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In Conversation with Mera from Mercurine
July 2003:
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
Mercurine's official 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 a
vailable through the official
Mercurine site: http://www.mercurine.com .
Other bands with whom I've done recordings:
Garden of Dreams,http://www.gardenofdreams.com
Black tape for a blue girl http://www.projekt.com
Bed of Roses http://www.divanation.com
Omewenne http://www.omewenne.com and
The Last Dance http://www.thelastdance.com .
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've 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.