I think that this is my first interview with an Irish band which is really cool. I lived in Ireland back in 2014 and wish I had the chance to see them live while I was there! I'm happy to introduce you today to the rockers Dean and Ezekiel, from the band The Mercurian!
Hello The Mercurian, thanks for taking time to answer a few questions for Distrolution. Could you please tell us who’s in your band and about how your band first formed?Hi Valentine, Dean (singer) and Ezekiel (songwriter/guitarist) here. We would like to thank you for opportunity to be featured on Distrolution. A great site for artists and we see that you have your own TV channel now, great work and well done guys! Well, The Mercurian’s path was a thorny one... Many players passed through our band, unfortunately it takes time to find out if you take on board the wrong kind of person. Dean: I’m a relatively new member and I hope I’m the right person, ha ha...
Ezekiel: Yes, you are 100% man... But it’s true, we went through so many players, it’s crazy! I was always pushing for a high standard of musicianship and the downfall of this is that you get great players but unfortunately with hints of personality disorders... I mean we were entertaining ‘rock star’ singers, ‘best of the rest’ bassists and drummers. And in the end, I got so fed up with putting up with BS from all of those ‘great ones’, that in the end I sacked them all and started from scratch. My philosophy was: the songs are good, people like them live. All I just need is to find the right people to play them, who are willing to contribute to the creative process of the band. And not sit in the corner and eat sandwiches, while the lyricist and I are chasing the right chord or a melody. Yes there were many frustrating moments, but neither the lyricist (Pat Byrne) or myself ever thought of giving up at any point. We just couldn’t, having invested so much of our lives and money into it, pulling the plug was never an option! Now, I can proudly say that finally I’m surrounded by creative and reasonably normal and mannered people who are great players as well! So, that’s the story of our band...How’s the music scene, in Ireland? I personally have a good memory from there. I’ve done a few months of studies in Dublin and thought that your country is quite well-developed in terms of music!Yes, Ireland has always been a musical place. Originally, in order to cope with repressions that were going on here in various forms, people always resorted to music. As it is the best healing power if not a coping mechanism. And in most recent times, we all know Van Morrisson, Enya, U2 and many more great artists that just emerged no matter what! Dean: And don’t forget the infamous Boyzone, Westlife and One Direction (laughs).
Ezekiel: Oh yes ;) well, those guys were kind of pioneers you can say, working really hard to impress the public that were very sceptical to a Take That copy... Well they paved the road for pop artists and I think without them we wouldn’t have seen the emergence of many bands and artists, although it’s not my cup of tea...But having said that, I think the music scene has changed dramatically all over the world. There are less and less live venues, many closed down, catering for the night club scene. But there are still small pubs and open mic venues where you can just drop in without notice and perform. People appreciate the effort if they feel you are genuine in what you are doing, regardless of musical style. For instance, we are doing a mixture of full band electric gigs and also acoustic appearances just Dean and myself, when we introduce a new song. It’s a great way to test the waters if you know what I mean, the public are honest and you will see the reaction straight away...I heard that you guys are about to release an EP. Can you tell us more about it? What kind of songs can we expect on this release?Dean: Yes, we are in the very final stages of negotiations of a co-publishing and EP release deal. We are about to get the final ok proof from our solicitor who is going through all that small print to see what’s in store for the band.Ezekiel: It’s not a big deal, we were lucky to get to this point based purely on our following and the songs that I kept uploading online, here is the link: www.reverbnation.com/themercurian. The majority of songs were recorded live from rehearsals and you know the word spreads faster than you think. So we got attention from a Sony guy, who passed us on to another guy and you know, 4 guys later we actually started the long term negotiations with the current guy.Dean: You sound like from a mafia movie, this guy the other guy, ha ha...Ezekiel: Yeah, you know the guy I mean? Ha ha... But seriously, at the most important moment, when we were just about to sign the contract, we lost our main singer. So the whole thing got kind of derailed. I kept communication going, got the side project with female singers going (as part of the contract was publishing). I kept the yanks interested at least in me if not the band, as we lost our male singer... So after trying gazillions of ‘singers’ who couldn’t really sing properly, by lucky chance I met Dean. So fast forward, we re-established the negotiations. And our cover ‘Behind Blue Eyes’ with Dean singing it really great, sort of sealed the deal in my opinion.So here we are, just finished our 3 songs EP and about to sign a deal. It’s all good, but to be honest these days you don’t really need to have any kind of deal, (well it’s handy if you do of course). But it’s not nessessary anymore as the music business has changed so much, everyone does it by themselves, like recording, promo and distribution...Speaking of this EP. Which one is your personal favorite track on this release, and why?Dean: I like ‘Straight Jacket’, which is number 2 on our EP and ‘Commit Your Sins’, the last song.Ezekiel: I like all of them, but my favourite is ‘Black Mark’, it’s a mad song ha ha, that always put’s me in a good mood! You can’t hear any of the EP songs featured anywhere yet (for official reasons before EP release), but I was thinking to do a 1 minute-long mix tape feature, with the juicy parts of each song intertwined in to one track...Apart from the release of your EP, what else can we expect from your band in 2018? A tour, maybe?Ezekiel:Well we are constantly writing new stuff, I have some side projects going and record and sell songs when I have spare time. Also we just recorded a theme song, sang by an electric female singer Brid for a new James Bond movie (to be pitched by our inside ‘guy’). And we do gig, not as often as other bands, but we are picking up in that department. Also there are 2 potential proper managers that are watching us with this deal, (I think the EP deal will be an important point on many levels for us). But regarding a tour I didn’t think about it yet, well yeah why not?!If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?Dean: I would be happy to tour with any band, (wether we are going as a support act or a main headline), who are artistic, interesting as individuals and not into self harm...Ezekiel:Oh boy, that’s a tough one... So many great bands out there in the past and present... I can’t think stylistically of any band that would be close to our stuff, our style is evolving and I’m constantly leaning towards the heavy and rockier side of things. But common sense always brings me back to the realistic level of writing songs that are comprehensive and not too intellectual or overly complicated. I always go with emotions and their impact...So, I’d be very happy to go on tour with any band who are interesting as people when you can exchange ideas and find out something new for yourself. Progressive thinkers, I think that would be my kind of touring band to hang out with...Thanks for your time!Dean: Thank you Valentine! Ezekiel: All the best!
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