Oh Mercy Brings ‘Great Barrier Grief’ to Newcastle
Oh Mercy have caused quite the sensation in the Australian music industry of late - they’ve just released an album called ‘Great Barrier Grief’, been involved with the He Will Have His Way compilation and have been cited as influential on iconic Australian musician Paul Kelly. I caught up with singer-songwriter Alexander just prior to the album release, and ahead of the band’s gig in Newcastle on 26 March…
You spent some time writing for Great Barrier Grief in the USA. Did writing somewhere else have an influence on the subjects and sounds that we hear on the new album?
I guess there are two parts to answering that question…. First off, before I went to New York I had to deal with everyone telling me how inspired I was going to be over there, that it was the most wonderful city in the world and that I was going to write the best songs I’ll ever write there – I just didn’t hear the end of it! By the time I got there, I was so adamant that it wouldn’t inspire me, just to kind of spite all of those people, so I kind of blocked anything like that out because I was so frustrated.
The second half of the answer is that I was kind of just locked in my room – I didn’t really see much. I mean I went out for a walk everyday around where I was staying in Brooklyn, but really I was focussed on preparing for recording the album, so I don’t really think I let anything outside come into my little room. I was still writing about things I know and what I know are things that exist within my world, which is living in Australia. I don’t think that it influenced me at all. It was quite a lot of revisiting older songs while I was there and making sure that they were ready to be recorded .
You performed at SxSW over there as well. How was that?
It was incredible! That trip to America was my first time out of Australia and Austin was the first city I’d seen so I was wide-eyed. It’s a really beautiful town and the festival itself was incredible, an enormous amount of bands playing – I’ve never seen so many bands in one small area and there were 60 different stages, some going until 4am. It was also incredibly cold and I remember having every jumper I had packed on but not being able to concentrate because it was so cold. It was unusual for that time of year in Austin.
Oh Mercy has been known to have a few special guest performers and secret shows along the way – can we expect any surprises on this tour?
I’ve been talking about that with the band – who we could potentially ring in different cities and get to come and play with us. It’s definitely something we want to do and that we enjoy doing. We haven’t really given as much thought as we really should have but it’s something that we hope to do!
I read that the album title Great Barrier Grief is not an eco-statement, more a statement about barriers between people. Can you tell me any more of the story behind the name?
It doesn’t have anything to do with a specific moment for me, it was just like a bunch of words that were floating around in my head that I liked for numerous reasons. I liked it mainly because it sums up, in a very sweeping kind of way, the barriers that people create between one another. I write a lot about relationships, so it seemed a suitable title. The other thing that I liked about it sounded great to say, it looks good in capital letters and I respect any kind of pun. We spend most of our time when we’re on the road trying to out-pun each other, so it just ticks a whole bunch of boxes. I knew a long time that I wanted it to be the title, before I’d even written any songs for the album.
My next question was about the amount of time you spend travelling in the van! How do you entertain yourselves… there’s lots of puns?
Yeah, we have a topical puns competition – so we tune into the local radio and find out whatever the issue of the day is and we try to think of the best pun headline for that particular topic, that’s the main way we pass time. We also have an existential ‘I Spy…’ competition, it goes on forever because no one can ever get it but we’re dedicated to the idea of trying to get it. They’re usually the most ridiculous existential thoughts or observations you could imagine, so we spend hours trying to work it out. It’s highly entertaining in a very pretentious and stupid way – we’re not taking ourselves seriously, we’re just trying to piss each other off…
Paul Kelly recently mentioned Oh Mercy as one of the new bands inspiring him to write songs. As a young Australian band, what does that mean to you?
He’s my favourite songwriter and wonderful person, so it’s extraordinary, unbelievable and it makes you incredibly proud. I still can’t believe it – in fact, I don’t really believe it, I think he’s just trying to help us out a little.
Speaking of icons, you were also involved in the He Will Have His Way project. What was that like?
We recorded the song on the last day of the Great Barrier Grief sessions. We had one day spare after recording the album in Santa Monica and we got a call asking us to do it. Our producer Mitchell actually produced and playing the keyboards on the first three Crowded House records, so it was kind of perfect. We didn’t get a say in which song we did, that was completely Mitchell’s decision… I would ask, “we do this one, can we do that one?”, and he’d respond, “why would you want to do something that was perfect the first time round?”, with a big cheeky grin on his face. I think he was more referring to doing a track that had potential to be messed with a bit and approached in a different way. We arranged, recorded and mixed it in one day, it was rushed, but we’re pretty happy with the way it turned out and it’s great to be part of that compilation.
What are you listening to right now?
Just before I called I was listening to Death of a Ladies Man, a Leonard Cohen album from the 70s.
What’s on for the rest of the year following the tour?
I’m thinking about going out on my own maybe with one of my friends from another Australian band. Maybe overseas in the second half? I really want to get a head start on writing the second album, so that will be my main concern after the tour.
Which of the tracks that haven’t been released as singles on Great Barrier Grief are you most looking forward to having out there in the big wide world?
Um, probably the fourth track called “Mercy Valley” – I’m excited for people to hear that!
You’re here on the 26th of March – any plans for while you’re in town?
What do I usually do in Newcastle? We always get lost, and there’s a particular Thai restaurant that we go to, so we’ll probably be there. I’m not sure but if there’s a squash court I’m sure we’ll be visiting it too.
Any last words?
I hope that people enjoy the record when it comes out, and if they’re half interested they should come to the show and say hi!
Oh Mercy will perform at The Northern Star Hotel on Beaumont Street, Hamilton on Saturday, 26 March. Tickets are $15 + booking fee pre-sale and they’ll also be available on the door. We’ve got a copy of Great Barrier Grief and a double pass to the gig to give away. To go in the running…
…on Facebook: “Like” the Urban Insider page and post “I want to win an Oh Mercy album or double pass” on our Facebook wall.
…on Twitter: tweet “I just entered to win an Oh Mercy album or double pass @Urban_Insider”
The winner will be announced on Tuesday, 22 March.
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