Hey Mercedes

The Metro
Chicago, IL
March 16, 2004

Interview with Bob and Damon

The night was all sorts of not going right.  Bob (singer) was late and the noise back stage had gone form laughing and joking to silent tension and some slamming doors.  Bob shows up and we later found out that he was with his parents and left them to do this interview.  We had chatted up Damon (drummer) before the interview and he was a lot of fun. However, when the recording started, everyone lost their personality.  Here is the short and bitter interview.

XROXX: Who would you say were some of your earlier influences?
Damon: It’s hard to say because we started this band out of our old band.  So, I don’t know...
Bob: Are you speaking specifically from the Milwaukee area?

XROXX: No, just in general.
Damon: Where do we begin?  Jawbox, Guided by Voices, Fugazi, and Steely Dan.
Bob: Bands like Green Day.  Not just bands we liked musically, but also bands with a great touring ethic.  Bands that were approachable people.
Damon: Bands we listened to a lot and were able to see them and strike up a conversation with them.  We respected what they did.

XROXX: Are you all original members?
Damon: There’s only been one change in Hey Mercedes and that was our guitar player.  The original guitar player we had left in 2002, then we got Mike and he’s been with us ever since.  That’s it.

XROXX: Do you have any exciting summer plans?  Warped Tour?
Damon: Well, technically, Hey Mercedes is taking the summer off.  Our old band, Braid, is doing a reunion tour.

XROXX: You’ve toured nationally for a couple years at least.  What is one of your favorite places to play?
Damon: Chicago is one of our favorite places to play.  DC is another great place to play.  New York, LA, the typical big markets.  But, there is the occasional smaller places that we tend to forget, but when we get back there, we realize “Oh, I remember last time we were here, it was a great show, great venue, great promoters, and great people.”  We’ve done so many cities that it’s hard to pinpoint which is our favorite.
Bob: This place is one of our favorites.

XROXX: Do you have any favorite bands that you’ve really enjoyed touring with or that have made touring more fun that usual.
Damon: This tour, with Early November, Limbeck, and Spitalfield, has been a blast.  Limbeck is a fun band.
Limbeck’s Singer: (who has been lurking in the corner the whole time) I’ll tell them you said that.  Hahaha!
Damon: This tour has been a whole lot of fun.  Everyone’s been really great.  We’ve done so many tours and every tour is with different bands.  Some bands on certain tours may not be the most exciting band to hang out with, but they are still good bands.  Some tours are more memorable than others.  That’s all I got on that.
Bob: This is one of the most fun tours I have been on.

XROXX: Do you have a huge following in Milwaukee or is it just like any other city?
Damon: You know, it’s funny.  As far as playing in front of people to consider it a hometown, Chicago is more of a hometown than Milwaukee.  Bob is from Chicago.  Some of us just live in Milwaukee, we don’t even play out that often. Even though, we were just nominated for four local awards and they want us to play the award show up there.  We don’t play there that often.  There’s just not that much of a scene.  There are slim pickings for venues up there.  We chose to play elsewhere, but when we do play there, it’s pretty good.

XROXX: You had a CD drop at the end of the year.  Would you say that you’ve evolved since the first EP was recorded?
Damon: We’ve definitely evolved.  I mean not drastically, it’s not like it’s a completely different band, but the first EP we wrote were the first songs this band wrote.  Like, I was saying, three of us in Hey Mercedes came from another band that had a different sound and feel.  We were trying some different stuff in the beginning.  Also, the first two discs were recorded with a different guitar player.  So, that makes a difference.  I think Bob’s lyrics are worse on this album.  Hahaha...

XROXX: So, how is Vagrant treating you?  Are you enjoying working with them?
Damon: They are decent.  I mean, they’re a great label.  I think the band always wants more and the label wants more and there is always something standing in the way.  Overall, everyone there is good.  They are a label.  They put out a record.

XROXX: How has the crowd taken to you guys on this tour?
Damon: Every city’s a little different, but we can definitely say the crowd is different.  I think the crowd is a lot younger because of the bands we are on tour with.  I don’t believe that a lot of them have even heard of us.  They heard of us because their favorite band was going on tour and we just happened to be on the tour as well.  I think the reception is good.  People that have never heard it seem to be getting into it and we knew that going into this tour that it wasn’t gonna be our crowd entirely.

XROXX: OK, thanks guys.  Before I go can I get your top three CD's of the moment.
Bob: Limbeck, the new Mock Orange, and Decibully.
Damon: Nada Surf - Let Go, Early November - The Room’s Too Cold, and Spitalfield.  That’s three, I'm sorry but that’s where I stop.  Hahaha.  Like five minutes form now I am gonna remember like ten that I am just in love with.

XROXX: Write 'em down and pass 'em along to us.

Needless to say, I never got that list.  It was more exciting to be backstage and be drinking water that is from the same bin as the water Early November was drinking than it was to be in this interview.  They were fun until the recorder went on, I swear.  I don’t know why they were so shy. Oh well...

Jayne*Star
jayne.star@XROXX.com