Apr 1, 2010

Posted by in 2010 | 0 Comments

SC Interview with Hot’lanta’s Mermaids


[photo by: Matt Smith]

A week ago I wrote a post on an obscure Atlanta band called Mermaids, and you all responded by making it our most popular post for the month of March.  These guys are good, really good, and they haven’t even been together for an entire year yet (which would explain why they haven’t blown up yet, even though I’m glad they haven’t because they probably wouldn’t have agreed to do this interview).  In the following questions I’ve used all my powers of investigative journalism to find out who the hell the Mermaids are, and I found out a lot, like that Ryan used to dress up as Captain Hook for his gig at Disneyland, that Atlanta continues to be a fountain for good dirty music, and that I can expect an official recording by the Mermaids to be out soon.

For the Seizure Chicken premier of “So it Goes,” follow the jump.

Mermaids is a mysterious group, and your myspace offers little information apart from the fact that the band’s from Atlanta, so what’s your story?  How did Mermaids come into being? How long have you guys been playing together?

We started right around august of last year, I had been touring and playing with another band and had written a few songs that I wanted to use for a new project.. me and joey worked together (I work at Star Bar in Atlanta) and he was the parking attendant for the bar, we started hanging out and playing around with some ideas and it formed out of us wanting to make a “tropical 50s punk” sounding band.. soon after I stopped playing with my previous band me and Joey found Ryan who was at the time working for Disneyland in Florida (he played Goofy, Captain Hook and handful of other characters) and we knew him from his other band Barberries and we started practicing and he lived with Sam and Jawsh and mentioned that they wanted to meet up with us and all, we started practicing and coming up with songs and started playing shows..
There seems to be an abundance of great music coming out of Atlanta, you guys included, but what do you think it is about being and living in Atlanta right now that is so conducive to making music?
Atlanta besides being cheap and affordable has tons and tons of great history and musical lineage that we been fortunate to have and still do, its got the right kind of grit and dirtiness and i think it comes through in the music.. there’s really no place like it.
Who are some other local bands down there that you guys are digging right now?
There are tons of great bands from Atlanta and there’s lots of variety as well.. besides the ones that have gone on to find national attention.. there’s Carnivores, Judi Chicago, The Coathangers, N.E.C, Balkans, GoldGhost, AbbyGoGo, The Barreracudas..
On your twitter page recently there’s been a lot of references to recording new material or working on new songs.  Is Mermaids planning to release an album or ep anytime soon?
We spent last weekend recording a handful of songs at Loves Park Studios in Atlanta with our friend Dave Prasse, we re-recorded three older songs and three newer songs, we’re considering a few options of release, maybe either a 7′ vinyl or 4 song EP,  we want to expand and use these recordings for a proper full length later when the time comes.. We’re going back this weekend to finish vocals, overdubs and possibly lay down a few more tracks. It’s a very “well of sound” recording..
SXSW has been known to spark careers and throw unknown bands into the spotlight, and it certainly seems like you guys have the potential to blow up given the right kind of support.  Do you feel like you guys got some good exposure down in Austin?  In general, how was your trip to Austin?

Its was a awesome experience and a preview of better things to come, I see it as laying the groundwork and seeing how we all get along on tour (this was our first time leaving the city). We weren’t part of the official showcase but we played a handful of rooftop day parties and met some great people and contacts for touring.. besides playing, seeing all our Atlanta friends and seeing great bands play was lots of fun.

Mp3: Mermaids – So It Goes


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  1. Mermaids 7″ + Full Length On The Way | Seizure Chicken - [...] group, Mermaids sent over a new track and some details on their upcoming releases. Last time we caught up ...

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