected], and I have a cell phone too... but I'm not going to post that, but e-mail me if you want it. Take care everyone

7/21/05
We finished the drum tracks finally. So maybe the album will come out this summer. Wouldn't that be great? Yes, it would. We also have a concept for another recording where we would just get Rory and Tony from 239 Productions to come to our practice space and record us playing a bunch of songs live. Record everything we know... including stuff that we haven't played in ages and may never play again. Kind of a "this is what the last 5 years have amounted to" type package. So hopefully that'll happen and then we'll be able to move forward and onward and take Drinking Mercury into the future with no ties to the past. Or something. It's cool that I managed to talk this long.

6/18/05
Thanks to everybody who made it out to Kevin's and Tommy's open houses. We had fun, playing the first real Drinking Mercury sets since last fall. Unfortunately, we will not be at The Center on the the 30th as previously announced, since the band that we were going to play with (whatever their name was) will no longer be touring through here. Regardless, things are slowly heating up again, and we will soon be working with Tony from 239 Studios on tracking the ever-elusive drums for the ever-elusive album. Here's to a new beginning. Again.

7/33/03
Hey, so does anyone here remember a band called Drinking Mercury? Cuz I sure do. And I hear they're working on finishing an extremely delayed album. Even weirder, I heer they're going to start playing shoze again too. Apparently the drummer and the bass player are both graduating high school, and they're having open houses, and Drinking Mercury will play. Then I herd they're going to play at The Center in Ionia with some band, which I'm not shure if anyone ever tould me the name uf. Pretty cool. I think it's listed on the shows page.

5/6/05
Hey Michael. Happy birthday. Even though it's my birthday today and yours is tomorrow. This is the only day where both of us are only going to be limited to the right to buy tobacco products... so let me pick you up a pack. If you give me the money that is. Love, Tommy.

4/20/05
Hey Kevin. So I was really planning on calling you Sunday when I woke up to say "hey... fuck you, happy birthday" or something to that effect. But then one thing after another happened and I never got around to it. And then over the next 3 days I felt like I should really say something, but I didn't, so I'm using the Drinking Mercury website to say "hey man, happy birthday, sorry I'm 3 days late." There. That feels better.

4/13/05
Ha! You thought I'd go a full month without updating the website, but you're wrong! So take that, hypothetical person that gets mad at me for not updating!

3/14/05
For anybody that read between the lines of the last post, I think you've been doing too many lines. Of what you may ask? I think there's an old rap song called "white lines" that fields that area. I remember listening to it during health class in 9th grade... remember that Kevin? I also remember watching that movie "Radio Flyer" where the kid flew around in a wagon... I never really understood why we watched that. Anyway... a new Drinking Mercury site is in the works. And the album... well, it's there. Sort of.

2/28/05

Update: check out the Plurals website for some photos from the Era Dance.

2/4/05
Yep. So I'm sure at least one of us thought about finishing the album in the last month. It's going to be a good album, let me tell you. A recorded version of longtime live favorite "P. Shepard" is tentatively set to start the proceedings, and lots of "new" songs are included as well, from the melacholy psychedelia of "Capo Song," to the dream pop of "Touch" (the only song where one of our feet stepped a little bit the left and hit the distortion pedal.) "My Last Misery" (one of the first songs written by Drinking Mercury) will appear, as well as sometime concert showcases "Living In Your Eyes, "The Day Before" (with a new verse), "She" and the Doors meets Radiohead meets Leadbelly "headbetter." Seriously, this record will be solid... so we should finish it up so you guys can hear it. Furthermore, it has been brought to my attention that, despite what I remember, no post was made on the Drinking Mercury website about the show on the 26th of February. Well, on the 26th, Drinking Mercury and the Plurals will share the stage (literally) to provide live music at the Ionia High School Era Dance, hitting rock songs from the 50s to today, as well as a few original songs from the respective individual bands. We'll see about playing some new stuff. Kevin will also be DJing half of the time to hit up all of those songs that kids like to hear at dances but we wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. If you want to come to this show, but are not an Ionia High School student, contact us and we'll work out some way of getting you in. Take care.

1/3/05
Happy new year! We have reached the year of 2005... the year that Tommy and Kevin get their asses out of high school. About time! Okay... here's the deal... we're in denial no more... the album is not finished. But we ARE working on it! It's mostly all there... seriously. So please don't give up on us! PLEASE! AHHHH!

12/24/04
Merry Kristmas to all! And to all a good time!

12/9/04
The previously promised new download is now up, as well as some other "new" recordings! First up, Tommy's exclusive new track, "All I Want Is You" is now available for free download right here in the Drinking Mercury "music" section. This song was originally done by U2 in 1989 for the excellent album and film "Rattle and Hum." The moment "Vertigo" hit the speakers when Tommy got U2's new album, he was immediately re-discovering his deep love for U2, and began recording this multi-layered keyboard based rendition of "All I Want Is You." All of the keyboards, guitars, vocals, and drum programming are by Tommy, so hopefully everybody will enjoy this. The other two downloads are very raw lo-fi recordings of "Reminisce" and "Headbetter" as recorded live at All Hallow's Eve Fest 2004. If you haven't been to the last few shows you probably have not heard the new version of "Reminisce," so we have this live version up for download in the "Music" section, as well as "Headbetter" one of the new songs from our forthcoming record. "Headbetter" is a demonstration on exactly what the hell happens when Kevin has Tommy help him write a song, and then Michael puts a slow disco beat to it. Happy downloading!

