Oh Mercy - Interview

Oh Mercy have been a teetering ball of potential for a year or two, ever since their precociously solid folk-rock tunes had them win a 2007 Melbourne Big Day Out slot after only a handful of shows. And now look at them, certified Triple J darlings, with Lay Everything on Me and Seemed Like a Good Idea getting absolutely flogged. Despite their prolificness, they have just released their first EP proper, excluding 2007's unreleased Expats & Eczema.

Frontman Alexander Gow consented to answer a couple of questions about their continuing ascendancy:

You were first introduced to JJJ audiences with your 2007 Unearthed win, how did it feel experiencing such success in your first band a year out of school? How does it compare with your current success now?

It was a wonderful experience and privilege winning unearthed. It was an acknowledgment that we were writing good songs, on the live performance side of things we weren’t prepared at all. Since then we have changed our entire setlist three times over and have concentrated on our live show. So in a way, our current success cant compare to that initial success as it feels like we’re a different band.

A lot is made of your stream of consciousness lyrical style, how do you reconcile that side of things with what are otherwise very tight and melodic pop songs? What is the songwriting dynamic of Oh Mercy like?

Those two elements come together very naturally in Oh Mercy.

Thom and I will work on a piece of music then I will simply write a bunch of lyrics to match the mood of the music and using very simple and standard phrasing the ‘not so standard’ lyrics blend easily with the pop song.

You recorded your album last year with Myles from The Panics. Did having a member of such a popular and established Australian act around have a noticeable effect on how the album developed?

I suppose so. Having the guys from the Panics around encouraged us to make a record of a higher standard because we respect their music so much and didn’t want to waste their time with anything half arsed.

Also, having been recorded 18 months ago, how reflective is the album of where Oh Mercy currently stand?

We stand on the same ground. We still love playing all those songs and our new songs . We are writing new music when we’re not on the stage.

And, at last, what albums are currently getting a workout in the Oh Mercy tour van?

Q Tip – Renaissance
Television – Marque Moon
And a cast collection of sounds of nature type cd’s.

The puntastically titled In The Nude For Love EP is out now through itunes and shops, with the slightly more conservatively dubbed album Privileged Woes out in late August.

check out their myspace
and, puzzlingly, an alternative myspace with their first demo recordings.