Following the release of her excellent debut EP, we caught up with rising cutting edge indie-pop star merci, mercy.
merci, mercy is an artist that has pretty much emerged out of nowhere. Releasing the now iconic ‘Fucked Myself Up’ and wasting no time following it up with a slew of cutting edge pop singles and debut EP no thank you, no thanks, merci, mercy has shown up and pretty much instantly established herself as one of the more exciting upcoming talents in contemporary pop.
There is a recklessness and a real sense of edge and danger to the artists sound, tackling rough topics and themes with a kind of indifferent nonchalance, while icy, infectiously catchy pop beats and melodies provide a layer of sheen and excitement that feels decisively modern and captivating. The end result is a run of tracks that feel both sensationally larger than life and soberingly real. mercy, merci immediately seems to have honed in on a sound that feels dynamic and incendiary, and release after release after release seems to showcase another layer to the artist’s edgy pop mastery. Following the release of her aforementioned debut EP, we had a chat with merci, mercy to find out a little more about one of our favourite new artists.
Who TF is merci, mercy?
merci, mercy is a confused mess, I am just trying to be the best possible person I can be for the people I love. I find it hard to get out of bed most days and I write about all my troubles. Some days I am strong and some days I am not.
How long have you been making music?
I haven’t been making music that long, I’d say it’s up to three years now, but I’ve never been that good at maths, so this is what I’m good at. It’s always been the love of my life though, the reason I get out bed, the reason I haven’t fallen completely apart yet.
Why do you make music?
I make music because it is the thing that I love the most in the whole world. I really have no idea where I would be without it. I am still in shock that I get to do it for my job. Luckily, because it’s the only thing I am good at. It helps me open up to myself and to understand myself. Sometimes I just sit and strum my guitar /uke and sing what’s going on in my life and I cry and let out all I’m feeling.
What are your biggest influences?
My biggest influence is what I’m going through at the time, because I am a complicated mess and it’s a nice way to try and understand it for myself. Mental health is also a massive influence because I experience it myself and grew up knowing many people who experience the same and it’s a fickle thing to try and understand for yourself.
What would you say has been your best moment so far?
The best moment so far has been connecting with people with my music. I have received messages from people saying the song helped them through rough patches in their life. And that is the most important thing to me. If I can do that, I will be proud of myself. Something I’ve always wanted to do was help people but never thought I could cause I couldn’t even help myself, but I found a way to.
How would you describe your sound to somebody unfamiliar with it?
I’ve never been good at describing sounds and I’m sure my music teacher can verify that. I guess I would just say you’ll have to listen to it for yourself and make it sound like whatever you want it to sound like.
What’s your dream “I’ve made it” moment?
The dream ‘I’ve made it’ moment is a hard one because I feel like I have personally experienced many of those moments. When I released my music and people actually liked it I thought, thank god because now I know I will be able to do this for the rest of my life hopefully.
We love your new release ‘no thank you, no thanks’, could you tell us some more about it?
‘no thank you, no thanks’ is about my first year living in Sydney. It was so tough on me because I felt so lost. I was scared to become who I was meant to me and didn’t even know if I would have been able to. It turned me into a nightmare of a person and that is demonstrated through my songs. I became dependent on alcohol, not having a day where alcohol wasn’t involved. I also had no friends other than my family who I was living with and not being able to just be a teenager.
How do you feel that your unique upbringing has impacted your sound?
I’m not even sure if it did, but It maybe did without me even knowing.
And finally, who is your biggest fan right now?
My biggest fan would have to be my mum, and my sister but then also my sister’s husband and her two kids. But it is also everyone on my team as well. They have believed in me from the start all of them including my family which is the best feeling in the world.