12/3/04
The new record is creeping ever so closer to completion. Tentatively, 9 tracks are set to appear on this work, we just kept writing and recording more and more so what was supposed to be an EP will now be somewhere between an EP and an LP (it sure is cool to use all this "record lingo.") The main thing that is delaying the release of this record, however, is the need to record certain drum tracks. As you may or may not know, this record has been entirely self-produced, mostly at Kevin's house, and a little bit at Tommy's house, so we have drum machine tracks on songs that we plan on putting real drums to (listen to the demo of "She" for an example of this.) Being the cheap High School/ College students we are, we, of course, do not have the capabilities to record drums (and have them sound good, at least), so we're waiting on those songs, trying to work out where we can record drums (aside from the drums these songs are basically 100% complete.) With any luck, we'll be able to get this out before the New Year, like we hoped. Finally, this record will be the inaugral release on the GTG Records imprint, a new label based out of Michigan's heartland. It will be relieving to get this record out, we've been working on it on and off (mostly off) since July, so it will be nice to get it out, promote it, and be done with the damn thing. Keep checking for updates on the progress, and hopefully future show dates. (Message from Tommy: I have a special recording that I've been putting together in my free time that I would like to share with all of you. It will be up in the next couple of days, so keep watch!)

11/22/04
We decided at the show Saturday, that we will not play at the Armory again. The show was a mess, we were ready to play for an hour before we actually did play, apparently a PA was not at hand, or if it was it wasn't worth anything. Big thanks to Alfonso from Know Lyfe and Chris Heilman for working through the madness and getting a fairly competent sound system set up. We felt we played well and all, but we just don't want to have to deal with another show in a place with beyond terrible acoustics where it costs an over the top amount to rent it out. Not to mention the fact that the ratio of kids running around to people that were there to watch the bands was staggeringly in the favor of kids running around. We would still like to extend our thanks to Buried or Burned for having us out, it's always fun to play a show, it just seems that shows at the Armory and Drinking Mercury do not work out anymore. Good luck to any bands in the future that try to put on a show at the Armory.

11/18/04
Saturday, November 20th, we will be playing at the Armory with Flesh and Blood Robot, Know Lyfe, show organizers Buried or Burned, Beautiful Eyes Blackened, and Sever Red. The show starts at 6:00 PM and will last until midnight. This is our first show at the Armory in over a year, so come on out; all the bands are great, and it only costs $5 at the door (which is like... less than a dollar per band) or 3 dollars in advance! (that's 50 cents per band for all you mathy types keeping count.) Come on out, and get there right at 6:00 cuz we go on first!

11/10/04
There is an mp3 up for download here of the song "She." This particular mp3 is a demo version of the recording that will appear on our upcoming CD. There's a few minor mistakes in this recording, and not every instrument has been recorded either, but this is a very good idea of what the song will sound like on the CD. Just a little gift from us to you!

11/8/04
We're playing at the Armory for the first time in almost exactly a year on Saturday, November 20th. The show will begin at 7:00 PM; the band Buried or Burned is organizing this show, other bands will be announced soon.

11/1/04
Thank you so much everyone that came out Saturday night. The show was a great success; great venue, great crowd, great times, greatness. It was awesome to see all of the new stuff getting a positive response... makes us want to get down to business and finish up the new CD. Speaking of which, the majority of the basic tracks are finished, the main thing that needs to be done is drum and vocal overdubbing in select songs. We would have had it all finished up if we hadn't had to begin rehearsing for the Halloween show... it's amazing how rusty a band can get when they've focused solely on recording since June. The plan is to get the new CD out by Christmas... so hopefully all Mercuryheads will get a nice little stocking stuffer from all of us. And a CD.

10/22/04
Message from Tommy: I met Billy Corgan last night! There was a book signing in Ann Arbor for his new poetry book "Blinking With Fists" and Hattie, Ernie, Nick and I hauled ass down there when I got out of work at 5:30. We got there at about 7:15 and it was surreal... there was Billy Corgan, talking with fans and signing books. This man that has meant so much to me thru his music and his art (hell... i spell "through" as "thru" because of the song "thru the eyes of ruby") for so long was in front of me. We waited in line, books in hand (except for Nick... no book, no signature, but he got to watch the whole process) and when we got up close, the guy handing the books to Billy commented on my Brian Wilson T-Shirt (from the concert that was across the street a month earlier.) I asked him if he went to the SMiLE concert and he said he had... the work of Brian Wilson is one of my favorite things to discuss, and I would have exhausted the subject had I not realized that it was my moment to go up to Billy. I was proud that I managed to not burst into tears and say "I love you Billy! Your music's changed my life" but I only barely avoided it. Instead I mustered out "great book Billy" and that all too familiar nasal voice said "thanks" and he looked up at me from my book that he was signing. Billy fucking Corgan was talking to me. As I stepped aside I gathered my wits a little bit and said "it's the first poetry book I've ever loved," and he stopped signing Hattie's book to make eye contact with me, and said with warmth and sincerity "thanks, that's why I do this, cuz poetry's just so great and..." and I wish I could remember what he said after that, but it blew my mind to be having a conversation with Billy Corgan. He was briefly discussing what's great about poetry with me... this jittery 17 year old fan in a Brian Wilson T-shirt. When he finished I said "just keep giving to us, man. I love it," and he said thank you one more time. He then commented to Hattie "hey... cool shirt." She was sporting one of the new XU T-shirts, so next time XU comes around Hattie gets to tell them that Billy Corgan thought their shirt was cool. I felt so euphoric (earphoric? vieuphoric) as we walked away, and the strains of "Siva" came over the speakers in the bookstore. It's been about 13 hours roughly since I met Billy Corgan, and I've just been listening to the Pumpkins non-stop. I met one of the great American artists... it sure was way cooler than having Mike Love stop playing tamborine to wave at me.

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