THE WILD MERCURY
www.myspace.com/thewildmercurysound
On The Wild Mercury Sound’s debut single, ‘Miss Frost’, the young band, all of whom are under 19 years old, delivers a tale formed around the bizarre failed relationship of singer-guitarist, Benji Compston. Aided by a monster progressive alt-rock midriff, this track kicks-off like a combustible Jonny Greenwood detonator tossed into the heart of a dormant Brit-pop beast. Their first output also includes b-side ‘Itchy Skin’. An edgy narrative of roasting guitars just waiting to erupt into crescendos of searing post-90s riffs, the weary subject matter of going ‘cold turkey’ should tower above the naivety of these young’uns but it’s actually executed with something of mature distinction. Crafting such accomplished rock and roll at an early age is not out of the ordinary in this accessible age, to do it with such refined perfection though, now that’s impressive.
I Sell out gigs and music making of this calibre is usually reserved for the
professionals, not the tentative first steps of four young men only just out of compulsory education. We spoke to Benji, Jonny and Ashley to find out what
makes them tick… g PM: Does being Steve Lamacq’s ‘Favourite New Band of The Week’
heighten people’s expectations of you? g Benji: Obviously because it’s Steve Lamacq, I imagine it does heighten people’s expectations of us, but from our point of view, we’re just doing what
we love and trying to do it as well as we can. g PM: ‘Miss Frost’ is about an ex-girlfriend, right? Does she know? g Benji: Yes it is about an ex girlfriend and she does know. At the time I
wrote it, I was writing a lot about her anyway, and so it was just really obvious. g PM: All being under 19, did you find it tough to get gigs in the right places
in the city? And early on was it tough to get your friends in? g Jonny: Being an underage band you are constantly battling with venues to
get your friends in. At our first gig our friends just stormed the venue when we went on. We were all kicked out afterwards. One venue wouldn’t even let us into our own show. We had gone outside after sound check and when we tried
to get back in the bouncer said no. Eventually we got the promoter to let us in. g PM: London’s rife with guitar bands, some may argue over-diluted. Why do
you think you’ve broken through in particular? g Jonny: I don’t know if we’ve broken through yet. But I think what makes
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UNSIGNED SPOTLIGHT
f young men never experienced the calamity of being dumped by a girlfriend during the explosive stages of hormonal transition, the song- writing well that teenage rock and roll bands drink from would run dry in an instant.
Who wants to hear about normality and success when you can delve into the distraught world of crushed dreams and angst-laden heartache?
Words: Dan Jones
us different is our songwriting and the range of influences behind it. We listen to bands like Radiohead and Arcade Fire but we’re also individually into lots of different kinds of music. For example, Benj and me are really into Dylan and
listen to a lot of folk music. g PM: To what do you owe your refined sound? ‘Itchy Skin’ sounds like work of seasoned professionals, not the tentative first steps of an under 20s
indie band… g Jonny: I don’t think we’ve finished refining our sound. For the last year we’ve been on a development deal with our publishers which has allowed us to experiment a lot and write as much as possible. You learn from experience so writing lots is very important. We’ve also been into the studio with various producers over the past year (James Kenosha, Charlie Andrew, Dave Pye and
Peter Miles). We’ve learnt a lot working with them. g PM: There’s a definite sound of ‘90s rock influences, what drives your
music, both influentially and as individuals? g Benji: We listen to some ‘90s bands, we’re massive Suede fans for example. For me, I’m influenced by a lot of folk music, and really good songwriters. I
think songwriting drives the music, that’s the most important thing I think. g Jonny: I love Dylan, Tom Waits and Jeff Tweedy from Wilco in terms of
songwriting. g PM: What’s the plan with the debut album? Are you going to get Peter
Miles? g Jonny: We’re releasing three singles over the next few months, with the album hopefully coming afterwards. We’re not going to rush it though, it
needs to be ready. g Benji: We don’t know who’s going to produce it yet. g PM: And you have your second single planned, what is it? g Jonny/Benji: It’s called ‘Airbag On’. g Benji: It’s heavier and it’s got a bigger sound. It will hopefully show people
a different side of us. g PM: What do you want to get out of the next six months? It’s still early
days for you guys but everything seems to be moving quickly… g Benji: I think we just want to keep developing and progressing, with the writing, with the live show, with everything. It is early days, but things are
good so far. g Jonny: We just want to play as many shows as possible and get our music to as many people as possible. Hopefully we’ll be touring a lot over the next few months. That will be fun! PM
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