Recently, Musicbleep had the opportunity to chat with rising star, Alexander Gow from the Australian band, Oh Mercy. Built upon a love of pop music and expressive vocals, Oh Mercy’s idiosyncratic blend of quirky pop has seen them rise to the top of Melbourne’s current crop of musicians with surprising velocity. Alexander Gow and Thomas Savage, the duo at the heart of Oh Mercy, blend evocative and intelligent lyricism with a strong pop sensibility on their debut album Privileged Woes, showcasing the depth of the young songwriters polished pop brilliance.
The young 4-piece draws their inspiration from music both old and new. As one of the most discussed bands upon the inception of the current ‘Triple J Unearthed’ format, they were rewarded in 2007 with a slot at Australia’s biggest festival, the Big Day Out, and invited out to Austin, Texas for the 2010 SXSW Conference + Festival. With the positive reviews from the likes of Fasterlouder and Wireless Bollinger, and radio play on Triple J and community radio nationally, Oh Mercy is ready to take America by storm.
Musicbleep: Did you always know you wanted to be a performer?
Oh Mercy: I don’t consider myself a performer. I’m more of a stand and deliver type musician. There are musicians about who I consider fantastic performers and some horrible performers. It’s an attitude toward the music one creates that I personally don’t subscribe to.
Musicbleep: If you were not a musician what would you want to be doing?
Oh Mercy: I’m not sure. I’ve not thought about it much. I have always known I wanted to be a musician and have never really put my mind to anything else. Maybe I could be a gardener. I think I would like to be the grounds keeper of a wealthy persons estate somewhere beautiful.
MB: What inspires your music?
OM: Lots of different things. I suppose the most important thing is my love of music. I love nothing more than drinking some coffee and putting my head phones and listening to my favourite bands. It makes me really excited to write music myself.
MB: Who are some of your musical influences? What's playing on your iPod right now?
OM: John Cale – Fear, Leonard Cohen – New Skin For The Old Ceremony and Bruce Springsteen – Darkness On The Edge Of Town.
MB: If you could pick one musician/artist (dead or alive), who would you want to work with?
OM: Paul Kelly.
MB: What's your song writing process like? Do you write by yourself or co-write with the band?
OM: I write by my self. My friend Thomas is a great musician and songwriter; he often adds bits of music to my songs. I usually start with a theme or a mood I want to base a song on and go from there. I’ll write five rubbish songs for every half decent one.
MB: So many great bands coming out of Australia, like the Temper Trap, The Middle East, etc - what's something that is unique about Oh Mercy?
OM: We don’t make an album without incorporating bird calls into our songs.
MB: What your next step? Any label offers in the States yet?
Next step is to finish the second Oh Mercy album, which is currently being recorded. As far as label offers go, fortunately, I’m not involved in any business type talk.
MB: Any U.S. gigs soon?
I’m not sure. I think there’s talk of us doing some shows in your autumn. That would be fantastic. I love America. And, there’s a lot of it to see.
MB: What's the future like for Oh Mercy? Where do you guys see yourself in the next few years?
OM: Hopefully traveling the world, playing shows and making records. For a long time.
Thanks for talking to me. Alex.
www.myspace.com/ohmercyband
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