Interviews: Rob Jarvis & The Mercury Sons

On this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Rock band Rob Jarvis And The Mercury Sons from the UK. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or came out just like that?

I was sat watching television, which is funny, ‘cos it not something I often find myself doing.. more often than not I’ll turn it on for background noise, I spend decent amount of time working away on my own. Plus the dogs like to watch it.. ha Anyway, I was watching a programme, where one of the protagonists had described the main character as ‘mercurial’. I researched the meaning and origins of the word, I just gelled with the idea, “A person who’s full of surprise, often does the unexpected.” I hoped that was a nice description for a Rock and roll band of vast and eclectic influences. Of course Mercury also having Ancient Roman meaning and a close link with Ancient Greek Deities also, weren’t actually things I considered at the time, but, it rather sweetly has a drawable meaning.

2. Why did you want to play this genre? 

Rock and roll and blues were just my all time loves music wise, from Guns and Roses in the car with dad as a child (we still do that, although we’re on a Drop Kick Murphy’s and Blackberry Smoke kick currently) to my first Kerrang! magazine and first local shows, not much has changed ha I write music the way I like it and hope that translates into something for the listener, I’m often found quoting the,’true north’ thing, but that because it still rings true; write to your true north, try not to be overly influenced by too many opinions. One of t the. best bits of advice I ever got frankly. It’s hard to be original these days, but at least this way you retain as much of your original idea as possible. You could also say I owe the stylings to an early and continued love of bands like Alice In Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, Led Zeppelin, the list goes on, you get the picture ha..

3. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Anything, anyone. Some some of the tunes are biographical, some are thoughts about something or someone else. Some are just an excuse to write some nasty guitar parts. Again, like most self titled, creative people, I don’t want to feel limited by subject matter, if its inspiring me, i’ll have a crack at it. That, of course opens up a wider issue with the songs, whether it’s the music or lyrics that come first. Again, no real rhyme or reason, could be a guitar part, a fairly fleshed out arrangement. A line, a hook. They’re all viable starting points, just have to sort the good ones from the bad and run with them.

4. Where was your last gig?

The last show was in London, unbelievable fun. Anytime a show sells out is a real highlight. We had absolutely nothing to do the day after either, so it turned into a fair evening out, with what must have been the vast majority of the audience. Really looking forward to getting back to London and playing early/mid next year. The plans are in the works, just gotta get this record done back in Nashville. I’m so incredibly excited to break some news about the new music and plans for the next year soon. Been working away pretty tirelessly to get this stuff ready. Couldn’t be more pleased with how it’s going right now.

5. Where would you like to act?

Absolutely anywhere that’ll have us ha. Arenas, petrol stations, front. rooms, public toilets haha.

6. Whom would you like to feature with?

LENNY KRAVITZ, that’d be about as good as it gets for me. Still beggars can't be choosers hahaha, so anyone. Interested?! Let me know!

7. Whom not? 

What’s that saying about treating people nicely on your way up? Haha just. kidding, but only a fool turns down any opportunity they’ve not yet. received! So no one really..

8. Have you have ever suffered from stage fright? Any tip for beginners on how to beat that? 

I’ve never really had stage fright, certainly had Pre show nerves, as we all do from time to time. A good example would be after the end of previous band Great Man Theory, who played week in, week out, for years, all over the place; I must have had 5/6 months out from playing live. I’d spent that time locked away trying to make Rob Jarvis and The Mercury Sons into a reality getting the music together, the band, shows, merch, onlines, the thousands of other things bands do in a relatively short period. I’d spent so much time working on this stuff, and really luckily had some really cool successes, the first song had already been played on KERRANG! And BBC and got some really amazing reviews, before the first show. Long story short, felt a. Bit of pressure to make sure the show was amazing. It was a good pressure though, the excited nerves of the unknown. Its almost always the vase though, just have to get up there, and do what you do. Be well-rehearsed, warm up well, then go send it.

9. What bands have inspired you the most? 

That's a very loaded question, there are hundreds, even now hearing brand new stuff id never touched on, immediately think oh wow that's cool. I always really loved the attitudes and sounds of 90’s era bands like Stone Temple Pilots, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains. They covered so much ground, from super heavy, to ballad; stripped back stuff to relatively heavy production. It takes a bunch of real minds to coherently ‘do a bit of everything’ in a sense. Those bands all have killer songs, great riffs, sweet melodies. Plus there own very individual nuances; Alice In chains Harmonies’, Scott Weilands’ commanding presence. These are very narrow Views of bands with very storied careers, but then this is a pretty short interview. Just a few things that strike me and I’m sure many many others off the bat.

10. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

A bite of my sandwich hahaha. It was a tough one, but I did oblige.

11. What do you think of your fans?

I love them all, and i’m disappointed I don’t know each of them by name! Was discussing this the other day when looking through The Mercury Sons Spotify profile. At the top it said something like 12,000 or so monthly listeners, we stopped and thought about what that actually means. We’d figured that in 28 days, (the length of a Spotify month apparently) there's a little over 40,300 minutes. The songs on average are between 3 and 5 minutes, so that means in essence there was someone in the world playing one of the songs consistently throughout the month. That completely blew my mind. Time is so valuable, and if people are spending it Listening to these songs, well it's difficult to explain how grateful I feel. The crazy thing is thats only one outlet, of one part of what people in bands do. Whether it’s a stream, a download, a ticket, a share, people are putting time into the band, theres no band without the support. END OF.

12. What do you think of our site?

Firstly! Congratulations on making it easy to navigate, I was actually scrolling through your recent post section earlier! Nicely laid out. Also nice to feel like the Music is being put first. Made a point of checking out your Spotify playlist, had it playing in the car! I really cant understate the importance of the work guys like you do. No where near the end of this journey, but Mercury Sons would be way further back without the push and support, bands get from outlets such a yourselves.

13. Something add?

Honestly Just to re-iterate how much I really appreciate fan support and support from outlets such as yourselves. Every push, share, comment, listen, view and mention, really does make a difference. The music might be the life blood, but you lot are the heart beat; although there’ll always be a point in creativity and creative outlet for its own purpose, the support turns it from a pipe dream to an opportunity. Even at this fairly youthful stage of the project, it’s come so far and that’s all down to people like you guys, pushing the little guy along. Very cool