Mercy Arms’ announcement of upcoming tour dates in December prompted my recent chat with lead guitarist Kirin Callinan.
Mercy Arms’ recent EP, Kept Low, was a long time in the making. The band first formed over two years ago when friends drummer Julian Sudek and guitarist Kirin Callinan had a chance meeting with vocalist Thom Moore. After a jam session at Thom’s home, and the addition of bassist Ash Moss, things started to move forward. However, everything has not exactly just fallen into place for the Sydney-based band. They have faced some frustrating setbacks in trying to get their music released, “We have had label problems. We signed to a major and that collapsed. That took a lot of time and energy, that whole process”. Luckily, they heard about the indie label Levity through fellow musicians and friends Cut Off Your Hands. Their manager worked out a deal and they were able to realize one of their goals, “It seemed to all make sense, Levity gave us an avenue to finally release some music, which we had been itching to do”. Then in September, their debut EP, Kept Low, was released.
Kept Low is bits and pieces of material that the band sees as a snapshot of their music, and a dated one at that. In fact, Kirin remarked that for the most part the band can’t even listen to the EP and feels that they have grown considerably since those recordings. Mercy Arms had already recorded most of the material that appears on the EP and as a result it is more of a collection of different recordings. This compilation includes songs from old sessions and even a home demo. The band’s approach to creating these songs was mostly collaborative, with lead singer Thom predominately writing the lyrics, “The great thing about it is that we are all songwriters and we want our songs to be a consistent thing. If Thom’s songs are the skeleton of the band, we add a leather jacket and some flesh and a pair of sunnies or something”. While Kirin reckons it would be massive if there were “heaps and heaps of magic in the studio”, Mercy Arms’ attempt for consistency sees them prepare their material and pull it all together before they go into the studio.
In fact, they use the same strategy to prepare for touring. The band may rehearse songs before hitting the stage but that doesn’t mean their live act is a pre-packaged set, “I don’t think we have ever played the same set twice. It’s kind of like whatever we feel like on the night, we just go out and play it. We certainly don’t play (our music) as we record it. When we go into a rehearsal studio we change them and try to throw different ideas around and kind of deconstruct the songs”. When asked about the vibe between the band once on stage Kirin was quite candid and admitted that he would love it if the band would interact and feed off of each other more. Still, he does see them as having certain spontaneity in their performances depending on the crowd and “the energy of it all”. However, don’t expect to see Mercy Arms in some sort of psychedelic jam out anytime soon, “We’ll get up there and feedback and throw guitars at each other but that’s about as spontaneous as we go”. Perhaps this lack of interaction has something to do with the chemistry of the band, “We never really see each other unless we are playing, to be brutally honest. I think we are all a bit combustive when we all get together. It can be a really good thing when we are making music or performing but, on a personal level that can be tough”.
Mercy Arms fans needn’t fear a break up, as they feel they were just “finding their feet” with this first release. Kirin hopes that their next album’s sound is more classic and “stands out in the speakers” more so than Kept Low; which he remarked was not as cohesive as he would have liked it to be. Ultimately, Mercy Arms would like to record a “striking and beautiful full length album; (something) original, fascinating, and captivating. Not just the songs but everything around it; from the creation, the process, the sound of it…that’s the ultimate goal, to have a piece of work we are really proud of”. While the band is taking one thing at a time, currently focusing on their forthcoming tour, they are certainly not content, “There is a lot of growth left in us still”.
to listen to their music now on 