Massachusetts based Pop-punk band Planet Mercury recently released their brand new single “Maybe” last month. The song has gained nothing but positive reaction from fans. A little before the release of their single, I got the chance to interview the band to talk a little about their single, the challenges of being a band, and what they would bring to survive on an island!
How did your band get its start? (Online, best friends, fought an alien?) What’s the story!
We started back in 2017. Michaela [Logan, guitar player] and Pat [Connolly, bass player] met on Craigslist and played with a few other musicians for a brief period, then Pat found Jerry [Picard, guitar and lead vocals] on Craigslist a little while later. Some people are shocked when we tell them that but it seems like we had all gotten to a point in our own lives where we had gotten so sick of being in bands where people didn’t have the same goals and didn’t care much that we kind of went to Craigslist in desperation. Our first drummer went to school with Pat and they lived in the same dorm and the rest is history. This past fall, Mike stepped down as our drummer and we met Chris [Lovejoy, drums] through a friend of Pat’s family!
What is some of the musical inspiration behind the sound of your band?
We are all big Green Day fans, so that’s definitely a mutual influence, but we also have a wide range of tastes individually from Oasis to The Story So Far, and Against Me! We are constantly introducing each other to new music and we are open to trying new things.
How has the reaction been to your EP None In A Million since its release almost a year ago?
We are really grateful for all of the streams and positive feedback that we’ve gotten so far. We worked really hard on it and we’re proud to have it out there. We feel as though it definitely shows how we have matured musically from our first batch of songs. It’s great to see people continuing to discover it for the first time.
Any songs off the EP that go over particularly well with the crowd live?
People seem to really enjoy the song “Burn”; it was the first single we released from that EP [None In A Million], and it’s a little more pop-sounding in the chorus than the rest of the songs. “Ginger’s Nightmare” is a fun, fast-paced song that people seem to love to mosh during. It definitely feels like the song we most enjoy as a band in a live setting is “I’ll Thank Me Later.”
Speaking of songs! How will your new song “Maybe” compare to what you all have written and released previously?
“Maybe” is definitely a little heavier than the stuff we’ve written before; there’s lots of feedback, a heavy riff (similar to “I’ll Thank Me Later”), and lots of layering of instruments throughout the song, especially the chorus. We usually stick to just the parts we play live, but this time we added a few other guitars in the background and even a piano part, we’re really excited to release it.
Will there be any new music (or a new EP/Album) coming in the near future?
We are actually working on our first full-length album. It has been a really enjoyable process. We have been trying a lot of new things and pushing ourselves to make the songs be the absolute best they can be. Be on the lookout!
I know you all did some touring this past March, what was your favorite memory from it?
Our favorite memory was probably being snowed-in at a hotel in New Jersey for two nights. It was the last room around for a reasonable price due to the storm and all of the cancelled flights, there were a lot of shenanigans going on, but we actually wrote the base of “Maybe” one night there.
What is the biggest challenge so far as a band?
The biggest challenge is definitely getting people to take you as seriously as you take yourself. Not everybody recognizes the hard work that bands put in to write, record and play but when you talk to people that really appreciate and respect what we are doing, it’s a very rewarding feeling. We’re all very driven, so we don’t let anything slow us down. It’s also tough that none of us are 25 yet because apparently you can’t rent a van unless you are 25.
Marvel or D.C.?
D.C.
Any plans to tour in the new year?
We’re planning a tour for January of 2020, the dates should be announced fairly soon. We hope to travel to a lot of new places next year!
Who’s tour are you looking forward to the most?
The Hella Mega Tour is an insane lineup.
If you could only bring one thing with you to be stuck on an island with, what would it be?
Most likely coffee, we all love coffee very much.
Thoughts on pineapple on pizza?
While Michaela enjoys this strange combination of flavors, the rest of us agree pineapple and pizza do not belong together.
If your fans could only take one thing away from your band, what would you hope that would be?
We would hope that people would see the positive message and themes that we try to stick with. There are a lot of issues in our society which we recognize and write about, but we want to portray it in a way that encourages people to rise above the negativity and things that bog them down, and do their best to live in the moment and make the most of life. Life is a good thing and times can be hard but we hope our music can help people see through the hardships of life.
